The Art of Thinking A Guide To Critical

C H A P T E R
4
Be a Critical Reader,
Listener, and Viewer
You may be thinking, This chapter doesnt apply to me. I have no
trouble comprehending the messages I read, hear, and see. But this
chapter isnt about basic comprehension. It is about analyzing and
evaluating the messages you receive and deciding whether they are
worthy of acceptance. Chances are you havent had much training
in this kind of reading, listening, and viewing.
In this chapter, youll learn specific strategies for analyzing and
evaluating messages.
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ot long ago, while searching the Internet, I encountered a reference to an

article describing Pepper Power Bear Spray, which was created by a survivor of a grizzly bear attack for defense against bears, lions, and moose. The
manufacturer promises quick access and potent stopping power. If I were
going camping in the deep woods, I thought to myself, Id certainly feel safer if I
had a good supply of that product.
Then my glance fell on the very next response to my search request. It read,
Bears attracted to repellent, researcher says. My curiosity aroused, I read the
news article. It seems that though pepper spray can indeed stop a charging bear
if sprayed on its face, it has the opposite effect if sprayed on clothing, camping
equipment, or the ground around a campsite. A camper who sprayed it around
his tent was soon surrounded by a bunch of brown bears. A pilot who sprayed it
on his planes pontoons returned to find them chewed up.
The lesson in that experience was dont believe everything you read, hear, or
view. Unfortunately, many people have never learned this lesson. They erroneously assume that if something is published or broadcast, it must be true.
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The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, Tenth Edition, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero. Published by Pearson. Copyright 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Chapter 4
Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer
In reality, even honest, well-intentioned communicators make mistakes;

imperfection is an unavoidable part of being human.
The consequences of being misinformed by what is written or broadcast are
not always as dramatic as being visited by a family of wild and presumably hungry beasts, but are no less real. Every day people undermine their health, make
disastrous investments or career moves, or harm their marriages by uncritically
accepting something theyve read, heard, or viewed. The best safeguard against
such misfortunes is to develop the habit of critical evaluation.
CRITICAL EVALUATION DEFINED

Critical evaluation* is active, thoughtful examination, as opposed to passive
acceptance, of what you read, hear, and see. The standard of judgment in such
evaluation is not how closely the authors view matches your own, but whether
it is accurate and reasonable. Consequently, those who evaluate messages critically are less vulnerable to deception and manipulation than other people.
Our age is not the first to realize the importance of critical evaluation.
Almost 400 years ago, Francis Bacon warned about the danger of reading
improperly. He advised people not to dispute an authors view nor to accept it
uncritically, but to weigh and consider it. In the nineteenth century, British
statesman Edmund Burke expressed the same view in more dramatic terms: To
read without reflection is like eating without digesting. The following explanation by a twentieth-century scholar expands on this idea:
There is one key idea which contains, in itself, the very essence of effective reading, and on which the improvement of reading depends:
Reading is reasoning. When you read properly, you are not merely assimilating. You are not automatically transferring into your head what your
eyes pick up on the page. What you see on the page sets your mind at
work, collating, criticizing, interpreting, questioning, comprehending,
comparing. When this process goes on well, you read well. When it
goes on ill, you read badly.1
*Dont be confused by the fact that the word critical is also used to mean finding fault with.
That is not the meaning intended here.
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By extension, Bacons and Burkes observations apply to listening and viewing as well as to reading. (When they made their observations, though, cinema,
television, and the Internet did not yet exist.) Of course, the intense mental activity they describe is not required for every message. A bus schedule or a menu can
be read with virtually no reflection; an encyclopedia article, light fiction, or a TV
weather report requires relatively little evaluation. Critical evaluation is most relevant, and necessary, when the message is intended to persuade people; that is,
when one perspective or opinion is presented as superior to others. Persuasive
Making Important Distinctions
69
communication can be found in every subjectfrom politics, psychology,

finance, religion, popular culture, and business management to sports, chess, and
even gardening. Although persuasive communication is typically associated with
editorials, opinion essays, and letters to editors, it can also be found in TV talk
shows, commercials, blogs, and even in news reports and textbooks. Wherever it
is found, you are challenged to evaluate the message critically.
MAKING IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS

A fundamental requirement for critical evaluation is making distinctions.
The most important and most often overlooked ones are the following.
The Distinction Between the Person and the Idea

Your reaction to a sentence beginning Adolf Hitler said . . . would probably be
very different from your reaction to one beginning Winston Churchill said. . . .
In the first instance, you might not even continue reading. At the very least, you
would read with great suspicion and be ready to reject what was said. Theres
nothing strange about that. Youve learned things about Hitler and Churchill, and
its difficult to set this information aside. In one sense, you shouldnt set it aside.
Yet, in another sense, you must set it aside to be a good thinker. After all, even a
lunatic can have a good idea, and a genius will, on occasion, be wrong.
If you do not control your tendency to accept or reject ideas on the basis of
who expresses them, your analysis of everything you read, hear, and view is certain to be distorted. You will judge arguments on whether the speaker is of your
race, religion, political affiliation, or generation. Consequently you might
embrace nonsense and reject wisdom. Aristotles contemporaries tell us he had
very thin legs and small eyes, favored conspicuous dress and jewelry, and was
fastidious in the way he combed his hair.2 Its not hard to imagine some Athenian
ignoramus muttering to friends the ancient Greek equivalent of Dont pay any
attention to what Aristotle sayshes a wimp.
To guard against confusing the person and the idea, be aware of your reactions to people and try compensating for them. That is, listen more carefully to
people you are inclined to dislike and more critically to people you are inclined
to like. Judge the arguments as harshly as you wish, but only on their merits
as arguments.
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The Distinction Between Matters of Taste

and Matters of Judgment
In Chapter 2, we saw that there are two broad types of opinion: taste and
judgment. They differ significantly. In matters of taste we may express our personal preferences without defending them. In matters of judgment, however, we
have an obligation to provide evidencethat is, supporting material that provides a basis for our view. Only when evidence is sufficient in both quality and
quantity to remove all reasonable doubt and establish certainty does it qualify as
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proof. Evidence may take a variety of forms, notably factual details, statistics,
examples, anecdotes, quotations, comparisons, or descriptions.
Many people confuse taste and judgment. They believe their right to hold an
opinion is a guarantee of the opinions rightness. This confusion often causes
them to offer inadequate support (or no support at all) for views that demand
support. For example, they express judgments on such controversial issues as
abortion, capital punishment, the teaching of evolution in the schools, mercy
killing, discrimination in hiring, and laws concerning rape as if they were matters of taste rather than matters of judgment.
Keep in mind that whenever someone presents an opinion about the truth
of an issue or the wisdom of an actionthat is, whenever someone presents a
judgmentyou, as a critical thinker, have not only the right but also a duty to
judge that opinion by the evidence. To be a careful thinker, you must do so.
The Distinction Between Fact and Interpretation

