Thinking CriticallyClaims
Making
&Fallacies
Thinking logically…Historically, law has not been ‘evidence based’•Good/Bad: •Supernatural•Codified morality
Rested on claims about….people actions consequences
Logic (Greek, logos)
An assessment of claims that is accomplished according to principles of validity Principles of validity :
Claims about biology – statements about living things
Claims about economics – statements about economic institutions
Claims about crime & punishment – statements about human action/behaviour & institutions of social control•Social sciences (e.g. sociology, psychology, history…)•Law
Informed Logic“...to separate strongfrom weak arguments, to develop your own opinions based on evidence and careful reasoning, and tosort through and make sense of a confusing mass of information.”
ClaimsArguments: begin withone or more premises, which are facts that the argument takes for granted as the starting point (assumptions). Then a principle of logic is applied in order to come to a conclusion.
The Claim
University professors feel their first-year students are less mature, rely too much on Wikipedia and "expect success without the requisite effort," says a province-wide survey to be released today.
Evidence: Evaluate...What evidence does the author present tosupport the argument(s)? Does the author
offer enough evidence? More than 55 per
cent of Ontario's faculty and librarians surveyed believe students are less prepared for university than even three years ago
Assessing Validity of Claims (Logic) In this case, many students agree with their profs. "I think it's a fair assessment," said first-year Ryerson journalism student Annie Webber. "I'm addicted to Wikipedia."
In fact, many
post-secondary
institutions have
had to create
catch-up
courses to help
those who are
struggling.
"It wasn't a shock for me – I'm
aware of what's happening out
there," said Brian Brown, a
University of Windsor visual
arts professor. He also heads
the Ontario Confederation of
University Faculty Associations,
which oversaw the online survey
of about 2,000 professors and
university librarians out of the
province's 15,000
Alternative ArgumentsCan you think of alternative arguments that theauthor has not considered?
Assumptio
ns
Despite what the survey actually measured (“feels” or opinion) this article
tells a story that claims first year students are ill prepared (“lazy”)…..but for what?
The article assumes:•Ill-prepared = using Wikipedia/lazy
•Ontario is an ideal learning environment
•13% (2000/15,000) of the prof/library admins in Ontario is representative of the opinions of prof/library admins in Canada. (It is not)
•professors and librarians are experts• can assess the difference • working conditions not taken into account
•a few undergraduate students as ‘experts’ (quote)
•programs are developed to “fix students” & not in response to things like disinterest caused by classroom overcrowding (for example)….
Evidence for THAT claim is insufficient.
However: some some professors in Ontario DO indeed FEEL students are ill prepared (survey), but that that does not mean that they are. does not mean that they are. Misuse of quotations/experts Issue of validity (article)
Fallacies (which we will talk about next…)
While we have not disproved this claim (it MAY be true) , but we have used critical thinking (logic) to demonstrate this article has NOT provided a series of logically consistent statements backed up by valid evidence about undergrad preparedness….
Is there a crisis is “lazy” undergrads?
Theories vs. HypothesisTheories: a series of logically sound claimsthat have been supported through evidencemeets the criteria of a particular audience.
that
Hypothesis: A claim about a socialphenomena that has not been supported yet(might be a valid claim, but not supported sufficiently/empirically)
Types of Fallacies
Flawed logical statements
Ecological FallacyYou make conclusionsabout individuals based only on analysis of group (aggragate) data.
Italian School of Thought
The parking disorder of those people who live downtown Ottawa…
Exceptional Fallacy
You reach a group conclusion on the basis of exceptional cases…•All the ‘isms’•Eugenics•Moral Hygiene•Movement
Ad Hominem
Attacking the person,instead of the argument.
Argument from
Authority
Yes consensus ofprofessional opinion is important, but speaking from authority does not make something true.
“Deborah Landry, a University of Ottawa criminology professor, is on the fore front of graffiti research in Ottawa. She suggests considering the Mural programs like Crime Prevention Ottawa’s Paint It Up programas a possibly more viable alternative.”
Teleological FallacySomething is caused bythe ultimate effect that it has, or the purpose that it serves.
Intelligent DesignAntiquityThe Witch BurningsProtestant Work EthicSocial Contract Theory
Variable may berelated, but they not necessarily cause/effect.
are
Classical PeriodContemporary SocialPositivism
Confusing correlation (or coincidence) with causation
Tautology
Circular reasoning: theconclusion is its ownclaim.
EugenicsMoral HygieneBiological Positivism
“We are proposing measures to bring our laws into the 21st century and to provide the police with the lawful tools that they need,” Mr.
Toews said to the MP for Lac-Saint-Louis, Quebec. “He can either stand
with us or with the child pornographers.”
False Dichotomy
Appeal to Emotion (…fear)Red Herring
Almost every hypothesis that is short on evidence….
Social phenomena that involves fears about the poor, vulnerable & racialized populations
Evaluate for InconsistencyApplying criteria orrules to one argument, opinion or claim, but not to others.~Lombrosso
Cognitive Dissonance:people react strongly when they find that their actions do not fit with the opinions they hold.
Logic Practice BAD SIGNS, Ken Gray
1. Take 10 minutes to read through the article.2. Together, can you locate:~main claim~some of the assumptions~evaluate the evidence~identify fallacies ~offer an alternative explanation (claim)
Recession Uncovers an Ugly Canadian Truth: We Have Too Few Cops, Too Many Robbers