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Thinking critically about argument

Although critical thinking has a number of complex definitions, it is essentially the process by which you make sense of all the information around you. As such, critical thinking is a crucial component of argument, for it guides you in recognizing, formulating, and examining arguments.

Several elements of critical thinking are especially important.

Playing the believing—and the doubting—game. Critical thinkers are able to shift stances as they take in an argument, allowing them to gain different perspectives. One good way to begin is to play the believing game: that is, put yourself in the position of the person creating the argument, see the topic from that person’s point of view as much as possible, and think carefully about how and why that person arrived at the claim(s). Once you have given the argument your sympathetic attention, listening very carefully to its point of view, play the doubting game: revisit the argument, looking skeptically at each claim and examining each piece of evidence to see how well, or if, it supports the claim. Eventually, this process of believing and doubting will become natural.

Asking pertinent questions. Concentrate on getting to the heart of the matter. Whether you are thinking about others’ ideas or about your own, you will want to ask the following kinds of questions:

What is the writer or speaker’s agenda—his or her unstated purpose?
Why does this person hold these ideas or beliefs? What larger social, economic, political, or other factors may have influenced him or her?
What does he or she want the audience to do—and why?
What are the writer or speaker’s qualifications for making this argument?
What reasons does he or she offer to support the ideas? Are they good reasons?
What are the underlying values or unstated assumptions of the argument? Do you accept them—and why, or why not?
What sources does the writer or speaker rely on? How current and reliable are they? What agendas do these sources have? Are any perspectives left out?
What objections do you have to the argument?
What individual or organization is responsible for publishing or promoting the argument?
How do media and design appeal to the audience? Study the visual and audio aspects of the argument, including the use of color, graphics, and multimedia techniques. What do they contribute to the argument?

Getting information. To help you decide whether to accept an argument, often you will need to find more information on the topic as well as other perspectives.

Interpreting and assessing information. No information that comes to us in language or visuals is neutral; all of it has a perspective—a spin. Your job as a critical thinker is to identify the perspective and to assess it, examining its sources and finding out what you can about its context. Asking pertinent questions will help you examine the interpretations and conclusions drawn by others.

Making and assessing your own arguments. The ultimate goal of all critical thinking is to construct your own ideas and reach your own sound and fair conclusions. These, too, you must question and assess. The rest of this chapter will guide you in the art of assessing arguments.