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PHL 1010, Critical Thinking 1 Cou rse Learning Outcomes for Unit VII Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to: 3. Formulate questions that result in critical thinking. 4. Apply analytical reasoning to a variety of disciplines. 7. Detect bias and fallacies in messages from mass media and other sources. Reading Assignment Chapter 12: How to Detect Media Bias and Propaganda in National and W orld News Chapter XIX Sumner, W. G. (1906). Folkways: A study of the sociological importance of usages, manners, customs, mores, and m orals . Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24253 Unit Lesson App ea l to Pop ularity (Argu mentum Ad Populum) The appea l to popu larity occurs whe n someon e c laims tha t “X” is the c ase be cau se a grou p of peop le bel ieve tha t “X” is the c ase. Appea l to popu larity is systematic in commercials an d marketing c ampa ign s. Just be cau se man y peop le be lieve something to be true or worthwhile doe s no t make tha t thing true or worthwhile. He re are some examples. A movie trailer tells us, “M ake the same de cision five million peop le have mad e so far, an d c ome see I am Goin g to Cho p Y ou Up Into Little P ieces Part VII.” Just be cau se five million peop le have c ho sen to watch a movie doe s no t give us an y logi cal rea son to go ou t an d see tha t movie. Frien d to Friend : Ho w can y ou say Ce line Dion’ s music is no t grea t? S he ha s sold over 20 million albums. Aga in, the fact tha t Celine Dion ha s sold tha t man y records do es no t mea n tha t he r music is grea t… or even good . The appea l to popu larity can take othe r forms as well. One of the offshoo ts of the appea l to popu larity is the argumen t from common practice. In this fallaciou s form, on e c laims tha t a practice is justified be cau se most peop le in a society or place engag e in a practice r egu larly. Le t’s loo k at some examples. Son to Fathe r: “Is it no t aga inst the law to c hea t on you r taxes, Dad?” Fathe r to Son : “S on , let me tell y ou something , all peop le c hea t on the ir taxes.” UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE How to Detect Media Bias and Propaganda in National and World News PHL 1010, Critical Thinking 2 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title He re is ano the r example: Critical Thinking Studen t #1 : “Hey! Le t me cop y you r ho mework.” Critical Thinking Studen t #2 : “I do not kno w, the pun ishmen t for c hea ting is expulsion from the c ou rse.” Critical Thinking Studen t #1 : “Come on!!! Everybod y doe s it.” Just be cau se all peop le c hea t on thei r taxes or the ir ho mework doe s no t give y ou a logical rea son for acc ep ting the claim tha t it is accep tab le to chea t on you r ho mework. If all the peop le aroun d y ou are speed ing , an d y ou ge t pul led over, just be cau se the y were all speed ing as well doe s no t de tract from the fact tha t y ou were breaking the law an d de served to be pulled over. W he n peop le justify the ir beliefs using the fact that most othe r peop le practice the same thing, the y are c omm itting on e form of the appea l to pop ularity. Ano the r form of the appea l to popu larity is the appea l to tradi tion . You have probab ly run into this on e at work. Perhap s you think of a more efficien t way to acc omplish a task or ge t something done . You app roa ch y ou r bo ss with the ne w method . You r bo ss the n informs you tha t you shou ld k eep do ing it the old wa y. W he n you ask why, you r bo ss says, “well, tha t is just the way we have always don e it.” Just be cau se a c ertain metho d or belief is rep resen tative of the way thing s “have always bee n done ” do es no t mea n that this is the be st way to do something . At the same time, practices tha t have worked for cen turies often live for tha t lon g be cau se the y reflect a very effective (if no t the most effective) way to do thing s. If you are lea rning martial arts from a master, an d she tells you to wax he r car an d pa int the fen ce, give it a little while before y ou go c omplaining tha t you are no t lea rning an ything . The appea l to trad ition is very stron g an d effective. It is