What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?

1
What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?

• Asking the Right Questions
• Chapter 6
• (Chapters 5 and 6 in earlier editions)

2
Assumptions

• In all arguments the writer will make
  assumptions. Assumptions can be
• Hidden or unstated
• Taken for granted.
• Influential in determining the conclusion
• Necessary, if the reasoning is to make sense
• Potentially deceptive.

3
Watch Out

• A reason can be true and not support the
  conclusion.
• The government should require that ergonomically
  designed computer equipment and furniture be
  provided to workers. This will decrease the
  incidence of repetitive stress injury, eye
  strain, headache, and neck and back pain.

4
Makes Sense?

• The argument makes sense if you believe that it
  is the responsibility of government to look after
  the welfare of the individual.
• What if you believe that it is the individuals
  responsibility to take care of his own welfare?
  To provide for his own health and safety by
  demanding it from the employer or switching jobs
  if he cant handle it?

5
Value Assumptions

• Values are ideas that people see as worthwhile .
  They provide standards of conduct by which we
  measure the quality of human behavior.
• A persons value preferences influence the
  reasons he provides and the conclusion.

6
The Assumption is Necessary

• The reasons will logically support the
  conclusion only if the value assumption is added
  to the reasoning.

Reason Online gambling feeds addictions.
Value Assumption Public safety is more important
than freedom of choice.
Conclusion Online gambling should not
be legalized

7
Some Commonly Held Values(Youll see a bigger
list in the Assignment)

• adventure ambition privacy
• autonomy needs of the collective security
• comfort individual responsibility tolerance
• cooperation courage wisdom
• creativity equality of condition rationality
• equal opportunity excellence spontaneity
• flexibility freedom of speech tradition
• generosity harmony competition
• honesty justice
• novelty order
• patriotism peace

8
Value Conflicts

• People give different priorities to values
• Should DNA information be kept in a national
  database for police departments to access?
• Should schools and libraries be required to
  provide equal access to computers for the
  disabled?
• Is Microsoft a monopoly that should be broken up
  because they have an unfair advantage as the
  producers of the Windows system software?

9
Conflicts

• Should DNA information be kept in a national
  database for police departments to access?
• Privacy vs. security
• Should schools and libraries be required to
  provide equal access to computers for the
  disabled?
• Equal opportunity vs. Individual Responsibility
• Is Microsoft a monopoly that should be broken up
  because they have an unfair advantage as the
  producers of the Windows system software?
• Competition vs. Fairness

10
Common Value Conflicts

• Loyalty-Honesty
• Competition-Cooperation
• Freedom of Speech-Security
• Equality-Individualism
• Achievement-Learning
• Security-Excitement
• Generosity-Material success
• Rationality-spontaneity
• Tradition-novelty
• Individual Responsibility-Collective
  Responsibility
• Efficiency-Social stability

11
Common Value Conflicts

• The same value conflicts surface in many
  different social controversies and are easy to
  identify
• Individual freedom vs. respect for others
• Should Nazi groups have web sites?

Public Safety vs. individual responsibility Should
watching TV while driving be illegal?
12
Similar Controversies

• Many issues share important characteristics
• Should face-recognition software be used in
  public places to identify terrorists?
• Should the FBI be allowed to monitor e-mail
  messages?
• Should information about child molesters be
  published on the internet (Megans Law)?
• Can you identify a value conflict that exists in
  all of these?
• Hint they all involve the government knowing
  things about you and doing things with the
  information.

13
Ethics

• Ethics or morals are a stronger form of values
  that reflect right or wrong behavior, or good and
  evil. Is it stealing?
• Your friend in the neighboring apartment cant
  afford to pay for broadband Internet access. Hes
  taking an online class and cant keep up with the
  work without it. He wants to run a cable out the
  window of your apartment to his so he can use
  yours.

14
Excuses or Rationalizations

• When people violate their ethics or values, they
  often rationalize it with something like the
  following
• The ends justify the means
• Its not illegal
• I did it for you
• He did it to me first
• Nobody got hurt
• Everyone else does it
• I didnt get any money for it
• I deserve it

15
Descriptive (Reality) Assumptions

• Unstated beliefs about the way the world IS or
  will BECOME.
• (Value assumptions are how the world SHOULD be)
• You will be happy with your Internet access if
  you sign up with Comcast. They are the worlds
  largest ISP with over 12 million subscribers.

16
What is being assumed?

• Is biggest always the best?
• Just because Comcast is the largest ISP in the
  world, does it mean that they will provide the
  best Internet service?
• These kinds of assumptions are also called
  reality assumptions

17
Is the assumption reliable?

• The argument holds together only because this
  assumption was made. Should you accept it?

