How to Evaluate Reasoning--Writing Fundamentals

How to Evaluate Reasoning

Writing Fundamentals

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Evaluating Reason

There are a lot of books, movies, and TV shows where kids think their parents are either naive or maybe even from another planet. We'll try to respond to this question today as we look at the idea of evaluating reasoning. Come with me as we look at some of the most famous and common pieces of parental advice to figure out why they say what they say.

How to evaluate reasoning​

Reason in Everyday Life

Assume our fictitious parents like to give their advice by leaving notes in their two children's lunchboxes. Today, Little Johnny pulls out a note from his lunchbox, and it's from his mother. 'Always wear clean underwear; you might be in an accident and the doctors will think you're a dirty person,' his note says. Little Johnny looks at this note in horror; his mother must be from Mars (or, more likely, Pluto) to give him such advice. Hold on, Little Johnny; before we label Mom a space alien, let us use logic to determine whether or not this is sound advice.

How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

So, what steps can Little Johnny take to determine whether Mom's advice is reasonable? Or has she mixed up this world with the one she left behind on Neptune?

How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

The first step for Little Johnny is to analyze the claim. A claim is made up of two parts: the conclusion and the premise. The conclusion is the position taken as a reason to believe. The premise is the supporting argument for the claim. According to Little Johnny's mother, you should always wear clean underwear. The premise, or reason, for wearing clean underwear is that if you are in an accident, the doctors will assume you are dirty. So we have our first two steps laid out for us: identify the conclusion first, and then identify the stated premise second.

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Step 1:  Identify the conclusion

Step 2:  Identify the stated premise

How to evaluate reasoning​

Premise and Conclusion

Premise: An explanatory part of a claim.

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Conclusion: ​The position of a claim.

How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

 Remember that a conclusion can have more than one premise when checking the premise. You should evaluate each premise when deciding whether the conclusion is true or false. This one appears to be a little too straightforward for our character. Little Johnny understands that when he needs underwear in the morning, he should pull it from his drawer, where everything has been washed and folded, rather than from the dirty clothes hamper. But what's the big deal about clean underwear?

How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

However, there could be something wrong with this letter. Little Johnny must pause and reflect for a moment before proceeding. Is there anything else between the lines of this claim? Little Johnny should also look for any unstated assumptions. Is there anything that hasn't been stated that must be true for the premise to lead to the conclusion?

How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

Little Johnny needs to proceed to the next step: number three, identify any implied or unstated premise. An implied or unstated premise is a premise that isn't specifically written out but can be reasonably implied to make the stated principle viable. Our implied or unstated premise in the letter from Johnny's mom might be that clean underwear stays clean following an accident. Hmmm. We will let Little Johnny come to his own conclusion on this one!

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Step 3:  Identify any implied or unstated premise

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

 Little Johnny is now ready to move on to the meat of evaluating reasoning - step four: determine whether the premise provides reasonable support for the conclusion. In this evaluation, two approaches are typically used: inductive and deductive validity.

 

 Step 4:  determine whether the premise provides reasonable support for the conclusion.

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

Inductive validity asks us to determine a reasonable answer based on the given premise and see if it fits our conclusion. In other words, it is unlikely that the premise is true and the conclusion is wrong. But it is possible, though not likely, that even if the premise is true, the conclusion is wrong. So, for inductive validity, we need to make our best guess about what is most likely to happen based on our premise, which leads us to our conclusion.

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Example of Inductive Validity

 Premise: the Earth has been revolving around the sun for millions of years. Conclusion: the Earth will revolve around the sun tomorrow.

 

From the information given, we can reasonably induce that what has been consistent for millions of years will continue to be consistent tomorrow. However, there is a chance, no matter how small, that the Earth will get upset with the sun and choose to flee to another galaxy for a more stable relationship with a more gentle, caring, loving star. There isn't a huge chance that this is going to happen, but we can't completely rule it out, right?

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Deductive Validity

Deductive validity states that it is impossible for the conclusion to be true if the premise is false. In other words, if the premise cannot stand on its own, the conclusion has no chance of being true.

 

In Little Johnny's case, if one's underwear cannot stay clean following an accident, it cannot be true the doctors would assume Little Johnny's soiled pants are from his overall hygiene as opposed to being mauled by a lion on the way to school.

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

Finally, Little Johnny must decide if the premise is correct - number five, evaluate if the premise is true or false. Be sure to back up your conclusion using data you derived from deductive reasoning or an explanation of the approach you utilized with inductive reasoning. Little Johnny will need to be able to explain how he came to his final conclusion.

 

 Step 5:  Evaluate if the premise is true or false.

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

Little Johnny can agree with the conclusion if the premise is true and a good predictor of what will happen in the end. Little Johnny must reject the conclusion if the premise is wrong. If our premise is true but doesn't give us a good idea of what the conclusion will be, Little Johnny must again reject the conclusion based on the premise. The conclusion might be true, but there is no premise in the argument that we can use to test it. Because of this, we have to reject the argument.

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Steps to Evaluating Reason

 Step 1:  Identify the conclusion

 Step 2:  Identify the stated premise

 Step 3:  Identify any implied or unstated premise

 Step 4:  Determine whether the premise provides reasonable support for the conclusion.

 Step 5: Evaluate if the premise is true or false.

 

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How to evaluate reasoning​

Explain and Describe How to Evaluate Reasoning

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To explain _____, it is necessary to understand _____. _____ is understood as _____. The main components are _____ and _____. A greater understanding of _____ increases our awareness of _____.​

How to Evaluate Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Using inductive validity, which is the most likely answer to the following questions? Shelly always seems happy. Shelly will seem what today?

• Shelly is a phony. She isn't really happy.

• We can reasonably conclude that Shelly will be happy.

• People have mistaken Shelly's cues. She can't be that happy.

• We can reasonably conclude that today is Shelly's day to snap. Take cover.

• Everybody has a bad day some times. Since Shelly has had so many good days, this one is going to be bad.

Multiple Choice

What is deductive validity?

• If a premise is true, the conclusion must be false.

• If the conclusion is true, the premise must be false.

• We should divide information into reasonable examples.

• It is impossible for the conclusion to be true if the premise is false

Multiple Choice

What are the two types of premises an argument can have?

• Spoken and mimed.

• Simple and complex.

• Covered and hidden.

• Stated and implied.

• Stated and repeated.

Multiple Choice

If the premise is untrue, what does that mean for the conclusion?

• The conclusion is probably still true. We just have to keep looking.

• The conclusion must be the premise.

• The conclusion is more probable.

• The conclusion must be rejected.

• The conclusion can still be considered true, just unsupported.

Multiple Choice

What is the first step in evaluating reasoning in an essay or article?

• Evaluate the information.

• Begin with a counter argument.

• Identify the conclusion.

• Reject or accept the conclusion.

• Identify the premise.