Ideological Reasoning Think “Top Down” Chapter 13 Ideological Reasoning Think “Top Down”

“Top Down” Thinking: Recognizing Ideological Reasoning Ideological reasoning is an important and widely used way of thinking It offers many benefits, such as in the practice of law This mode of reasoning comes into play: Whenever religion, ethics, politics, rules, regulations or policy matters are the focus © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

“Top Down” Thinking: Recognizing Ideological Reasoning The Media and Politically Engendered Cynicism We must learn to appreciate ideological reasoning for what it can achieve And be able to apply it and evaluate it objectively and fair-mindedly © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

“Top Down” Thinking: Recognizing Ideological Reasoning Ideologically based reasoning is pervasive and important in human affairs We must learn to recognize ideological reasoning so we can distinguish it from: Comparative reasoning and from empirical reasoning © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

“Top Down” Thinking: Recognizing Ideological Reasoning Examples of Ideological Reasoning Immigration Policy God’s Existence Human Nature Three Features of Ideological Reasoning (1) It is deductive in character; (2) the ideological premises are axiomatic; © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

“Top Down” Thinking: Recognizing Ideological Reasoning (3) the argument maker takes the ideology to be true more or less on faith The use of the term ideological is meant to be value-neutral Ideological Reasoning Is Deductive in Character © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

“Top Down” Thinking: Recognizing Ideological Reasoning For the most part, the conclusions of ideological arguments are presented as certainties Not all deductive reasoning is ideological Ideological Premises Are Axiomatic The Argument Maker Takes the Ideological Absolutes on Faith © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

“Top Down” Thinking: Recognizing Ideological Reasoning Ideological thinkers consistently regard their absolutes as immune from disconfirmation Our level of faith and conviction is no measure of the truth of the beliefs we hold so dear The importance of applying the critical thinking skill of self-regulation Guided by the habit of truth-seeking and of skepticism © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ideological Reasoning or “Top-Down Thinking” © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Applying the Test of Truthfulness of the Premises © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating Ideological Reasoning Are the Ideological Premises True? The test for truthfulness of the premises is the most important test for ideological reasoning To apply this test, one must consider all the premises one after another Logical Strength and Ideological Belief Systems © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating Ideological Reasoning Ideological arguments, which are often the product of deductive reasoning: Generally display reasonable levels of logical strength Ideological belief structures often contain internal contradictions © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating Ideological Reasoning Relevancy, Non-Circularity, and Ideological Reasoning The Test of Relevancy, tends to yield unambiguously positive results Our fourth test, non-circularity, produces consternation as well They are not circular for the most part © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Uses, Benefits, and Risks of Ideological Reasoning Group Project: Conflicting Principles and Conflicting Positions Value Judgments Group Exercise: Why Do We Believe What We Believe? The Courage to Challenge the Ideologue © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.