A fact is something known with certainty, something either objectively verifiable or
demonstrable. An interpretation is an explanation of meaning or significance. Frequently, facts and interpretations are so intertwined that we have difficulty deciding
where one leaves off and the other begins. Here is an example of such intertwining:
Poverty causes crime? According to
James Q. Wilson and Richard
Herrnstein, During the 1960s, one
neighborhood in San Francisco had
the lowest income, the highest
unemployment rate, the highest
proportion of families with incomes
under four thousand dollars a year,
the least educational attainment, the
highest tuberculosis rate, and the
highest proportion of substandard
housing. . . . That neighborhood was
called Chinatown. Yet, in 1965, there
were only five persons of Chinese
ancestry committed to prison in the
entire [emphasis added] state of
California.
The first four sentences are factual

statements. The final sentence is
the authors interpretation.
Roxbury, Massachusetts,
predominantly black and
impoverished area, sits next to South
Boston, a predominantly white and
impoverished area. Both contain the
same percentage of single-parent
households, and public housing
accounts for the same percentage of
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This paragraph presents facts from

research conducted by others.
(The author cites his
source in a footnote.)
Making Important Distinctions
71
the population. Yet, the violent

crime rate in Roxbury, the black
area, is four times the rate of that in
South Boston. If poverty caused
crime, one would expect the
numbers to be closer to equal.
This entire paragraph is
the authors interpretation of the
facts he presented in the previous
paragraphs.
No, the formula is more likely the

other way around: crime causes
poverty. The more crime, the less
incentive for businesspeople to
locate businesses in that area. Store
owners must charge consumers
more to offset losses caused by theft
and higher insurance premiums.
Homeowners, apartment dwellers,
and business people pay increased
security costs to combat the everpresent threat of theft or violent
crime. This impoverishes
neighborhoods.3
The danger in failing to distinguish between fact and interpretation is that

you will regard uncritically statements that ought to be questioned and contrasted with other views. If the habit of confusing the two is strong enough, it
can paralyze your critical sense.
The Distinction Between Literal and Ironic Statements

Not everything that is said is intended to be taken literally. Sometimes, a writer
makes a point by saying the exact opposite of what is meantthat is, by using irony
or satire. Suppose, for example, you encountered this passage in your reading:
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Congress is right in reducing the taxes of the wealthy more than those
of the working classes. After all, wealthy people not only pay more into
the treasury but they also have a higher standard of living to maintain.
If the cost of soybeans has risen, so also has the cost of caviar; if the
subway fare has increased, so has the maintenance cost of a RollsRoyce and a Lear jet. If the government listens to the minor grumbling
and whining of the unemployed, it surely should be responsive to the
plight of the affluent.
On the surface, this certainly looks like a plea on behalf of the rich. But on
closer inspection, it will be seen as a mockery of that plea. The clues are subtle,
to be sure, but undeniable: the reference to the higher standard of living, the
comparison of travel by Rolls-Royce or jet with travel by subway, the reference
to the plight of the rich. Such tongue-in-cheek writing can be more biting and
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therefore more effective than a direct attack. Yet you must be alert to the subtlety and not misread it, or the message you receive will be very different from
the message that has been expressed.
The Distinction Between an Ideas Validity

and the Quality of Its Expression
The way an idea is expressed can influence peoples reactions. This is why a mad
leader like Hitler was popular even among intelligent and otherwise responsible
people and why followers of cult leaders have been known to kill their children
and commit suicide. Impassioned, eloquent expression tends to excite a favorable
response, just as lifeless, inarticulate, error-filled expression prompts a negative
response. Compare these two passages:
1. Aint right to treat some folks good and others bad. If a man dont treat all
equal, he aint much of a man.
2. To achieve success in a competitive world, you must honor the first principle
of success: Treat well those people who can benefit you, and ignore the others.
The first passage may seem less appealing than the second. And yet it contains
an idea most philosophers would enthusiastically endorse, whereas the second
contains an idea most would find reprehensible. Careful thinkers are able to appraise the passages correctly because they are aware that expression can deceive.
Such thinkers make a special effort to separate form from content before judging. Thus they are able to say, This idea is poorly expressed but profound and
This idea is well expressed but shallow.
The Distinction Between Language and Reality
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Language is our principal means of understanding reality and communicating

that understanding to others. Words come so naturally and become so closely
associated with what they represent that we may unconsciously regard them as
synonymous with reality. That can be a costly mistake. A peoples language
develops according to its insights and observations, and because no single group
has equal insight into all dimensions of reality, no language is perfectly suited to
express all realities. For example, Iniuts have many words for snow, each word
denoting a certain kind of snow (heavy and wet versus light and fluffy, small and
fine versus large and dense, and so on), so they can speak with much greater precision about snow than can English-speaking peoples. Similarly, the ancient
Greeks had a number of words for love, each representing a distinct type of love
(love of God, love of family, romantic or sexual love, and so forth), whereas we
require our word love to bear an excessive burden and thereby create confusion
in our discourse.
The word self is another good example of a term that is made to carry more
meaning than it can bear. We say, I made myself resist that triple chocolate
truffle cake, You really ought to give yourself a chance to get over one lousy
relationship before entering another, and Bill is not himself these days. In
each of these constructions there seem to be two distinct selves: in the first, the
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one controlling and the one controlled; in the second, the giver and the receiver;
and in the third, Bill and not-Bill. As Peggy Rosenthal has shown, the problem
is not limited to informal, everyday expression but is found in psychological
discourse as well:
One thing [writers about psychology] often seem to have in mind is that
self is a goal of some kind. But the kind varies. It can be the goal of what
sounds like a treasure hunt (the familiar finding of ones self ), a trip
(the long journey to achieve selfhood), a vegetable (the maturation of
the self), or a vaguely Aristotelian process (self-actualization is actualization of a self). Sometimes, though, self seems not to be a goal but to
have goals of its own: the [mature] self now expresses . . . its intentions
and goals. . . . [It can even be] a sort of balloon that expands and contracts with our moods: theres that enlargement of self that goes into
feeling good, whereas in despair we have a reduced sense of self.4
Rosenthal notes that some writers use self and sense of self interchangeably.
But how can this be? she asks. Can the sense, or awareness, of something be
equal to the thing itself? The ultimate confusion, she suggests, is found in a passage written by Carl Rogers in which he uses self to mean both the considering
agent and the object of consideration in the same sentence.5
The reality of the self would be no less complex if we had half a dozen
words, each designating a single aspect, instead of merely one word, but our discourse would undoubtedly be less confusing and we might well achieve a deeper,
more accurate understanding of that reality. In any case, keeping in mind the distinction between language and reality will help you approach both your thinking
and your communication with appropriate care and humility.
A STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL READING

So much for the distinctions essential to critical evaluation. Now well consider a
five-step strategy for critical reading: Skim, Reflect, Read, Evaluate, and Express
Your Judgment. Well examine each in turn. (Strategies for critical listening and
viewing will be discussed later in this chapter.)
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Step 1: Skim the Work