also an extremely useful tactic in maintain ing social injustice. A ppea ls to tradition preven ted women from engag ing in highe r edu cation , the y preven ted African American s from having the same privilege s to use publ ic services as whites did, an d the y have preven ted equ ality in the assigna tion of equa l righ ts to same-sex coup les in ou r coun try. W he n thinking abou t if the appea l to popu larity is at play, just remembe r the words of Mothe r: “If all you r friend s jumpe d off a bridge , wou ld y ou jump too? ” Subjec tivist Fallac y In the sub jectivist fallacy, you claim tha t something is true merely be cau se y ou be lieve it to be true . The argumen t goe s like this: I bel ieve tha t X is true . The refore, X is true . or I do no t believe tha t X is true . The refore, X is no t true . Just be cau se someon e be lieves tha t something is true doe s no t ha ve an ything to do with the actua l truth value of the statemen t. Perhaps you have an ou tdoo r 4th of July picnic planne d an d have invited all of you r close friend s an d r elatives to the festivities. You have meticulou sly planne d the even t for months. The morning of the even t you c anno t wait to ge t to the pa rk to start setting thing s up an d ge t the grill go ing . W he n y ou wake up the re are dark cloud s on the ho rizon . W he n you wen t to be d the re was not an ything on the wea the r service rada r. How ever, it loo ks like the re is a storm coming into town. The wea the r service h as issue d a thunde rstorm warning , the re is 99 % hu midity an d y ou r gue sts start c alling to see whe re y ou are go ing to move the pa rty. It is momen ts like the se tha t peop le ge t “ha rd-headed ” an d do no t wan t to bel ieve the inevitab le. You m igh t kee p telling the gue sts, “I do no t think it is go ing to r ain” or “the pa rty is still on in the pa rk, you c anno t really trust the se weathe r peop le.” Everything in y ou wishes tha t the c loud s wou ld magically disappea r an d tha t this even t cou ld go on as planned . You r de sire ha s led y ou into the sub jectivist fallacy. Just be cau se y ou do no t wan t it to rain or you do no t bel ieve tha t it is go ing to r ain, doe s not mea n tha t it will no t rain. W he n peop le are discussing thing s with othe rs with whom the y disag ree , the re often c omes a po int whe re on e says to the othe r, “well y ou be lieve wha t you wan t to be lieve an d I will bel ieve wha t I bel ieve.” This is acc ep tab le as lon g as y ou are discussing the be st type of pizza or y ou r favorite music. Ho we ver, if you are discussing governmen tal reform, edu cation al reform, military spend ing , welfare, or social idea s, the n the re is more tha n likely a be st po sition on the issue . The re is a be st po sition on welfare. W e migh t not kno w wha t tha t be st po sition is in ou r lifetime, bu t at some po int we will see tha t someone’ s de cision s an d idea s we re be tter tha n othe rs. Claiming tha t peo ple c an bel ieve wha t the y wan t to be lieve says no thing abou t the actual truth value of wha t we be lieve. The effective critical thinker is the on e who sub mits to the better argumen t an d holds PHL 1010, Critical Thinking 3 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title the stronge st position s on all issues, even whe n tho se po sition s go aga inst wha t he or she m igh t wan t to be true . Re lativist Fallac y It is extremely ea sy to fall into this dange rou s fallacy. Pau l an d Elde r men tion r elativism ea rly in the textboo k an d its dange r to the beg inn ing thinker. The r elativist fallacy occurs whe n peop le say tha t certain ethical practices are acc ep tab le in some cultures bu t no t in othe rs. For example, you migh t say tha t it shou ld be illega l to have the dea th penal ty in ou r own coun try, bu t it is accep tab le for othe r cultures to practice the dea th pena lty. This canno t be the case. If you are going to argu e aga inst something with the premise tha t this thing is wrong , the n the act must be wron g in all c ultures where it is practiced. One c an think of numerou s examples. It is incon sisten t to say tha t certain drug s shou ld be illega l in the United Stat