Arguing to Better Conclusions: A Human Odyssey

by Robinson; W Peter

• ISBN13: 9780805859799
• ISBN10: 0805859799
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-05-30
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbau

Summary

This book was written to try to integrate various strands of concern about communication, language, and thinking. There are two related questions that have served to initiate the enquiries that resulted in this book: Why do people hold false beliefs? And why do they accept and use inadequate arguments in support of their beliefs? The author has provided a clear conceptual framework to address these issues and in doing so he folds into the arguements the marvelous richness of language as a vehicle of communication.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
PART I: GAINING A SENSIBLE AND USEFUL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
1 Beliefs, Knowledge, Arguments, and Decisions	3	(34)
1.1 Why Study False Beliefs and Inadequate Arguments?	3	(3)
1.2 True Beliefs and Forceful Arguments Serving Social Progress	6	(7)
1.3 Beliefs and Knowledge	13	(1)
1.4 Ends and Means	14	(2)
1.5 Rationality of Beliefs About Mundane Matters of Fact	16	(2)
1.6 Rationality of Beliefs About Virtues and Values	18	(5)
1.7 Inferential Relationships Among Beliefs in Arguments	23	(4)
1.8 Being Rational About Rationality	27	(3)
1.9 Selective Behavior and Decisions	30	(7)
2 The Representational Status of Statements: True or False	37	(18)
2.1 Setting the Scene	37	(8)
2.2 English as a Language With Limitations	45	(3)
2.3 The Epistemological Jungle	48	(2)
2.4 Ways Out	50	(5)
3 Domains of Representation	55	(34)
3.1 Introduction	55	(5)
3.2 Formal Calculi	60	(2)
3.3 Aesthetics	62	(2)
3.4 Ethics/Morality and Justice	64	(4)
3.5 Claims to Describe and Explain Empirical Matters	68	(9)
3.6 Each to Its Own Domain	77	(2)
3.7 Each to Its Own Domain, but	79	(5)
3.8 Differential Progress Across Domains	84	(3)
3.9 General Origins of False Beliefs	87	(2)
4 Apparent Representation Only: Pragmatic Priorities	89	(15)
4.1 Introduction	89	(2)
4.2 Falsification	91	(2)
4.3 Entertainment	93	(2)
4.4 Socialization	95	(2)
4.5 Incitement to Action	97	(1)
4.6 Marking of Personal States, Identity, Social Identity, and Social Relations	98	(1)
4.7 False Declaratives About the Self Becoming True	99	(2)
4.8 Commentary	101	(3)
5 Combinations of Statements in Arguments	104	(17)
5.1 Quarrels, Arguments, and Explanations	104	(6)
5.2 Units of an Argument	110	(6)
5.3 Induction	116	(1)
5.4 The 'If-Then' Arguments of Experiments: Conditional Reasoning	117	(2)
5.5 Rendering Arguments Systematic and Explicit	119	(1)
5.6 Evaluating Explicit Arguments	120	(1)
6 Formal Calculi in Beliefs and Arguments: Errors	121	(15)
6.1 Introduction	121	(4)
6.2 The Peculiar Status of the Propositional Calculus	125	(2)
6.3 Propositional and Predictive Calculi	127	(2)
6.4 The Hegemony of the Formal Calculi	129	(1)
6.5 Truth in Formal Calculi	130	(2)
6.6 Language Systems as Formal Calculi	132	(4)
7 Classifying Errors and Weaknesses in Arguments	136	(17)
7.1 Introduction	136	(6)
7.2 Individual Propositions	142	(2)
7.3 Invalidity, Weakness, and Other Misleading Devices in Arguments	144	(9)
PART II: WHO ARE THE VICTIMS OF MISTAKEN BELIEFS AND WEAK AND INVALID ARGUMENTS AND WHY?
8 Beliefs and Arguments in Action	153	(35)
8.1 Introduction	153	(5)
8.2 Levels of Analysis: Micro, Meso, and Macro	158	(1)
8.3 Skills in Argumentation: Individual Competence With Social Science Issues	159	(5)
8.4 Law Courts in Action	164	(5)
8.5 History and Its Utilization	169	(11)
8.6 Governments	180	(8)
9 Human Sources of Errors in Beliefs and Inadequacies in Argumentation	188	(25)
9.1 Introduction	188	(1)
9.2 Erroneous Beliefs: Their Origins in Persons	188	(9)
9.3 Idols of the Market Economy	197	(2)
9.4 Human Motivation	199	(4)
9.5 Motivational Influences on False Beliefs and Inadequate Arguments	203	(10)
10 Gaining Competence in the Critical Evaluation of Beliefs and Arguments	213	(30)
10.1 Introduction	213	(6)
10.2 Critical Thinking	219	(6)
10.3 Probability, Statistical Phenomena, and Risk Analysis	225	(10)
10.4 Reasoning in Laboratory Puzzles and Dilemmas	235	(4)
10.5 Implications	239	(4)
11 La Condition Humaine in 21st-Century Quasi-Democracies	243	(30)
11.1 Introduction	243	(4)
11.2 The Predators	247	(4)
11.3 Preserving Power in Societies' Ruling Elites	251	(8)
11.4 Countering the Predators and Their Beneficiaries	259	(5)
11.5 Sensible Realism	264	(7)
11.6 Without Vision the People Perish	271	(2)
Postscript	273	(8)
References	281	(10)
Author Index	291	(6)
Subject Index	297