To skim is to glance at selected parts of a book or article in order to gain an
overview of it. On average, skimming should take about 15 or 20 minutes for a
book and 5 or 10 minutes for an article. When done effectively, skimming will
not only make your reading easier and more effective, but it will also save you
time by sparing you the chore of rereading all or part of the work.
Skimming should answer these questions: What issue is the author writing
about? What is the authors position on this issue? What are the main divisions
(subtopics) of the book or article? How much evidence does the author offer in
support of his or her view? What type(s) of evidence?
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In the case of a book, skim the preface or introduction for a statement of the
authors purpose in writing and essential message, the table of contents for the
breakdown and sequence of the contents, the beginnings and ends of one or two
chapters to learn whether the author provides previews or summaries (if they are
provided, skim them for each chapter), and the endnotes and/or bibliography to
see how well documented the book is and the kinds of sources the author
has used. If time permits, skim the entire concluding chapter to learn what judgments and/or recommendations the author makes. Sometimes the final chapter
will summarize the main argument presented in the book.
For articles, skim the introduction, the section headings, the first paragraph
following each heading, and the conclusion.
Step 2: Reflect on Your Views

Ask yourself: What ideas do I have about this subject that could create a bias for
or against the authors view and prevent me from giving it a fair hearing?
Bias can occur in one of two ways. The more obvious way is to have thought
carefully about the issue, considered the opposing views, and decided that the
evidence supports one better than the others. Far from being shameful, this
process is praiseworthythe purpose of thinking, after all, is to form conclusions. But is it fair to prejudge one authors presentation on the basis of our prior
conclusion about some other authors presentation? No. The author we are reading now may have compelling new evidence or may expose an error in our thinking. The only way we can be sure is to set aside our prior conclusion long enough
to read fairly.
The other way in which bias can occur is more subtle, so subtle in fact that
we may be unaware of it. Each of us has many ideas that we did not form for
ourselves, ideas that slipped into our minds when we were not paying close
attention. Such ideas include the ones our parents and teachers expressed while
we were growing up, statements made by people on talk shows or characters in
films, advertising jingles, and all our casual perceptions, impressions, hunches,
and assumptions. Many of these ideas have no doubt faded, but othersnotably
the popular ones that we have heard repeated time and againare still present
and can impact our thinking. These repeated ideas may become so familiar and
comfortable that we are inclined to defend them, even though we have never
evaluated them and, for that reason, they are not really our own. Because this
kind of bias is both unconscious and irrational, it can pose a greater problem
than the more obvious kind.
The purpose of reflection is to become aware of both kinds of bias and to
control them during the remaining steps.
Step 3: Read the Work
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If you have skimmed well, this step will be relatively easy. You will already
know what the author is saying; you will also understand the sequence of the
authors points and the kinds and amounts of evidence presented. Now your
task is to deepen and refine your understanding. Read the entire work carefully,
in a single sitting if possible. Keep a pen or pencil in hand while reading and
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underline the most important sentences. Try to limit your underlining to one
sentence per several paragraphs. Where appropriate, add your questions and
thoughts in the margin.
In the case of a book or a long article, it is a good idea to summarize what
you have read. To do this, review the sentences you have marked as important
and combine two or more, as long as you dont change the meaning. Next write
your summary in complete sentences, keeping to the original phrasing and the
original order of presentation as much as possible to avoid distortion. Then
briefly note in your own words the evidence offered by the writer. Do not
attempt to elaborate on the evidence as the author did, or your summary will be
too long to be useful.
If you have summarized effectively, you should now have a brief version of
the original work that is faithful in content yet much easier to analyze. A whole
book can be reduced to several paragraphs in this way; a full-length magazine
article, to seven or eight sentences or less. Whenever you summarize, however,
keep in mind the danger of distortion and oversimplification. It is not only
unfair but also pointless to criticize an author for something he or she did not say.
Step 4: Evaluate What You Read

Begin by reading your summary carefully so that you grasp the authors main
points and the evidence offered for each. Then answer the following questions.
(Note: Some questions will require you to reexamine the work itself and not just
your summary of it. In such cases, your summary will help you determine in
which chapter or section to look.)
Are any of the authors terms vague or ambiguous (open to more than
one meaning)? In such cases, you will have to decide what meaning
is implied.
Does the author use emotionally charged language as a substitute for
evidence? Words like harassment, terrorism, rape, censorship, diversity,
multicultural, human rights, family values, justice, empowerment, freedom,
liberty, rights, and choice tend to evoke an emotional response. Persuasive
writing may make us feel as well as think, but when it makes us feel instead
of think, it is dishonest.
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Is the authors evidence relevant to the issue? No matter how comprehensive

and authoritative evidence may be, if it has no bearing on the issue under
discussion, it does not deserve our consideration.
Did the author omit any significant evidence? Often, the weakness in an
argument lies in what the author does not say. For example, lets say an
author stated that several years ago, an American engineer and his wife
visited the Congo, trying to find evidence of a dinosaur-like creature
reportedly living there; and also that they returned with a picture that they
said documented their sighting of the creature. Everything in the statement
is correct.6 However, one important detail is missing: the picture was
severely underexposed and therefore worthless as documentation.
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Are the authors examples and cases typical and comprehensive? The
authors citation of some examples and cases does not necessarily establish
the arguments validity. If the cases are extraordinaryexceptions rather
than typical instancesthey are worth very little. Similarly, if they represent
one narrow aspect of the issue, they may not adequately support the
authors argument.
If the author cites a scientific study, has it been replicated? The practice
of the scientific community is to withhold endorsement of any researchers
findings until they have been independently confirmed. This is a wise
approach, for some studies are proven to be flukes.
If the author cites a survey, what organization designed and administered
it? How large was the sample? Was it random? A survey that does not
conform to established statistical principles is worthless as evidence.
Are the sources of information cited by the author still current? There is
nothing necessarily wrong with old sources. Something written in 1800 may
still be valid today. But later findings may have discredited older views.
Are the experts cited by the author authoritative and reliable? The fact of
being well known does not make one an authority. A Nobel Prize winner in
physics may be totally incompetent in psychology or government. And even
if the person cited is an authority in the field in question, the view is open
to question if the person has been guilty of unreliability (professional
dishonesty, for example) in the past.
Do other experts agree with the experts cited by the author? In controversial matters, there is seldom any more agreement among experts than
among nonexperts. A little investigation may reveal that the experts cited
by the author hold the minority view!
What criticisms and counterarguments would someone who holds a different position make about this book or article? Nothing reveals the flaws on
one side of an issue better than hearing the other side.
Does the author commit any errors in logic? For example, does the author
overgeneralize, oversimplify, or assume facts not in evidence?
Is the authors conclusion about the evidence the most reasonable one, or is
another conclusion more reasonable? Like the rest of us, authors sometimes
yield to their biases and interpret evidence in a way that flatters their prior
opinions. In such cases, an objective assessment of the evidence may
produce a different conclusion.
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As you no doubt realize, the answers to many of these questions are not
likely to be found either in the book or article you are evaluating or in your
own head. To answer them will require further investigation on your part.
Be sure to conduct whatever investigation is necessary before making your
final judgment.
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Step 5: Express Your Judgment