es, bu t the n go on to say tha t it is acc ep tab le for sha man s in the P eruvian Amazon to take the same drug s in the ir own r eligiou s ceremon ies. You c anno t have it bo th ways. If you think it is morally acc ep tab le for human s in the jung le to take drug s, the n on must say tha t hu man s in ou r own society shou ld be ab le to take drugs. If it is wron g to sub juga te wo men in ou r own society, the n y ou must stan d up for the righ ts of women all over the world in social c on texts whe re the y are sub juga ted . If you be lieve that peop le of all ethnicities shou ld be trea ted equa lly, the n y ou must c laim unequa l trea tmen t is wron g in all places in the world whe re peop le are trea ted unequa lly du e to ethn icity. It is impo rtan t to men tion tha t no t all differen ces be tween c ultures fall into the r elativist fallacy. Tho se aspe cts of cultural existen ce tha t do no t have an ethical c omponen t (matters of taste) can be as diverse as the grains of san d on the bea ch. The re is no be tter side of the stree t to drive on. Some group s of human s think tha t avocado s an d limes are the most deliciou s of fruits, while othe rs think tha t pineapp les an d mango s are the tastiest. Ho wever, always remembe r tha t in the r eal m of ethics, to say tha t oppo site idea s are bo th correct is to fall into the r elativist fallacy. W e can loo k ba ck on ou r own society an d say tha t the ways tha t women an d mino rities were trea ted for hund red s of years were wrong an d tha t we ha ve mad e prog ress in the r ealm of equal ity. The true r elativist cou ld no t c laim tha t the old ways were ethica lly inadequa te. He or she would just have to say tha t thing s were differen t an d c orrect at tha t time, an d no w ou r differing idea s are c orrect. No t all ethical po sition s are equa l. It is the goa l of the c ritical thinker to take on the be st ethical po sition s an d con sisten tly work to bring abou t the ou tcome of tho se po sition s in the world. Re d Herr ing The r ed he rring fallacy occurs whe n s omeon e strays off top ic in the middle of an argu men t to try to draw othe rs off the trail of the argumen t. It is called the red he rring be cau se of a tactic tha t was used to train scen t dog s whe rein tho se training the dog s wou ld drag a he rring across the pa th of the scen t that the dog s were supp osed to follow. The be st dog s wou ld r emain on the trail of the original scen t. Ho wever, most of the dog s were thrown off cou rse by the scen t of the fish. The r ed he rring fallacy is rampan t in pol itical deba tes. Cand ida te #1 : “W e nee d to en sure tha t we maintain tight bo rde rs an d preven t illega l imm igrants from ge tting into the c oun try in the first place.” Cand ida te #2 : “W ha t mea sures do y ou propo se to secure ou r bo rde rs?” Cand ida te #1 : “The longe r we wait, the more American job s tha t will be lost to c hea p labo r, an d the more the econo my will suffer.” No tice in this example tha t the top ic in que stion is the mea sures tha t the governmen t cou ld use to secure U.S. bo rde rs. Ho wever, the cand ida te ha s slyly dragge d tha t fish across the trail an d switche d top ics to loss of job s du e to c hea p labo r. Le t’s loo k at ano the r example. Timothy: “I saw tha t you have bee n send ing strang e texts to some gu y named Tysea n for the pa st ten nigh ts in a row .” Iris: “W ha t? W he re did y ou hea r tha t?” Timothy: “I did no t hea r it an ywhe re. I che cked y ou r phon e an d saw the texts. Is tha t the same Tysea n tha t you kno w from work? PHL 1010, Critical Thinking 4 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Iris: “You c he ck ed my phone . That show s a total lack of respe ct an d trust for me. W hy do y ou no t trust me? Trust is an impo rtan t pa rt of a relation ship, an d I am no t sure I wan t to be with someon e who do es no t trust me.” No tice in this example tha t the issue is the strang e texts tha t Iris ha s bee n send ing Tysean . However, Iris turns the top ic of discussion to trust an d a que stion ing of Timothy’s trust for he r. W hen ever someone tries to pull us off the track of discussion , it is goo d to pa use a momen t, an