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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Commentary On: Mark Weinstein’S “Warranting Evidence In Diverse Evidentiary Settings”, Maurice A. Finocchiaro
Commentary On: Mark Weinstein’S “Warranting Evidence In Diverse Evidentiary Settings”, Maurice A. Finocchiaro
OSSA Conference Archive
This commentary consists of three parts. The first attempts to summarize the main theme of Weinstein’s paper, insofar as I can understand it; the latter qualification is obvious and almost redundant, except that I must confess I found it very challenging to make sense of his essay. The second part of my commentary advances some negative criticism of his paper, by focusing on issues of conceptual clarity and argumentative cogency. The third part elaborates a positive appreciation of what seems to be Weinstein’s main claim; I do so mostly on the basis of things which he does not even mention, …
Warranting Evidence In Diverse Evidentiary Settings, Mark Weinstein
Warranting Evidence In Diverse Evidentiary Settings, Mark Weinstein
OSSA Conference Archive
Informal logic, is faced with the problematic of persuasive arguments in contexts where evidence is rich, diverse and preferentially selected on the basis of pre-established attitudes. This requires that the standard view of challenge by presenting inconsistent evidence be rethought. In this paper, I will argue that the solution is to focus less on evidence that contradicts claims and to confront the network of warrants that support the selecting and evaluating of evidentiary moves.
Mapping Objectivity And Bias In Relation To Argument, J. Anthony Blair
Mapping Objectivity And Bias In Relation To Argument, J. Anthony Blair
OSSA Conference Archive
The conference theme invites contrasts between objectivity and bias, since the two are commonly considered contraries. But there are a variety of meanings of the two and a corresponding variety of contraries. Thus there is a problem for any attempt to discuss bias and objectivity in relation to argument as a contrasting pair. Still, several senses of both terms relate to argumentation. I offer an inventory of them.
Commentary On Explicating And Negotiating Bias In Interdisciplinary Argumentation Using Abductive Tools, Tracy A. Bowell
Commentary On Explicating And Negotiating Bias In Interdisciplinary Argumentation Using Abductive Tools, Tracy A. Bowell
OSSA Conference Archive
No abstract provided.
The Polysemy Of ‘Fallacy’—Or ‘Bias’, For That Matter, Frank Zenker
The Polysemy Of ‘Fallacy’—Or ‘Bias’, For That Matter, Frank Zenker
OSSA Conference Archive
Starting with a brief overview of current usages (Sect. 2), this paper offers some constituents of a use-based analysis of ‘fallacy’, listing 16 conditions that have, for the most part implicitly, been discussed in the literature (Sect. 3). Our thesis is that at least three related conceptions of ‘fallacy’ can be identified. The 16 conditions thus serve to “carve out” a semantic core and to distinguish three core-specifications. As our discussion suggests, these specifications can be related to three normative positions in the philosophy of human reasoning: the meliorist, the apologist, and the panglossian (Sect. 4). Seeking to make these …
Commentary On 'Pursuing Objectivity: How Virtuous Can You Get?', William R. Minto
Commentary On 'Pursuing Objectivity: How Virtuous Can You Get?', William R. Minto
OSSA Conference Archive
No abstract provided.
Virtuous Vices: On Objectivity, Bias, And Virtue In Argumentation, Daniel H. Cohen, Katharina Stevens
Virtuous Vices: On Objectivity, Bias, And Virtue In Argumentation, Daniel H. Cohen, Katharina Stevens
OSSA Conference Archive
How is it possible that biases are cognitive vices, objectivity is an exemplary intellectual virtue, and yet objectivity is itself a bias? In this paper, we argue that objectivity is indeed a kind of bias but is still an argumentative virtue. In common with many biases – and many virtues – its effects are neither uniformly negative nor uniformly positive. Consequences alone are not enough to determine which character traits are argumentative virtues. Context matters.
The opening section addresses the problem of identifying argumentative virtues and provides a preliminary response to recent questions from Goddu and Godden regarding the foundations …
Bias In Legitimate Ad Hominem Arguments, Patrick Bondy
Bias In Legitimate Ad Hominem Arguments, Patrick Bondy
OSSA Conference Archive
This paper is about bias and ad hominem arguments. It will begin by rehearsing some reasons for thinking that there are both legitimate and illegitimate ad hominems, as well as reasons for thinking that biases can be both justified and unjustified. It will explain that justified biases about people with certain social identities can give rise to both legitimate and illegitimate ad hominem attacks, while unjustified biases only give rise to illegitimate ad hominems.
The paper will then describe Audrey Yap’s view that even when an unjustified bias is made explicit and shown to be unjustified, it can still make …
“Strategically Wrong”: Bias And Argumentation, Cristian Santibanez Yanez
“Strategically Wrong”: Bias And Argumentation, Cristian Santibanez Yanez
OSSA Conference Archive
The brain is composed of mutually inconsistent modules that contain contradictory beliefs. What consequences could this view have on argumentation? In order to sketch an answer, first the family of concepts of what is called generalized deception is discussed; then, this discussion is applied to the problem of the social influence bias to observe both how the mind works strategically wrong and what kind of arguments are used within this mental design in a social argumentative context.