One mistake readers commonly make in evaluating a book or article is to assume
that they must agree completely or disagree completely with the author. More
often than not, the most reasonable response is to accept some parts of an
authors argument, reject others, and perhaps be uncertain about still others.
The following guidelines will assist you in expressing your judgment.
1. If you agree in part and disagree in part, explain exactly what your position
is and support it carefully. Remember that good thinkers will judge your
arguments as closely as you judge other peoples arguments.
2. If some vagueness or ambiguity in the authors argument prevents you from
giving a flat answer, dont attempt one. Rather, say, it depends, and go on
to explain. The if-then approach is very helpful in such cases. Heres how it
works. Suppose someone had written, A human being is an animal. You
might respond as follows.
It depends on what you mean by animal. If you mean human being is

included in the broad classification animal, as opposed to vegetable or
mineral, then I agree. But if you mean a human being has nothing more
than animal nature, no intellect and will that distinguish him or her
from other members of the animal kingdom, then I disagree. I believe
that . . .
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3. If you must deal with conflicting testimony and cannot decide your position
with certainty, identify the conflict and explain why you cannot be certain. If
you believe that circumstances seem somewhat in favor of one side, explain
those circumstances and why you are inclined to judge them as you do.
An example of conflicting testimony occurred some years ago in the highly
publicized trial of Jack Henry Abbott. Abbott, who had spent 24 of his 37 years
behind prison bars, was paroled after Norman Mailer arranged for Abbotts
book, In the Belly of the Beast, to be published. Six weeks after his parole,
Abbott stabbed a waiter in a dispute over the use of a restroom. Abbott testified
that he thought the waiter had pulled a knife first and that he lunged forward
with his knife in self-protection. A passerby, however, witnessed the incident and
testified that the waiter had made what appeared to be a conciliatory gesture
and turned to walk away when Abbott raced after him, reached over his shoulder, and stabbed him with terrible ferocity, then taunted him as he lay dying.7
In this case, you might reasonably say that although you cannot be certain
which testimony is correct, circumstances seem to favor the witnesss testimony.
You would go on to explain that Abbotts testimony was more likely than the
witnesss to be colored by emotion and self-interest.
These guidelines may seem to encourage evasion or straddling the fence.
They are not intended to do so and should not be used for that purpose. Apply
them when reasonableness demands a qualified answer, not in situations in
which timidity prompts you to avoid answering.
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A SAMPLE EVALUATION AND JUDGMENT

To see how a typical evaluation might proceed, imagine you are evaluating a
magazine article arguing that inferior people should be sterilized at puberty.
You have completed the first three steps in the critical reading process and have
summarized the authors argument as follows. (For reference purposes, the sentences
and items of evidence are numbered.)
1. A serious world population problem exists today.
2. The ideal solution is for everyone to be responsible in deciding whether he or
she should reproduce.
3. However, few people make that decision rationallyemotion overwhelms
logic.
4. Moreover, the least talented and least intelligent are likely to have the most
children.
5. In time, this tendency may set the process of evolution in reverse.
6. The best and most practical solution is to identify inferior people and force
them to be sterilized at puberty.
As evidence in support of the argument, the article presented:
7. UN statistics on world population.
8. Selected UN statistics on world poverty, illiteracy, and disease.
9. A research study showing that more affluent, better-educated, higher-IQ
couples tend to have fewer children.
10. Quotations from geneticists showing the favorable genetic effects that would
occur if only higher-IQ individuals were to reproduce.
11. Quotations from medical authorities showing the benefits that would
accrue to world health if people with hereditary diseases did not reproduce.
Your evaluation of the argument and evidence might look like this (parenthetical numbers refer to the preceding statements and evidence).
Concerning the Clarity of the Argument:
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Several terms are ambiguous. Do talented and intelligent (4) refer to the
broad range of abilities or to some specific ones? People with mild
mental impairment often possess considerable talent and intelligence
if measured by a broad definition of the terms. Does the process of evolution (5) mean survival of the physically fit or the perpetuation of culture as we know it? And does inferior people (6) mean those with
hereditary diseases, the mentally impaired, neurotics, nonconformists,
or all of these?
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Concerning the Questions Informed Critics Might Raise:
These are the most probable ones: Isnt it possible that forced sterilization might pose even worse dangers to civilization than a reversing of
evolution (5)? Might it not lead to tyranny? Wouldnt a better and
more practical solution (6) be to improve the distribution of wealth
among nations, to find cures for disease, to share technology, and to
expand educational opportunity (including education in birth control
methods)?
Concerning the Kind and Quality of the Evidence:
One significant question about some of the evidence (10, 11) concerns
how typical and comprehensive it is. Is the view expressed in the quotations one that is shared by most geneticists and medical authorities, or
is it a minority position? An even more important question concerns
the evidence that is omitted. Surely psychologists, sociologists, historians, and ethicists could contribute to this issue. Some of the questions
they could answer are these: What psychological effects would forced
sterilization have on those subjected to it? A feeling of worthlessness,
perhaps, or rage? What social behavior would be likely to result from
such effects? Violence? Revolution? What historical precedents are
there to help us measure the probable effects? Is forced sterilization
consistent with respect for persons?
In light of these considerations, you might conclude that although the world
population problem and the related concerns of poverty, illiteracy, and disease
are serious and should be addressed, the idea of forced sterilization should be
opposedat least until its advocates clarify their terms and answer the important critical questions. If you were to make a formal response to the argument in
an analytical paper or article, you would develop your ideas thoroughly, meeting
the same standards you expect of others. (For a discussion of the principles and
approaches used in analytical writing, see Chapter 14.)
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A STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL LISTENING

In one respect, critical listening is little different from critical reading. Both
involve the evaluation of messages expressed in words, so both require all the
careful distinctions described earlier in the chapter. Yet in other respects, critical
listening is very different from critical reading. In listening, there is no opportunity to get an overview of the message before it is deliveredin other words,
there is no activity comparable to skimming a piece of writing. Once uttered, the
spoken word is gone, and there is no way to go back and hear what we missed
because of some distraction (unless, of course, the message was recorded).
Another difference is that listening is a more emotional activity than reading. In
listening, we do not just receive the messagewe also hear a human voice, with
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its inflections, its emphases, and its passion. If the speaker is physically present,
we see his or her body and notice the gestures and facial expressions that accompany the words. These sounds (and sights) can make the message seem more or
less insightful than it actually is. They can also make us more absorbed in the
message or, conversely, distracted from it.
The importance of critical listening is nowhere more evident than in politics.
For example, no presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy has been more
enthusiastically received than Barack Obama, who combines attractive physical
appearance with extraordinary eloquence. His speeches contain allusions to
inspiring leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and Martin
Luther King, Jr. They are also filled with phrases such as change we can believe
in, the unfinished business of perfecting our Union, and a new birth of freedom upon this Earth, as well as frequent references to hope, justice, and opportunity. Such language evokes powerful feelings that tend to suppress critical
questioning.8 Here is a four-step strategy for listening critically, even in cases in
which the force of the message and the quality of the delivery discourage critical
evaluation.
Step 1: Set Aside Preconceptions

