An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity - always yours

72 IDENTIFYING ARGUMENTS
it easier to understand, evaluate, and remember the argument. If we do this often
enough, it will also help us improve our critical thinking skills.
Take this passage taken from the website of the Economist magazine:
Voltaire once wrote, "If God did not exist, it would be necessary
to invent him." Leaving aside whether we actually did, can the same
be said of religion? Most of the world's population professes religious
feelings of some sort, and these beliefs in turn underpin many strong
communities, happy individuals and tremendous acts of charity.
Yet the world can be a very nasty place despite its preponderance
of religious inhabitants. When faith curdles into dogmatism it often
leads to arrogance, intolerance and violence. In other words, religion
is a force for bad as well as good and there is no simple metric with
which to measure its net effect (Economist, 2010).
The passage is very clearly written, and we can easily see that it contains an argument
with the conclusion indicated by "in other words." But it can be condensed
a lot further if we analyze it a little bit. Take the first paragraph. The quote in the
first sentence sets the topic of discussion but does not contribute to the argument
at all. The second sentence is a question and also not part of the argument. The
third sentence does include a crucial premise about the positive effects of religion,
but it can be simplified further. Going through the second paragraph in the same
way, we can rewrite the argument in the standard format as follows:
Religion promotes strong communities, happiness, and charity.
Religion also leads to arrogance, intolerance, and violence.
Religion has both good and bad consequences.
We are now able to present the central argument even more clearly and succinctly.
This makes it easier to explore the argument further. First of all, the argument
seems quite acceptable. The premises seem true and they support the
conclusion. Of course, the premises do not exhaust all the good and bad consequences
of religion. Religion can also give rise to great art and culture (such as
paintings and architecture), but it can also result in superstition and ignorance.
As we can see, extracting and reformulating an argument helps us identify the
central ideas so we can think more deeply and systematically. This analytical approach
is particularly suitable for reading articles that aim to present arguments,
evidence, and information. Here are the main steps involved:
• Identify the premises and conclusions in the target passage.
• Leave out superfluous material and focus on the main ideas. Delete anything
that does not affect the central argument or the main points.
• Reformulate and simplify the central ideas in your own words to make them
easier to understand.