d hit the r eset bu tton . W he n the topi c is changed , remind the pe rson wha t the issue is, an d the n tell the pe rson tha t the ir issue c an be discussed after the initial issue is taken c are of. Ar gu me nt Ad Hominem The ad ho mine m argumen t occ urs whe n someon e attacks the pe rson making the argu ment rathe r tha n the argumen t tha t the pe rson is making . In this informal fallacy, the atten tion is turne d from the argumen t to the on e making the argu men t. The re are fou r forms of ad ho mine m tha t we will examine he re. 1. Incon sisten cy ad ho mine m tu quoqu e (you too ). In this form of ad ho mine m, the pe rson po ints ou t tha t the on e making the argu men t engag es in the same beh aviors tha t he or she is argu ing for or ag ainst. For example, imagine tha t you were ou tside smoking with a colleague , an d the c olleagu e said, “Smoking is real ly ba d for you. It cau ses poo r c irculation , de crea ses respiratory volume, an d ha rms the immun e system. You shou ld qui t smoking .” The imm ed iate r espon se wou ld be , “Y ou smoke too!!!” Ho we ver, this ha s no thing to do with the argumen t of the othe r colleague . Just be cau se tha t pe rson smokes too doe s no t mea n tha t his or he r argumen t is un sound . Pointing ou t tha t someon e else doe s it too show s tha t the y migh t be incon sisten t. How ever, it doe s no thing to comba t the validity or soundne ss of a claim. 2. Ad ho mine m abu sive. In this form of ad ho mine m, the response is vitriolic toward the on e making the argu ment. This form of ad ho mine m often occ urs in high schoo l hallways, bu t can also r ead ily occur in the workplace. Le t’s loo k at an example. Employee #1 : “I hea r from Jeff tha t the y are go ing to dow nsize the shipp ing depa rtmen t be cau se sales are de creasing an d the y do no t nee d as man y workers to fill the sales.” Employee #2 : “Jeff is such a slea zy gu y. You real ly canno t bel ieve an ything tha t comes ou t of his mou th. He makes me sick.” Just be cau se someon e is mean , tempe ramental, arrogan t, inapp rop riate, or snide doe s no t au tomatically disquali fy all tha t the pe rson says. Pointing ou t someone’ s ba d fea tures doe s no thing to disprove the argumen ts that he or she makes an d is merely a form of abu sive ad ho mine m. 3. Ad ho mine m circumstan tial. He re, on e attacks ano the r pe rson based on his or he r circumstan ces. W hen ever you say tha t someon e ho lds a spe cific po sition be cau se he or she is pa rt of a spe cific grou p (the r ich, the poo r, the Democrats, the Republ ican s, the Ch ristians, the M uslims, the studen ts, the tea che rs), you c omm it the circumstan tial ad ho mine m fallacy. Le t’s loo k at an example. Frien d #1 : “I think taxes shou ld be lower on peop le who make less mone y be cau se the y nee d every penn y the y can ge t for essential items.” Frien d #2 : “Y ou just think tha t be cau se y ou are a Democrat.” He re is ano the r ex ample: Frien d #1 : “My cou sin Vinn y says it is a goo d time to invest in B erkshire. The y have a ne w drug coming ou t an d it was just pa ssed by the FDA. The y are expe cting profits in excess of 12 billion ne xt yea r.” Frien d #2 : “The on ly rea son y ou r cou sin wan ts us to invest is be cau se he is an investor, an d he will make a pretty penn y off our investmen t.” PHL 1010, Critical Thinking 5 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title The fact tha t cou sin Vinn y loo ks to make mone y off the investmen ts of others is a goo d r ea son to suspend judg men t abou t whe the r or no t someon e shou ld invest. Ho wever, the fact tha t Vinn y is an investor doe s no t au tomatically disquali fy the claims tha t he mad e abou t investing in B erkshire. Pointing ou t a grou p tha t someon e making an argu men t be long s to as a r efutation of the argumen t tha t the pe rson is making is y et ano the r form tha t the ug ly ad ho mine m takes. 