Reading Sympathetically and Critically

1
Reading Sympathetically and Critically

• To effectively read arguments, you should adopt a
  multistep approach.
• Read as a believer.
• Read as a doubter.
• Consider alternative views, and analyze sources
  of disagreement.
• Use disagreement productively to prompt further
  investigation.

The idea that we should be open to all ideas is
very different from the supposition that all
ideas are equally valid --Lawrence Summers,
President, Harvard University
2
Reading as a Believer

• Practice empathic listening (see the world
  through the authors eyes).
• This requires putting aside your own viewpoint
  for the moment.
• For this AND the other steps in reading arguments
  effectively, you must
• -read the argument carefully for general meaning.
• -analyze each paragraph for says and does. A does
  statement identifies a paragraphs function. A
  says statement summarizes the paragraphs
  content.

3
Reading as a Doubter

• Whether you tend to agree with the argument or
  not, you should now read it critically or
  skeptically.
• Demand more proof, doubt evidence given,
  challenge the authors assumptions and values.
• -What is the background of the author or his or
  her sources? What bias is being brought forward?
• -What are the source of the claims made?
• -Are alternatives ignored?

4
Considering Alternative Views and Analyzing
Sources of Disagreement

• Since an argument involves two or more
  conflicting assertions, you must be sure to
  consider the important disagreements.
• Disagreements may be
• -about facts or reality. Facts are often not
  the empirical facts of science, but are often
  contested.
• -about values, beliefs, or assumptions. For
  example, sometimes these disagreements may
  manifest themselves as disagreements about
  definitions (e.g., what is pornography or what is
  a minority).

5
Using Disagreement Productively to Prompt Further
Investigation

• This is both a strategy for reading arguments and
  a bridge towards constructing your own arguments.
• -Seek out sources of facts and more complete
  versions of alternative (and the current) views.
• -Determine what values are at stake in the issue
  and articulate your own values.
• -Consider ways to synthesize alternative views.

"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ Think
it possible you may be mistaken. --Oliver
Cromwell to members of parliament