Exploring Argumentation, Objectivity, And Bias: The Case Of Mathematical Infinity, Ami Mamolo
Exploring Argumentation, Objectivity, And Bias: The Case Of Mathematical Infinity, Ami Mamolo
OSSA Conference Archive
This paper presents an overview of several years of my research into individuals’ reasoning, argumentation, and bias when addressing problems, scenarios, and symbols related to mathematical infinity. There is a long history of debate around what constitutes “objective truth” in the realm of mathematical infinity, dating back to ancient Greece (e.g., Dubinsky et al., 2005). Modes of argumentation, hindrances, and intuitions have been largely consistent over the years and across levels of expertise (e.g., Brown et al., 2010; Fischbein et al., 1979, Tsamir, 1999). This presentation examines the interrelated complexities of notions of objectivity, bias, and argumentation as manifested in …
Biases, Bumps, Nudges, Query Lists, And Zero Tolerance Policies, Sheldon Wein
Biases, Bumps, Nudges, Query Lists, And Zero Tolerance Policies, Sheldon Wein
OSSA Conference Archive
Zero tolerance policies are often mistakenly thought to be the best way to deal with pressing social problems. However, most arguments for zero tolerance policies are either based on inaccurate premises or they commit the zero tolerance fallacy. This paper explores ways that we might counteract the bias in favor of zero tolerance policies by adding a query list to the choice architecture.
Definition: A Three-Dimensional Analysis With Bearing On Key Concepts, Robert H. Ennis Phd
Definition: A Three-Dimensional Analysis With Bearing On Key Concepts, Robert H. Ennis Phd
OSSA Conference Archive
This essay presents a three-dimensional analysis of definition (form, stance, and content) with application to making and evaluating definitions; teaching how to define; avoiding equivocation with "argument" and "bias"; and, using the concept-conception distinction, avoiding being deterred by the many definitions of "critical thinking", and seeing the usefulness of objectivity in everyday arguments in spite of existing conflict and confusion about aspects of objectivity.
The Method Of Relevant Variables, Objectivity, And Boas, James B. Freeman
The Method Of Relevant Variables, Objectivity, And Boas, James B. Freeman
OSSA Conference Archive
L. J. Cohen has presented an understanding of appraising argument strength which applies to a variety of types of defeasible reasoning. This method can be used to explicate how a body of information may back a warrant and to rank different bodies of evidence on strength of backing. We shall argue that this method allows backing warrants objectively, whether they are inductive warrants backed by observation or moral warrants backed in part a priori. The method also suggests where arguments employing these warrants may be vulnerable to bias bias but need not be infected by it.
Agnotology And Argumentation: A Rhetorical Taxonomy Of Not-Knowing, Blake D. Scott
Agnotology And Argumentation: A Rhetorical Taxonomy Of Not-Knowing, Blake D. Scott
OSSA Conference Archive
This paper attempts to integrate an agnotological taxonomy of “not-knowing” with argumentation theory. Given rhetoric’s emphasis on what arguers choose to make present for their audience, it is argued that the rhetorical approach is best suited to accommodate the proposed taxonomy. In doing so we can improve the capacities of both arguers and audiences to detect adverse elements such as prejudices, implicit biases, and ideologies, which can restrict an argument’s claim to objectivity.
Pursuing Objectivity: How Virtuous Can You Get?, José Ángel Gascón
Pursuing Objectivity: How Virtuous Can You Get?, José Ángel Gascón
OSSA Conference Archive
While, in common usage, objectivity is usually regarded as a virtue, and failures to be objective as vices, this concept tends to be absent in argumentation theory. This paper will explore the possibility of taking objectivity as an argumentative virtue. Several problems immediately arise: could objectivity be understood in positive terms— not only as mere absence of bias? Is it an attainable ideal? Or perhaps objectivity could be explained as a combination of other virtues?
Emotional Arguments: What Would Neuroscientists And Psychologists Say?, Linda Carozza
Emotional Arguments: What Would Neuroscientists And Psychologists Say?, Linda Carozza
OSSA Conference Archive
Why is there resistance in acknowledging emotional arguments? I explore the ambiguity entrenched in the emotional mode of argument, which may contribute to the lack of widespread agreement about its existence. In particular, belief systems and personality styles are addressed, as they are integral to the emotional mode of argumentation. This multidisciplinary approach neither advocates or dismisses the emotional mode; it adds another layer of understanding to the literature that is important to consider.
Virtue Argumentation And Bias, Andrew Aberdein
Virtue Argumentation And Bias, Andrew Aberdein
OSSA Conference Archive
Virtue Argumentation and Bias
PAPER
Virtue theories of argumentation (VTA) are a burgeoning programme [2]. Bias is a familiar impediment to good argument, which has drawn renewed attention as a result of psychological research demonstrating the prevalence of cognitive biases and implicit associations. Despite some attempts to utilise the resources of VTA to address bias, there has been little acknowledgement of the obstacle that bias presents to VTA. Specifically, VTA seems vulnerable to a situationist challenge, analogous to similar challenges in virtue ethics and epistemology, that behavioural dispositions are too sensitive to specific situations for virtues to be psychologically plausible …
Commentary On: Frank Zenkers’S “The Polysemy Of ‘Fallacy’– Or ‘Bias’, For That Matter”, Michel Dufour
Commentary On: Frank Zenkers’S “The Polysemy Of ‘Fallacy’– Or ‘Bias’, For That Matter”, Michel Dufour
OSSA Conference Archive
No abstract provided.
Some Practical Values Of Argumentation, Laura M. Benacquista
Some Practical Values Of Argumentation, Laura M. Benacquista
OSSA Conference Archive
In this paper, I identify two sets of practical values of argumentation from a standpoint that places a premium on maximal participatory democracy. The first set includes pedagogical values for both teachers and learners. The second set of values are transformative and include: facilitating openness as both tolerance and opportunity; facilitating understanding of one’s own positions, other’s positions, and the conceptual frameworks underlying them; and, finally, fostering motivation by encouraging action.