Preconceptions are the previously formed beliefs and attitudes that you bring to
an issue. Unless you set them aside, your listening is almost certain to be biased
in favor of what you already believe. To set aside your preconceptions, you must
first admit that you have them, and then be alert for their influence, which will
usually take the form or strong feelingsmore specifically, positive feelings
toward speakers you agree with and negative feelings toward speakers you disagree with. Such feelings will often arise even before the speaker has finished
speaking. This is especially so in the case of negative feelings, which can prompt
you to block out what the speaker is saying. (The most blatant example of such
behavior is the habit of many talk-show guests of interrupting and shouting
down those with whom they disagree.) Whenever you start to experience strong
feelings, positive or negative, about a speaker, remind yourself that they can
block the understanding you will need for critical evaluation.
Step 2: Focus on the Message
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Even when your preconceptions are in check, your mind may tend to wander
from what the speaker is saying. For example, if the speaker expresses an opinion that differs from yours, you may feel the urge to begin framing your
response. That is a natural reaction and there is nothing wrong with it when the
time is right. The problem is that if you give in to that urge while the person is
speaking, you will stop listening and thus miss his or her elaboration of the
opinionthat is, the further descriptions, qualifications, and supporting data.
In that case, however carefully you may construct your response, it will not fit
what the speaker actually said but only your speculations about what he or she
might say. On the other hand, if you resist the urge to frame your response and
continue to focus on what the person is saying, you will gain the understanding
A Strategy for Critical Viewing
81
necessary to construct a truly effective response. A special caution is in order

here: when you are listening to a point of view that disagrees with your own,
you will probably not encounter a single temptation to stop listening, but
multiple temptations. Resist them all.
Step 3: Identify Key Assertions and Supporting Information

All coherent spoken presentations of ideas have the same basic components as
written presentationsa main assertion or claim and the evidence and/or reasoning that supports that claim. Longer or more complex presentations may also
have secondary assertions or claims, together with supporting evidence/reasoning.
The third step in critical listening consists of identifying these assertions and the
information offered in support of them. Put more simply, the third step consists
of answering these questions: What viewpoint does the speaker hold, and why
does he/she hold that viewpoint? The best way to answer these questions is to
record the presentation and replay it as often as necessary for understanding. If
recording is not possible or practical, take notes during the presentation. If the
presentation is followed by a question-and-answer period, ask for clarification
of any vague or ambiguous statements.
Steps 4 and 5: Evaluate the Message and

Express Your Judgment
These steps are essentially the same as those explained in steps 4 and 5 of the
A Strategy for Critical Reading discussed earlier in the chapter. The only difference is that in critical listening you will not be aided by a written summary of the
speakers message but will have to rely on your record of his or her key points.
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A STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL VIEWING

Technological advances in communication and entertainment have inspired new
and more varied uses of visual material and have led to a new subdiscipline known
alternatively as visual communication and visual rhetoric. These developments
have made critical viewing as important as critical reading and critical listening.
One form of visual communication is statistical graphics. Some people tend
to be less critical of graphs and charts than they are of words alone, as if graphs
and charts were less open to error. But that is a mistake. Edward Tufte, a leading
scholar of graphics, describes them as instruments for reasoning about quantitative information and as pictures of . . . numbers. Noting that graphics are
as open to error as prose, Tufte explains that graphic distortionthat is, error
occurs when the picture of the numbers is at odds with the numbers themselves
or the facts that are represented by the numbers. He adds that the danger is
increased by the fact that mass market graphics are usually done by people with
artistic but not statistical backgrounds. They aim for beauty rather than statistical integrity. The consequence is over-decorated and simplistic designs, tiny
data sets, and big lies.9
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To view graphics critically, decide on the meaning of the data from the data
itself rather than from the form in which it is presented. Remember that the
design of the graphic has the power to distort as well as to reveal meaning.
Another form of visual communication is the advertisement in either the static form of print or the dynamic form of the television commercial. The primary
aim of advertising, unlike that of statistical graphics, is more to stir the emotions
than to appeal to the mind. Walter Dill Scott, an advertising executive and early
theorist, argued that suggestion is of universal application to all persons, while
reason is a process which is exceptional, even among the wisest. Scott advised
advertisers to appeal to emotions, particularly to sympathy.10 John Watson, the
founder of Behaviorism and a consultant to advertisers, went much further than
Scott, arguing that people are not moved by reason at all but only by emotion.
He therefore saw the job of advertising as manipulating the publics emotions in
much the same manner that Pavlov had manipulated the physiological responses
of dogs.11 Although some modern advertisers disavow the philosophy of Scott,
Watson, and their followers, it continues to dominate the field.
To view advertising critically, you must remember that it is usually aimed at
your feelings rather than at your mind. Then you should ask: What feelings is
this ad designed to evoke in me? What words does it employ to evoke that feeling? What pictures and sounds? What people? Admired celebrities? People I envy
or pity? Answering these questions takes the advertisement out of the realm of
feelings and into the realm of thinking, where you can evaluate it.
A third form of visual communication is the dramatic presentation. This
form can be traced back to the ancient Greek comedies and tragedies, but the
presentations we are most familiar with are television programs and movies.
Critical viewing of dramatic presentations is also as old as the form itself, and
the basic questions remain the same today: How do the characters relate to one
another and how do their personal qualities contribute to those relationships?
What is the plot or story line and how does it unfold? What specific conflict or
conflicts are central to the plot? What is the setting and how does it contribute
to the action? What is the theme or meaning (previous generations preferred the
term lesson or moral) of the presentationthat is, what idea does it convey
about people or life?
The last question has been difficult to answer because dramatists have traditionally eschewed preaching but instead allowed the action and the interrelationships among the characters to suggest the theme. Today the question is even more
difficult to answer, not because dramatic presentations have become more sophisticated (the opposite is often the case), but because cinematic technology has
made it possible to create dramas filled with excitement yet lacking in meaning
for example, a series of chase scenes, explosions, and sexual encounters with little
or no plot or character development.
To view dramatic presentations critically, ask the basic questions about characters, plot, setting, and theme. In addition, decide how realistic and believable
the presentation is. Look in particular for signs that story has been contrived to
serve the authors personal agenda. Typical signs include stereotyped characters,
oversimplified relationships, and slanted dialogue.
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WARM-UP EXERCISES
4.1
Make up as many new wordsnonwords like garrumptiveas you

can to reflect peoples moods. In each case, indicate the specific mood
each word reflects. Be sure to list many possible words before choosing
the best one.
4.2
Make up a new name for yourself (both first name and last), one that
fits the special qualities you have or are striving for. Be sure to consider unusual names (Honor Trueblood, Rick Decent), and list many
possibilities before choosing the best one.
4.3
Your young nephew is confused. He has learned He who hesitates

is lost and Haste makes waste. The sayings seem to oppose each
other, and he wants to know which is right. Answer in a way he will
understand.
APPLICATIONS
4.1
Read the following dialogue carefully. Decide which statements are

reasonable and which are not. Provide a brief explanation of why
you consider any statement unreasonable.
[Scene: A college dormitory room. A discussion is in progress. George
and Ed, freshmen at Proudly Tech, are discussing academic affairs
with their sophomore roommate, Jake.]
GEORGE: When I arrived on campus last month, I went to see my
adviser to get my freshman English course waived. I didnt

get to first base with him. Everyone takes freshman
English, he said. Everyone! Ill bet hes got that line
taped and just plays it whenever a student raises the question. It really burns me having to take that course. I can
see it as a requirement for most students. But I earned
straight Bs in high school English. Why should I spend
more time on that stuff in college?
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ED:
Youre right, George. This place is like homeeverybodys

on your back making you do things you dont want to do.
I should have gone to Bloomville State instead of to this
dump.
JAKE: Whats so great about Bloomville State?