Comcast is the largest ISP.
Number of subscribers indicates quality of
service.
You will be happy With Comcast

18
Both at once

• Examine the following statement. Can you find
  both a value and a descriptive assumption?
• Trials and executions should be televised-the
  public has the right to know whats going on in
  our courts. Information about the judicial system
  needs to be more widely disseminated.
• From Becoming a Critical Thinker p. 66

19
The Value Assumption

• Freedom of information is important
• Trials and executions should be televised-the
  public has the right to know whats going on in
  our courts. Information about the judicial system
  needs to be more widely disseminated.

20
The Descriptive Assumption

• Televising the trials and executions would inform
  the public about the judicial system.
• Is this a valid assumption? Would people really
  watch trials and executions on TV?

21
Identifying Assumptions

• Investigate the authors background
• Use reverse role-playing. Take the opposite
  position.
• Look for common value conflicts. There may be
  more than one.
• Ask Why do the consequences of the authors
  position seem so important to him or her? Look
  for a gap between the reasons and conclusion.
• Get more information about the issue or similar
  controversies.

22
Look at the Authors Background

• A clue can come from the preferences usually held
  by a person like the writer. What interests does
  such a person naturally wish to protect?
• doctor, politician, computer professional,
  marketer, college professor, student,
  longshoreman, etc.

23
An Example

• During a recent dockworkers
• labor action, the Los Angeles Times presented
  this conflict
• ILWU wants to control data on shipping.
• Shipping companies want the data to be on the
  Internet.
• Value social stability (union jobs) vs.
  automation/efficiency

24
Consequences

• Each position with respect to an issue leads to
  different consequences or outcomes. How desirable
  a consequence is depends on the writers or
  readers value preferences.
• Anonymous digital cash should not go into
  widespread use because government control of cash
  stabilizes the economy.

25
Consequence Example

• Digital cash is designed to be an electronic
  replacement for cash that is stored on your PC
  and spent on the Internet-without leaving a trail
  to its source.
• The statement assumes that stability from
  government control of the monetary system is a
  more important consequence than the freedom of
  consumers to purchase goods anonymously (not
  using a credit card number).

26
Gap between Reasons and Conclusion

• You look for assumptions because you want to
  judge how well the reasons support the
  conclusion. Ask
• How do you get from the reason to the conclusion?
• If the reason is true, what else must be true for
  the conclusion to follow?
• Supposing the reason(s) were true, is there any
  way in which the conclusion nevertheless could be
  false?

27
Look for ideas that support reasons

• A reason is presented with no clear support yet
  the believability of the reason depends on the
  acceptability of ideas that have been taken for
  granted. From http//www.osopinion.com/ Oct 7
• In thumbing through the classifieds, it becomes
  apparent that despite the sagging economy, there
  is real demand for customer service reps. That's
  the good news. More disheartening, though, is
  that an alarming number of companies listed
  people skills and personality -- not computer
  skills -- as the most sought-after qualities for
  candidates. The last people you want as your
  first -- maybe your only -- customer touchpoint
  are personable dimwits who are working for you
  because they can't get jobs anywhere else.

28
The Idea?

Conclusion Companies should hire customer
service reps for technical skills, not people
skills. Reasons Candidates with people skills
are dimwits. Personable candidates cant get jobs
anywhere else. Customer service reps are the
customer touchpoint. Assumption Job seekers
with good personalities do not have computer
skills.
29
Identify with the opposition

• First take the role of the writer. Crawl into his
  skin.
• If you cant locate assumptions that way, reverse
  roles. Ask why anyone might disagree.

30
Are there other means of attaining the advantages?

• A conclusion is often supported by reasons that
  indicate the various advantages of acting on the
  authors conclusion.
• What if there are many ways to reach the same
  advantages?
• An important assumption linking the reasons to
  the conclusion is that the BEST way to obtain the
  advantages is through the one advocated by the
  communicator.

31
Other Means?

• Excerpt from
• L.A. Schools Can Soda
• Officials Ban Soda to Combat Student Weight
  Problem
• By Louinn LotaThe Associated Press
• An audience of about 100 people burst into
  applause as the ban was adopted after 2 ½ hours
  of debate Tuesday night. It will take effect in
  January 2004. Board member Julie Korenstein, who
  co-sponsored the measure, said it was needed to
  fight obesity among students.

