Ways arguments can break down
- faulty uses of
- reasoning or logic
- credibility
- emotion
Weak Evidence
Evidence may seem relevant and sufficient to you but may not be to an audience
Insufficiency
- Over-generalization
- Fallacies do not build the best possible case
Unqualified Claims
- People don't change their minds easily
- Readers can be picky
- Qualification is a stated restriction that limits a claim's strength
- Qualifying claims tend to avoid exaggerated arguments
- Weaken the verb
- Narrow the subject
- Limit the object
- Add support
- Qualifying claims tend to avoid exaggerated arguments
Correlation versus Causation
Correlation-when two or more things that can occur at the same time, ex ice cream sales and drowning, they both go up in the summer
Causation-when two or more events become more than coincidental
Changing the Subject
Talking about information that is barely related to the subject
Straw Man Arguments
oversimplified, exaggerated arguments or incorrect opposing arguments to make the opposition seem weak
Truth as Support
things such as religious beliefs or patriotism
Relying Too Much on Credibility
Believing that something is right because of who is saying it, ie dentists on a toothpaste commercial
Getting Emotional
Emotions can cloud good judgement
The Usefulness of Fallacies
Arguments based on sound reasoning can withstand harsher scrutiny
Fallacies aren't necessarily false
Anticipate and Respond to Opposing Views
Anticipate Objections
Imagine potential objections
Walk in Reader's Shoes
Imagine what reader's will think as they read your argument
Identify Potential Controversies
Pg. 61
Play the Devil's Advocate
Challenge ideas, pretend to support opposition, push to consider the implications of our claims
Respond to Objections
We can Concede
acknowledge legitimate objections
We Can Refute
Explain how you arrived at your alternate position
Elaborate to Fill in Gaps
- Incorporate more examples
- Respond to more objections
- Relate the argument to more real-life contexts
- Discuss the larger implications of your argument
- Make connections to other related issues