ED: They let you take whatever courses you want. No
required courses at all.

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JAKE: Look, my uncle went there after the Vietnam War. He told
me a lot about his college days. But he never mentioned that.

ED: Its true. Listen, there was this guy I was talking to at the
bar in the train station when I was coming up here. He

goes to Bloomville, and he told me they had no required
courses.
GEORGE: That really bugs me. Straight Bs. And still Ive got to take
this crappy course. . . .

JAKE: Listen, pal. Youre lucky you were born talented in writing.
I wish I had that gift. For me, nothing but Ds and Fs.
Hopeless.
ED: Whod you have for English, Jake?
JAKE: Crawford. An OK guy, I guess, but sort of scholarly. Talks
over everybodys head, always quoting some writer or other.

ED: Ive got Mr. Schwartz. Whats the word on him?
JAKE: Three of my friends had him last year and two got Bs and
one a B+. A guy who grades like that has got to be a winner.
GEORGE: Im glad somebodys luck held. Mine certainly didnt. For
the two comps Ive written so far, Ive got a D+ and a C-.
JAKE: Who have you got?
GEORGE: Mr. Stiletto.
JAKE: He wasnt here last year.
GEORGE: Ill bet hes just out of graduate school. Or maybe he never
went. At any rate, he sure has it in for me. Maybe hes

prejudiced against Germans.
ED: Maybe you picked the wrong side of the issue to write
onyou know, the one he disagrees with.

GEORGE: Hey, you may be right. The first topic was birth control,
and Im sure hes Catholic because I saw a little statue of

Jesus on his car dashboard when his wife dropped him off
outside the building last week. I wrote in favor of
abortion. Wow. What a jerk I am. Hey, and come to think
of it, that second comp. . . .
JAKE: I should have taken him for comp. Im Catholic.
GEORGE: That second comp was on civil rights. And I know hes
JAKE: Wait till you guys take psych next year. I dont know if Ill
be able to last till the end of the term. Its the boringest
subject ever thought up. Professor Clifford walks in, opens
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against blacks. The guy who sits next to me is black, and

Stiletto really cut him down just because he was late a few
times. And theres a black girl he always calls on for the
tough questions. No wonder I got a C-.
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his book, and begins reading from his notes in a low mumble: Mmmm . . . Freud says . . . mmmmmm . . . Oedipus
complex . . . repression . . . mmmmm. Deadliest stuff you
ever heard. Im glad I dont need another social science
course. Those guys are really out of it.
ED: Doesnt he ever let you discuss what you read?
JAKE: Yeah, once in a while. Yesterday, for example, we were talk-
ing about some guy named Frankl, and Clifford said that
according to this Frankl, boredom causes people more problems than distress does. Some kids in the class gave examples
of how thats soyou know, there are always some guys
looking to agree with the prof. to make some points. . . .
ED
& GEORGE: Yeah.

JAKE: . . . And so I raised my hand and said that that guy Frankl
was all wet, that everybody knows that distress causes more
problems than boredom. I told him that my own experience
proved it because five years ago, when my father lost his job,
my family really had to struggle for more than a year. We had
problems, believe me, and they werent caused by boredom!
GEORGE: What did he say to that?
JAKE: Well, he mumbled something about Frankl not meaning
that. And then he started tossing around a lot of statistics

and examples to try to get me confused. He couldnt
corner me, though. I finally said, Frankls entitled to his
opinion; Ive got my own.
GEORGE: Hey, thats great. I bet he cursed you out under his breath.
You really nailed him.

JAKE: Yeah, I guess I did. When I get mad, I can argue pretty
good. Now Ive just got to be careful he doesnt take it out

on me in my grade.
ED: Say, fellas, Ive got to cut out. Im going to the library and
prepare for tomorrows English class.

GEORGE: Whats your assignment?
ED: Oh, a piece by Orwell. We just have to read it and be
ready to discuss it. Ive read it five times already, but I

cant find anything wrong with it, nothing to disagree
with. Ill just have to read it again. Be seeing you.
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4.2
Follow the directions for Application 4.1. In addition, decide what

action you would recommend if you were a school board member.
Explain why you think that action is best.
[Scene: The Alertia, Indiana, town hall. The members of the Alertia
school board are meeting with a group of parents concerned about the
schools new sex education program for seventh- and eighth-graders.]
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CHAIR: Id like to welcome the guests of the board to our regular
meeting. As you all know, the board agreed to Ms. Jacksons

request for an opportunity for those who wished to present
their views on the schools new program in sex education.
As we know, sex was around for quite a while before this
program began, heh, heh. [Silence]
MS. SCHULTZ: Its exactly that sort of levity about this dangerous
program that worries me.

CHAIR: Im sorry, Ms. Schultz. I only meant that as a little joke.
MS. SCHULTZ: Well, theres nothing funny about a program that introduces
raw sex into the minds of innocent young children.

MS. JACKSON: The reason we asked for this meeting is that we feel that
what is taking place in sex education class goes beyond the

bounds of decency.
CHAIR: Could you be more specific, please? Just what is taking place?
MS. JACKSON: Someone told me that Ms. Babette encouraged the students
to touch each other freely to overcome any inhibitions they

might have about sex. Can you deny that such encouragement
goes beyond the bounds of decency?
CHAIR: No, I certainly wouldnt deny that. But . . .
MS. BROWN: I heard that last week she asked two students to come to the
front of the room and demonstrate what petting means.

MS. GREEN: That doesnt surprise me a bit. She does have a sluttish
manner, you know. Those miniskirts, that long hair. The

way she talks to men is most provocative, positively lewd.
If my daughter dressed and acted like that, Id feel I had
failed as a parent.
CHAIR: Ladies, please. Weve got to have a little more order.
Mr. Lessrow has had his hand up for some time.

MR. LESSROW: Thank you. Of course, I agree with the good ladies who have
spoken thus far. But with all respect to them, I think they
may be missing the real nature of this threat to the morals of
our young people. We must not forget that those young
people are the United States citizens of tomorrow. And let me
ask you, just who will stand to profit if they are corrupted,
if their preoccupation with the flesh stays them from their
duties and obligations as citizens? Let me ask . . .
1: Who will stand to profit, Mr. Lessrow?

MR. LESSROW: I was getting to that point, sir. Who else but the Muslim
MEMBER
MEMBER
1: Are you suggesting that the Muslim extremists are in some

way responsible for sex education in American schools, for
the course in our school?
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extremists?
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87
MR. LESSROW: I am saying precisely that. Sex education is a plot to lure
our children into lives of lustful hedonism. It is a plot

designed and supported by those who would overthrow
our country. All a person needs to do is a little reading,
have a little concern for the truth, and not be like these
hothouse liberals who believe that the only real enemy is
conservatives. The liberals are either misguided dupes of
the extremists or willing accomplices.
2: Now thats surely a very extreme interpretation of . . .

MR. LESSROW: Its an extreme plot! Extreme situations demand extreme
MEMBER
responses.
MEMBER 2: As I started to say, its an extreme interpretation of a very
complex issue. Surely we should be a little less quick to jump

at every wild accusation, be a little more open-minded.
MS. SCHULTZ: A person should be open-minded while searching for the
truth but not after finding it.