1. The ad ho mine m doe s no t always take a nega tive form. The re is such a thing as a po sitive ad ho mine m. In the po sitive ad ho mine m, peop le po int ou t goo d attribu tes of someon e or some grou p in orde r to defen d the pe rson or group . This often happen s in c ases where peop le in high r eligiou s, social, or political po sition s are foun d to have don e something immoral. For example, if a story brea ks tha t a religiou s leade r ha s systematically abu sed c hildren over the c ou rse of his or he r caree r, the n peop le who follow tha t religion will ten d to defen d the leade r even in the face of overwhel ming eviden ce. Membe r #1 : “I do no t kno w, bu t no w the re are ten kids who ha ve c ome forward an d said tha t leade r Jone s ha s inapp rop riate con tact with them. I hea rd tha t five adul ts have come forward as well. It see ms tha t this ha s bee n go ing on for a lon g time. It is ho rrible.” Membe r #2 : “W ell I will tell you something . I just do no t be lieve it. Ho w c an someon e who has don e such goo d for the c ommunity an d all of us have don e something so terrible? It is impo ssible.” As we all lea rn over an d over throughou t the c ou rse of hu man history, just be cau se someon e do es something goo d for peopl e doe s no t mea n tha t he or she doe s no t have a da rk side . To focus on the goo d tha t someon e doe s in r espo nse to nega tive cha rge s or allega tion s tha t have eviden ce is to comm it the po sitive ad ho mine m fallacy. St raw Man Fallac y Straw men are much ligh ter an d are more ea sily pu shed over tha n r eal men . The straw man fallacy occ urs whe n someon e makes a straw argu men t ou t of a r eal argu men t an d the n attacks the straw argu men t. W he n peop le attack a wea kene d form of ano the r pe rson ’s argu men t, the y are comm itting the straw man fallacy. Le t’s loo k at two straw men argumen ts ba sed on the oppo sing sides in the abo rtion deba te. Anti-abo rtionist: “Pr o-cho icers are murde rers. Abo rtion is the murde r of an unbo rn bab y. Tho se who app rove of abo rtion r eal ly app rove of killing inno cen t, unbo rn bab ies. I gue ss it is just my op inion , but I think it is wron g to k ill inno cen t bab ies.” Pr o-abo rtion ist: “Tho se idiot pro-lifers do no t give a hoo t abou t women’ s righ ts. I gue ss the y just wan t women to go ba ck to thei r place in the home, have kids, an d stop go ing to schoo l. The y just wan t women to r eg ress into the Ston e Age an d lose all the r igh ts the y have gaine d in the pa st 10 0 y ea rs.” It is pretty ea sy to see tha t the se are straw men argumen ts. No pe rson who be lieves tha t abo rtion is acc ep tab le wou ld ho ld tha t abo rtion is murde r of an inno cen t bab y. W he n the issue is de fine d this way, the an ti-abo rtion ist is crea ting a straw man argu ment. Almost all peop le wou ld ag ree tha t killing bab ies is wrong , an d peop le wh o be lieve that women shou ld be ab le to ge t abo rtion s wou ld ne ver argu e tha t the y are for the killing of inno cent bab ies. At the same time, the argumen t tha t con trad icts tho se who are aga inst abo rtion also sets up the argu men t in straw man form. Just because peop le who are aga inst abo rtion do no t think that women shou ld be abl e to choo se this op tion doe s no t mea n tha t the y wou ld wan t women to lose the r igh ts tha t the y have ga ine d over the c ou rse of the pa st 10 0 y ea rs. As can be see n from these examples, it is much ea sier to attack an overstated opp osite po sition an d torch a straw man , tha n to respond to ano the r side s strong est argu men t. Ho we ver, the goa l of the c ritical thin ker is to always respon d to his or he r opponen t’s strong est argu men t an d c on ced e valid po ints on the opp osite side . PHL 1010, Critical Thinking 6 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title Suggested Reading Carr, N. (2008, July). Is Google Making Us Stupid? The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is -google -making -us -stupid/306868/ Learning Activities (Non -Grad ed) To gain further knowledge of the material, including key terms, please view this HTML presentation. This will summarize and reinforce the information from these chapters in your textbook. Click here to access the lesson presentation for Unit VII. Non -Graded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not ha ve to submit them. If you have questions contact your instructor for further guidance and information.