Argumentation Skills-2

2. Argumentation Skills-2

3. Arguments about Causes • What causes some peopleto become open-minded? to be genius? Wellread ? Listeningclassicalmusic?Orvice-a-versa ? • Thisis a question about causes and their effects—aboutwhat causes what. They're vital questions. • The evidence for a claim about causes is a correlation(positiveornegative) between two events,but not necessarlycausation.

7. 18. Explain how cause leads to effect • When we think that A causes B, we usually believe not only thatA and B are correlated but also that it "makes sense" for A tocause B. • Good arguments, then, do not just appeal to the correlationof A and B: they also explain why it makes sense for Ato cause B.

9. Correlationwithoutcausation

12. Formalargumentaboutcauses

13. 19. Propose the most likely cause • Most events have many possible causes. Just finding a possiblecause, then, is not enough; you must go on to show that it is themost likely cause. • Sometimes additional evidence is necessary before any explanationcan be accepted with much confidence. • More evidence is necessary when several competing explanationsall fit the available evidence.

14. 20. Correlated events are not necessarily related, could be justcoincidental .

15. 21. Correlated events may have a common cause • Some correlations are not relations between cause and effectbut represent two effects of some other cause. • For example,it is quite possible,for instance, that being well read and being open-mindedare both caused by some third factor: by going to Yaşar University.

17. 22. Either of two correlated events may cause theother : Correlation also does not establish the direction of causality. IfA is correlated with B, A may cause B—but B also may causeA. (i.e. chickandegg) 23. Causes may be complex: Maybe, readingmakes you more open-minded, but it is surely also truethat open-mindedness is likely to lead people to read more. Seldom do we fasten onto the oneand only cause.

19. To be continued– DeductiveArguments