Beyond Feelings

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CHAPTER 18 Forming a Judgment 201 beliefs.” 3 And Professor John Esposito observed that “the First Amend-ment right doesn’t mean you should automatically say everything you want to.” 4 What made these views balanced is that they were made without denying the importance of freedom of speech and the outrageousness of Khomeini’s threat. Consider another issue—the question of building self-esteem in people. For more than twenty years, writers of self-improvement books have emphasized the importance of self-esteem, particularly in young children. So great has been this emphasis that many people assume that success or failure in school and later life is largely a reflection of this factor. Almost any effort to make people feel good about themselves is applauded. But Barbara Lerner, a psychologist and attorney, was able to resist the powerful lure of the prevailing view and examine self-esteem critically. Her reward was the insight that self-esteem is not always good, that in some cases it can be an obstacle to achievement. There is a difference, she notes, between “earned” self-esteem and “feel-good-now” self-esteem. The former can lead to achievement and even excellence, whereas the latter promotes complacency and, ultimately, incompetence. 5 To achieve a balanced view of the issues you address, you must be willing to look for the neglected side of the issue and, when there is good reason to do so, to challenge the prevailing view. DEAL WITH PROBABILITY Despite our best efforts to investigate issues, sometimes we cannot accumulate sufficient evidence to arrive at a judgment with certainty. This is especially true with controversial issues. At such times, the irresponsible often raise their voices, choose more forceful words, and pretend certainty. That is a grave mistake, first because the pretense seldom fools good thinkers, but, more important, because it is intellectually dishonest. As long as we have made a sincere effort to gain the evidence necessary to achieve certainty and are not deliberately choosing to ride the fence, there is no shame in admitting, “I cannot say for certain what the correct judgment is in this situation.” On the contrary, there is virtue in doing so. Yet such situations demand one further obligation of responsible thinkers. It is to explain, if possible, what judgment probability favors—that is, what judgment the evidence suggests, as opposed to proves, is correct. The evidence, for example, may be insufficient to allow us say with certainty that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer or that viewing television violence definitely harms people. Nevertheless, there is sufficient evidence on both issues to warrant a judgment about probable cause–effect relationships. Whenever you cannot achieve certainty, focus on probability.
202 PART THREE A Strategy MAKE YOUR SUBJECT APPROPRIATELY SPECIFIC The subject in a careful judgment is appropriately specific. Consider these sentences, in which the subject is italicized: Today’s college students are less proficient in grammar and usage than their counterparts were ten years ago. Today’s U.S. college students are less proficient in grammar and usage than their counterparts were ten years ago. Today’s U.S. two-year college students are less proficient in grammar and usage than their counterparts were ten years ago. Today’s students at this college are less proficient in grammar and usage than their counterparts were ten years ago. If the evidence covers only students at a particular college, only the last judgment can be sound. The other three are too generalized. To avoid this kind of error in your writing and speaking, choose the subjects of your judgments with care. MAKE YOUR PREDICATE EXACT The predicate in a careful judgment asserts exactly what you want to assert. Compare these sentences, in which part of the predicate is italicized: Peace has been achieved. Peace can be achieved. Peace must be achieved. Peace should be achieved. Peace could be achieved. Peace will be achieved. Although these sentences are very similar in construction, their meanings are very different. Unless we deliberately embrace ambiguity (in which case we should expect to cause confusion), we should choose our predicates judiciously. A good example of the kind of confusion that can result is shown in the sentence that triggered theological debate in the 1960s: “God is dead.” It made a nice slogan, but exactly what did it mean? Taking it by itself, a person would have great difficulty answering. In addition to the obvious possibility, “There is no supreme being,” there are at least seven others: People no longer want to believe God exists. People are no longer able to believe God exists. People are no longer certain God exists. People no longer act as if God exists.
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Beyond Feelings A Guide to Critical
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To the memory of Howard Trumble, wh
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vi CONTENTS Imperfect Memory 35 Def
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viii CONTENTS Using Your Inventory
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x PRFACE evaluate them carefully wh
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xii PRFACE Aimee Ross-Kilroy, Loyol
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2 INTRODUCTION applications cover p
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CHAPTER 1 Who Are You? Suppose some
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CHAPTER 2 What Is Critical Thinking
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CHAPTER 3 What Is Truth? For hundre
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CHAPTER 6 What Is Evidence? To stat
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CHAPTER 8 The Basic Problem: ”Min
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CHAPTER 9 Errors of Perspective Ima
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CHAPTER 11 Errors of Expression We
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CHAPTER 13 The Errors in Combinatio
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