Critical Thinking Skills - Developing Effective Analysis and Argument(2)

This chapter has looked at ways of distinguishing argument from other types of message that might be
confused with arguments, either because of the interpretation of the word 'argument' in everyday
language, or because a message bears the appearance of an argument.
Critical thinking is sometimes confused with disagreement. However, in critical thinking, an argument is a
way of presenting a set of reasons to support a conclusion and to persuade others to a point of view. This
may involve an element of disagreement, but does not necessarily do so. Conversely, in critical thinking, a
disagreement that does not involve reasoning is not an argument.
Descriptions give an account of how something is done, or what something is like. They can be detailed,
and so are sometimes confused with critical reasoning, which can include detailed analysis. Descriptions do
not give reasoned accounts of how or why something occurred nor evaluate outcomes. In reports and
academic writing, description should be factual, accurate and free of value judgements. Brief and succinct
descriptions can play an important role in introducing a subject, before beginning an evaluation of it.
Explanations and summaries can appear to have the structure of an argument as they may include reasons,
conclusions and signal words similar to those used for arguments. However, explanations do not attempt
to persuade the audience to a point of view. They are used to account for 'why' or 'how', or to draw out
the meaning, rather than to argue 'for' or 'against'. Summaries may be a shorter version of an argument,
but their function is to reduce the length of the message.
Being able to identify both what is an argument and what is not, can speed your reading as you can
search out the key points in a text more quickly. It can also help comprehension, as you are more likely to
identify the salient points for your purpose. These skills will be looked at in more detail in chapters 9
(reading) and 10 (writing).
nformation about the sources
he nature of happiness: Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1992) Flow: The Psychology of Happiness (London:
Random House).
Social class in eighteenth-century painting: Barrell, J. (1980) The Dark Side of the Landscape: The
Rural Poor in English Painting, 1730-1840 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press); Arnheim, R.
(1954, 1974) AIZ and Visual Perceptiort: The Psychology of the Creative Eye (Berkeley: University of
California Press).
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: Trevathan, W., McKenna, J. and Smith, E. 0. (1999) Evolutionary
Medicine (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Contagious yawning: Platek, S. et al. (2003) 'Contagious Yawning: the Role of Self-awareness and
Mental State Attribution', Cognitive Brain Research, 17(2): 223-7; Farrar, S. (2004a) 'It is Very
Evolved of Us to Ape a Yawn', Times Higher Edzlcational Supplement, 12 March 2004, p. 13.
Cresswell Crags cave art: Farrar, S. (2004b) 'It's Brit Art, but Not as We IZnow It1, Times Higher
Educational Supplement, 16 July 2004.
Research on Olaus Magnus's sea charts: Farrar, S. (2004~)'Old Sea Chart is So Current', Times
Higher Ed~icational Supplement, 16 July 2004.
Theories about extra-terrestrial life: Morris, S. (2004) ~ife's Solzition: Irzevitcable humans in a Lonely
Universe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press); Mark Page1 (2004) 'No Banana-eating Snakes or
Flying Donkeys are to be Found Here1, Times Higher Edzicational Szrpplemeizt, 16 July 2004.
0 Stella Cottrell (ZOOS), Critical Thiizkiilg Skills,
Palgrave Macmlllan Ltd
IS it an argument 61