Critical Wisdom - Writing and Speaking

8. Using Good Reasoning in Your Writing and Speaking -- Some Practical Hints

8.1 Introduction -- Focus is Key: Communicate Clearly What You Want Us to Believe and Give Good Reasons Why You Think We Should Believe It

No doubt there have already been many occasions in your life where you have attempted to convince others that your view or course of action aimed at solving certain problems was best. Moreover, it is likely that most of those efforts involved attempts on your part to give good reasons for your view. (Though, in your younger days, “temper tantrums” often convinced your caregivers to go along with “your view” without any attempt on your part to “give good reasons!”) In grade school, perhaps, you attempted to convince your parents that you should be allowed to stay up later. High school might have found you trying to give good reasons why your parents should buy you a new car. As an adult, the sky’s the limit -- For whom should you vote on American Idol? Why should I recycle? Hi there! Here are some reasons why you should go out with me. -- In a kind of natural, commonsense way, you are already very adept at putting forth arguments.

But now that you have a basic understanding of the structure of good arguments -- premises-conclusions, validity and soundness, strength and worthiness -- perhaps this can help you to do a better job of convincing others by means of “good reasoning.” We think this is in fact the case and in this chapter we will look more carefully at some techniques you might employ to enhance your ability to convince others by giving good arguments.

We begin with what you should now recognize as a schema that you might employ for thinking about what you would otherwise do more or less naturally when you wish to convince someone to hold a certain view.

HINT 1. Ask yourself, “What conclusion do I want them to believe?” (“And/or what action do I want them to perform.”)

HINT 2. Ask yourself, “What premises will I give that will appropriately support that conclusion?” (“Support that call to action …”)

Thus far you have learned that the arguments you construct might be deductive, inductive or both. If an argument is deductive, then your likely aim will be to produce an argument that is not only valid but also sound. If your argument is inductive, you will aim to make it both strong and worthy. In either case you will try to present your argument in such a way that it is understandable for your audience. Try to keep your terms simple. Remember, it is often the case that you have been thinking about your argument for a lot longer than your audience. So, in general, ask yourself:

HINT 3. Given my audience, how can I best present this argument so that it is likely to be understood?

But arguments are not always simple. Sometimes we give connected chains of arguments. Here is a simple example. We might give a deductive argument that since all of our employees are well paid and Mary is one of our employees, therefore it follows that Mary is well paid. Someone might object, however, that one of the premises of our argument is false -- it is false that all of our employees are well paid. At this point if we are to convince our audience that our original argument is sound, we must give further arguments to show that in fact all of our employees are well paid. This might involve such things as providing evidence of the salaries of our employees and comparing their rates of pay to those holding like jobs. In this case we would be supporting one of the premises of our initial argument with a second argument. Obviously, this objection/refutation process might continue and the resulting “chains of arguments” become quite complex. At any rate, one should always be prepared to support the premises of one’s arguments with further arguments.

HINT 4. Be ready to defend the premises of your argument with further arguments.

We will have more to say about these first four features that one should consider when constructing arguments in the sections which follow.

8.2 Good Reasoning In Writing and Speaking -- Imagine and Consider Views Other than Your Own

Suppose you have put together a very strong argument for your view. You believe that watching too much television and playing video games has been the primary cause of a decline in physical fitness among grade school children over the last ten years. That is, on the basis of empirical data that you or others have collected, you argue that:

1. It is a fact that grade school children are now less physically fit (on average) than they were 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

2. It is a fact that grade school children now spend more time watching/playing TV and video games than 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

3. It is a fact that grade school children now spend less time (on average) engaging in strenuous physical activity than 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

4. It is a fact that there is a strong negative correlation between time spent by grade school children watching/playing TV and video games and time spent engaging in strenuous physical activity. (Available empirical data support this.)

5. It is a fact that (on average) whenever grade school children spend less time engaging in physical activity, then they are (on average) less physically fit. (Available empirical data support this.)
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6. The primary cause of the decrease in physical fitness among grade school children is the increased time spent watching/playing TV and video games.

You should note that the above argument is best seen as abductive. You have given what you take to be the “best explanation” of why physical fitness among grade school children has declined over the last decade. That is, you believe that the extant evidence supports the view that more time spent watching/playing video games among grade school children has led to less time being available for physical activity and thus led to a decrease in physical fitness.

But not everyone agrees. Another prominent argument points to the increasing consumption of fast-food with its high fat content as the culprit behind decreasing physical fitness. Such an argument might proceed as follows:

1. It is a fact that grade school children are now less physically fit (on average) than they were 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

2. It is a fact that the diets of grade school children (on average) are significantly higher in fat than 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

3. It is a fact that diets of grade school children (on average) consist of significantly higher percentages of fast food/processed food than 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

4. It is a fact that a diets consisting of a significantly higher percentage of fast food/processed food are significantly higher in fat. (Available empirical data support this.)

5. It is a fact that there are significantly more overweight grade school children than there were 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

6. It is a fact that there is a strong positive correlation between grade school children having diets significantly higher in fat and being overweight. (Available empirical data support this.)

7. It is a fact that grade school children now spend less time (on average) engaging in strenuous physical activity than 10 years ago. (Available empirical data support this.)

8. It is a fact that there is a strong negative correlation between grade school children being overweight and spending time engaging in strenuous physical activity. (Available empirical data support this.)

9. It is a fact that (on average) whenever grade school children spend less time engaging in physical activity, then they are (on average) less physically fit. (Available empirical data support this.)
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10. The primary cause of the decrease in physical fitness among grade school children is the increased percentage of fast food/processed food they consume.

Here the view is that the high fat content of fast food has led to overweight children and this in turn has tended to limit their physical activity and thus their physical fitness. Again we have an abductive argument claiming that the “best explanation” of the decrease in physical fitness among grade school children is fast food/processed food.

As problems become more difficult and solutions less obvious, most typically there will be many differing views and corresponding arguments that will be put forward in response. As a problem solver, it will be your job not only to offer an argument for your favored solution but also to imagine and consider what competing solutions might be offered. This may involve the conducting of a “search of the literature” on your part to see what others have argued and/or it might involve an effort of imagination on your part. In either case, having considered these alternatives your next step is to decide how such alternatives might affect the status of your own argument as the “best explanation.”

In general, there are three possible outcomes to this procedure:

(i) You might decide that your view, when matched against its competitors, continues to be the best explanation. If you decide this is the case, then your next step is to give arguments as to why your view is superior and/or why the competing views are less successful.

(ii) You might decide that your view should in some manner be combined with its competitors to create a “hybrid view” that provides an explanation that is better than any of its competitors.

(iii) You might give up your view and decide to adopt a competing view. If so, then (as in (i)) you should argue why this new view is superior to its competitors.

In any event, good reasoning in writing and speaking requires that you:

HINT 5. Imagine and consider the perspectives that others have taken or might take on the issues at hand and either argue against them or incorporate them into your own view.