32
A Student Reply

• From
• Press-Telegram, Sunday Forum, p. A21
• Soda Ban
• As a high school student and soda fanatic, I
  find the idea of banning sodas from campus
  useless. I realize that studies show most
  children are overweight or malnourished, but that
  doesnt have much to do with what they consume at
  school. It has much more to do with home cooking
  and lack of exercise. If they dont sell on
  campus, then students will buy the sodas outside
  of school.
• Natalie Aleman
• Long Beach

33
Incomplete Reasons

• When you try to find assumptions you may locate a
  reason, because the reason has not been
  adequately established.
• The government should restrict public access to
  information to protect the nation from
  terrorists.

34
Incomplete Reasons

• Conclusion The government should restrict public
  access to information.
• Reason It will protect the nation from
  terrorists.
• This is an incomplete reason that needs to be
  supported by some evidence, not an assumption.

35
Your Own Writing and Speaking

• You will make numerous assumptions.
• Communication requires them.
• You should
• Acknowledge those assumptions
• Provide a rationale for why you are making the
  assumptions
• Try to locate the descriptive assumptions on the
  next 2 slides (answers follow)

36
Find Descriptive Assumptions

• This is a receptionist position, so we need a
  mature woman for the job. It's important that our
  clients feel comfortable as soon as they walk in
  here.
• You can't go to the party in that outfit.
  Everyone will think you're completely clueless
  about how to dress, and no one will want to been
  seen with you.
• The death penalty is proof that we value revenge
  more than we value people. We should save and
  rehabilitate people rather than giving up on
  them.
• Latoya is really successful-she's only 28 and
  she's making 170,000 a year.
• There is good news in that rape is on the decline
  in this country-there are 20 fewer police
  reports this year than last year at this time.
• The people in that city don't care about the
  homeless-their city council voted against
  contributing 2,000 to a county fund to help the
  homeless.
• Drugs and prostitution should be legalized. They
  are legal in Amsterdam and they solve more
  problems than they cause.
• From Becoming a Critical Thinker by Sherry
  Diestler.

37
Did you get it?

• Clients only feel comfortable around mature women
  (ambiguous too, what does mature mean?)
• The speaker knows how everyone will respond to
  the outfit or everyone at the party judges you by
  your clothing
• People who favor the death penalty only want
  revenge or every criminal can be rehabilitated
• Money is the measure of success
• All rapes are reported.
• Spending public money is the way to care for the
  homeless.
• What worked in Amsterdam will work in the U.S.
• You may have worded yours a little differently.

38
Descriptive Assumptions by the Jury?

• ACQUITTAL OUTRAGES WOMEN Jury Blames Provocative
  Miniskirt for AssaultBrian Murphy, Associated
  Press
• LAUDERDALE, FLA-Sexual assault counselors and
  women's groups reacted with anger and disbelief
  Thursday to a jury's acquittal of a rape suspect
  on the grounds that the woman wore a lace
  miniskirt without underwear.
• "It's a fairly horrendous verdict," said Ellen
  Vargyas at the National Women's Law Center in
  Washington, D.C. "No one, regardless of how they
  are dressed, should be allowed to be raped under
  a knife."
• The three male and three female Broward Circuit
  Court jurors publicly justified their verdict
  Wednesday to acquit a 26-year-old drifter, who
  then was ordered returned to Georgia to face
  several other rape and assault charges.
• "We felt she asked for it by the way she was
  dressed," said jury foreman Roy Diamond. "The way
  she was dressed with that skirt, you could see
  everything she had. She was advertising for sex."
• "She was obviously dressed for a good time, but
  we felt she may have bit off more than she could
  chew," said juror Mary Bradshaw.
• The 22-year-old woman testified that Steven Lord
  abducted her at knifepoint from a Fort Lauderdale
  restaurant parking lot in November 1988 and raped
  her repeatedly during a trip north on Interstate
  95. She said she escaped five hours later.
• Defense attorney Tim Day told jurors the woman
  agreed to have sex with Lord in exchange for 100
  and cocaine, but later changed her mind.
• Jurors said they also were swayed by the woman's
  calm demeanor in court, compared to the emotional
  testimony of a 24-year-old Georgia woman who
  claims Lord raped her at knife-point last year.
• "When the Georgia woman testified, my heart
  sank," said juror Dan Medeiros. "But when the
  other one testified, she didn't appear to be
  shaken up. Basically, we didn't believe the
  story.
• ..."The whole idea that a woman is asking for it
  is horrendous," said Dorothea Gallagher of the
  National Organization for Women's Broward County
  chapter.

39
The Jury Assumed

• Women who wear seductive clothing are advertising
  for sex.
• Once a woman agrees to sex its too late to
  change her mind.
• A calm, unemotional witness is not believable.
• End of Lecture