MS. JACKSON: I just cant understand how people can resist common
sense. It should be clear enough to everybodyeven to the

teachers of this schoolthat when you bring sex into the
classroom, you dignify it. When you encourage the young
to talk about it openly in school, theyll talk about it
openly out of school. And talking is a very short step away
from acting. I for one dont want my teenagers to become
promiscuous just because some so-called educators in this
town persist in denying the obvious.
MS. OVERLOOK: I dont see the need for a sex education course in the
first place. Surely, if parents know enough to raise their

children in other respects, they are qualified to teach them
about sex. Sex is a moral matterand the school has no
business butting into the moral upbringing of the young.
The school should stick to the three Rs and leave moral
and spiritual matters to the home and church.
MS. SCHULTZ: If the school were as anxious to guard the innocence of the
young as it is to fill their heads with sex ideas, perhaps our

society wouldnt be slipping so badly today.
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MEMBER
2: Id like to go back to something Ms. Jackson said a few

minutes ago about promiscuity. Ms. Jackson, no one wants
to make teenagers promiscuous. The whole effect of the
program in sex education, as I understand it, may be to
prevent just that development. There is a great deal of
emphasis on sex in advertising today and an increasing
tendency toward frankness in the arts. The board had only
a brief explanation of the objectives and approaches of this
course, but we were told by the principal that the faculty
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committee that developed the course consulted numerous

statistical studies, and every one showed that most young
people receive very little direct, honest, and accurate information about sex. Despite appearances, he said, theyre
woefully ignorant, in many cases, about the facts of life.
That is what the course and its teacher, Ms. Babette, are
trying to overcome: misinformation and ignorance.
MS. GREEN: [Turning to Ms. Brown and whispering] Its obvious why
he speaks that way. Ive seen the way he looks at
Ms. Babette. Those bachelors and their filthy minds.
MS. SCHULTZ: A course in sex education is a strange way of decreasing
promiscuity. Why is it that since courses like this have been
added to curricula around the country, the incidence of
rape, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and venereal disease has
risen so dramatically?
MEMBER
2: Im not sure I understand the point you are making. Are

you suggesting that . . .
MS. SCHULTZ: Im suggesting that Im in favor of ridding our society of its
preoccupation with sex. I confess I dont know quite how

to do that. But I do know where to start. Right here in
Alertiaby ridding our school of that course.
MR. LESSROW: [Applauding vigorously] My sentiments exactly. If were
not going to defeat our countrys enemies, including those

in Washington, at least we can stop their insidious
campaign against our youth at home. I voted for you for
the school boardprobably most of us in this room did.
We had confidence in your ability to act wisely, to do the
right thing. You now know the facts in this matter. Its time
to act on them. You can justify our confidence in you by
demanding that that course be discontinued immediately.
CHAIR: [After a minute or two of silence] Well, I believe the board
has a good idea of the nature of your concern about this

course. If there are no more comments at this time, Id like
to thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming out tonight
and to assure you that we will give your position our careful consideration. If the board members will remain, well
continue with our meeting in a few minutes.
4.3
Evaluate the argument in the following letter to the editor, using the
approach explained in this chapter. State your judgment and support
it thoroughly.
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Dear Editor:
I enjoyed your recent series of articles on religious views. I believe
religious values occupy the central place in ones being. Today
an increasing number of young people are giving up their religion
because of the vocal skepticism of those who find religious values
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89
too restrictive. If more of us who do believe were as vocal, the

young would surely see the relevance of religion and not be so easily deceived by those who wish to mislead them.
It is fashionable today among so-called humanists to place
peoples reason above religious faith. They say a person must follow his or her own lights, affirm what he or she believes is true.
But are they really so open-minded and humble as that view
makes them seem? I think not. For underneath that view lies the
fact that they exalt their own judgment. When they accept the
word of an authority, it is only because they agree with that authority. And they do not accept one authority without, by that
very acceptance, rejecting other authorities. In short, they are
superegotists who refuse to accept what transcends their understanding and who try to fit God into their understanding. Their
efforts are in vain, for God will not fit into the finite mind. A god
who can be understood by human beings is no god at all, but a
poor imitation.
I do not believe that any intelligent, honest person can
place his or her confidence in human intelligence and reason.
Human learning is too sparse and fragmentary to warrant such
trust. Human knowledge and understanding change all too
quickly. Yesterdays theories gather dust in the attics of libraries,
and history judges all things mercilessly. But the Bible, Gods
own word, remains. It stands as an immutable beacon to all who
love the truth. One need only put aside his or her probing
and questioning and doubting, become like the little children,
and accept it.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Joan Truly
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4.4
The following letter appeared in the New York Times Magazine.12

Evaluate the argument it presents by using the approach explained in
the chapter. State your judgment and support it thoroughly.
To the Editor:
As a man whose past is considerably peppered with the buckshot
of imprisonment including four years at Attica prison, I am in a
position to state that William R. Coonss article, An Attica Graduate Tells His Story (Oct. 10), is equipped with built-in blinders.
The reader can look in only one direction: at the brutal guards, the
butcher doctors, the unfeeling, unconscionable warden, etc. A cartoon, therefore, forms in the mind of the reader. He sees a huge,
hairy monster, frothing fangs bared, labeled Penal System and
crushing the life out of a ragged, pity-evoking figure labeled Defenseless Convict.
I wonder why Mr. Coons omitted the worst handicap facing
the inmate who is sincerely interested in rehabilitationhis own
brothers in gray?
Contrary to what Mr. Coons would have the reader believe,
prison populations are not made up solely of misunderstood,
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Chapter 4

slightly tarnished angels unjustly sentenced to hundreds of years
for merely stealing wormy apples.
Manylet me lean on that wordmany convicts are incorrigible scum whose sole purpose in life closely parallels that of a
demented crocodile. They wouldnt lead an honest life if guaranteed a thousand dollars per week and half of Gods throne in the
hereafter.
They are the ones who steal from their fellow inmates, who collect protection money from the weak and frightened, who force
others with shanks pressed to their throats to commit homosexual acts, whose roaring animal voices fill the cell blocks until your
brains vibrate from the obscene cacophony and you couldnt write
your own name without misspelling it. They are the ones who will
grip prison reform by the throat and choke it, exploit it, mangle and
tramp on it until, in disgust, the administration rescinds it.
The first step toward lasting prison reform is to collect all the
incorrigible scum, the human cockroaches who infest prison populations, and place them in separate institutions. Let them prey on
each other. Let them, if it comes to it, kill each other off . . . incurable cancers devouring each other.
Unless this step is taken, prison reform, however great and
shining, will fade into the limbo of things that might have worked.
Name Withheld
4.5
Visit the following website and sample the links on visual communication: http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/resources/visual.html. For each
of the links you sample, write a brief explanation of what you learned.
4.6
The following website presents a variety of examples of photo tampering: http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/farid/research/digitaltampering/ After
examining those examples, write a brief description of how they have
complemented and/or added to your understanding of critical viewing.
4.7
Prior to 1973 the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as a mental disorder. Some psychiatrists, among other people, still hold that view. However, today people who hold that view
are considered homophobes. Are such people homophobes? Were the
psychiatrists who previously held that view homophobes? Construct
a definition of the term homophobia that addresses this controversy.
Try to anticipate and respond to objections that could be raised to
your view.
ISSUE FOR EXTENDED ANALYSIS
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Following is a more comprehensive thinking challenge than the others in the

chapter. Analyze and respond to it, following the instructions for extended
analysis at the end of Chapter 1. Also, review The Basis of Moral Judgment
and Dealing with Dilemmas in Chapter 2.
Issue for Extended Analysis
91
THE ISSUE: IS THE FOURTH AMENDMENT IN JEOPARDY?

The fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees that citizens will be
secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, and it requires that a court issue a specific warrant based
on probable cause before any search is allowed. In 1978, Congress passed and
President Carter signed into law what has come to be known as the FISA Act,
which authorizes physical and electronic surveillance of foreign powers and
their agents (including American citizens) suspected of being engaged in espionage. FISA also gave the President authority to approve warrantless surveillancethat is, surveillance without a court orderfor a period of one year
under certain conditions. The provisions of FISA were reaffirmed shortly after
9/11, when Congress passed the Patriot Act with overwhelming bi-partisan
support and President Bush signed it into law. The Bush administration subsequently expanded warrantless surveillance and the Obama administration has
recommended that warrantless surveillance be further expanded to cover Internet communications. The controversy over FISA and the Patriot Act has not only
continued but intensified.
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THE ESSAYS
Surveillance Ensures Safety
By Pedro Blanco
Presidents often differ in their
political philosophies. Thankfully,
there is little difference on one fundamental matterthe safety of the
American people. The FISA and Patriot
Acts offer an excellent example. In supporting them, Presidents Jimmy Ford,
George W. Bush, and Barack Obama
have put public safety above politics.
These acts are complex and have
many provisions, but the central one
is to give intelligence agencies broad
authority to conduct searches and surveillance of suspected terrorists and
their accomplices. Critics say this authority violates the fourth amendment
of the U.S. Constitution. They are
mistaken. The fourth amendment
guarantees protection from unreasonable searches. The provisions of
FISA and the Patriot Act are perfectly
reasonable.
Without Liberty, There is No Safety

By Wendy Walker
Whenever politicians want to do
something that violates our fundamental rights, they remind us that
dangerous times call for extraordinary measures. What they seem to
forget is that the Founding Fathers
also lived in dangerous times. In some
ways they were more vulnerable than
we are. Yet they held certain principles above their own safety. One was
the right of personal security.
Personal security is the basis of
the fourth amendment, which specifies that before that security may be
breached, there must be probable
cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, of some wrongdoing or public
threat. When that standard is met, the
judge or other appropriate official issues a warrant that specifies where
the search may take place and who or
what may be seized.
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The world since the Carter administration is very different from earlier
times. A new bolder enemy has arisen,
terrorism, and has proved to be both
sophisticated and cunning. It uses
modern technology to plan and execute its deadly acts. Even more important, it depends on our traditional
legal protections, such as innocent
until proven guilty and the requirement of search warrants, to prevent
us from detecting their networks.
The U.S. has not suffered another
9/11 tragedy since 2001. This is not a
matter of luck, nor to any lessening of
terrorist zeal to harm us. It is due to the
investigative tools authorized by FISA
and the Patriot Act. Many terrorists
have been thwarted, including the underwear bomber and the Christmas
bomber, and very likely dozens more
that have not been made public.
The issue can be boiled down to a
simple question: In times of danger,
are we better off trusting our safety to
our intelligence community or to
blind chance?
The warrantless surveillance

authorized by FISA and the Patriot
Act is a blatant violation of the fourth
amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
And the extension of such surveillance
to the Internet not only violates citizens
security; it also threatens the freedom of
speech guaranteed by the first amendment. The acts authorized by FISA and
Patriot are, quite simply, crimes.
The fact that both political parties
and several presidents endorse these actions does not make them constitutional. The judgment of elected officials
cannot trump the fourth amendment. If government officials believe
that the amendment is outdated, they
should use the constitutional means
available to repeal it, as was done, for
example, in the case of the 18th amendment (concerning Prohibition).
But shouldnt we be willing to sacrifice a little liberty to ensure our safety?
Benjamin Franklin answered this way:
Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety,
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
CLASS DISCUSSION:
AGNES: It seems to me that people who take a strict view of the
NATHAN:
AGNES:
MARGARET:
NICK:
ISBN 1-256-46689-1
MARGARET:
fourth amendment are living in the past.

Are you saying that we no longer need to be legally
protected from spying?
Not at all. Im just saying that if we have nothing to hide,
we shouldnt be so concerned about surveillance.
I agree with Margaret. The knowledge that the intelligence
community is constantly working to discover and thwart
terrorists makes me feel more secure.
What you both are missing is that power tends to corrupt
and the power to pry and probe on the basis of hunches
invites the misuse of authority. The genius of the fourth
amendment is that it requires authorities to have something
more solid that hunches before violate citizens privacy.
Im glad Nick isnt running the government. The terrorists
would be winning.

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C H A P T E R

ot long ago, while searching the Internet, I encountered a reference to an

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

In reality, even honest, well-intentioned communicators make mistakes;

CRITICAL EVALUATION DEFINED

Making Important Distinctions

communication can be found in every subjectfrom politics, psychology,

MAKING IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS

The Distinction Between the Person and the Idea

The Distinction Between Matters of Taste

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

The Distinction Between Fact and Interpretation

The first four sentences are factual

This paragraph presents facts from

Making Important Distinctions

the population. Yet, the violent

No, the formula is more likely the

The danger in failing to distinguish between fact and interpretation is that

The Distinction Between Literal and Ironic Statements

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

The Distinction Between an Ideas Validity

The Distinction Between Language and Reality

Language is our principal means of understanding reality and communicating

A Strategy for Critical Reading

A STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL READING

Step 1: Skim the Work

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

Step 2: Reflect on Your Views

Step 3: Read the Work

A Strategy for Critical Reading

Step 4: Evaluate What You Read

Is the authors evidence relevant to the issue? No matter how comprehensive

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

A Strategy for Critical Reading

Step 5: Express Your Judgment

It depends on what you mean by animal. If you mean human being is

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

A SAMPLE EVALUATION AND JUDGMENT

A Strategy for Critical Listening

Concerning the Questions Informed Critics Might Raise:

A STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL LISTENING

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

Step 1: Set Aside Preconceptions

Step 2: Focus on the Message

A Strategy for Critical Viewing

necessary to construct a truly effective response. A special caution is in order

Step 3: Identify Key Assertions and Supporting Information

Steps 4 and 5: Evaluate the Message and

A STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL VIEWING

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

Make up as many new wordsnonwords like garrumptiveas you

Your young nephew is confused. He has learned He who hesitates

Read the following dialogue carefully. Decide which statements are

adviser to get my freshman English course waived. I didnt

Youre right, George. This place is like homeeverybodys

JAKE: Whats so great about Bloomville State?

required courses at all.

Be a Critical Reader, Listener, and Viewer

me a lot about his college days. But he never mentioned that.