10/23/17
1
• Announcements
▫ Essay draft #2 due next week
▫ Today – last 15 minutes of class – documentary movie
crew will come to class and do a bit of filming.
– Only a general view of the class, no zooming in on anyone.
– If uncomfortable about this, feel free to not participate.
• The plan for today
▫ How to read critically
▫ Practicing critical reading on the articles you have
read.
Critical thinking
• Why important?
▫ Better citizen
▫ Better in formulating your own arguments
▫ Better students (reading, essays)
CLUES – a guide to critical thinking
• Consider the source and the audience
• Lay out the argument and the underlying values
and assumptions
• Uncover the evidence
• Evaluate the conclusion
• Sort out the political implications
Consider the source and the audience
• Example: Left-leaning v. right-leaning news
source
▫ Each has different audience, receptive to different
kinds of arguments
▫ Author often adjusts the argumentation to the
audience he/she is facing
10/23/17
2
Lay out the argument and the
underlying values and assumptions
▫ Argument = a claim that has a logical structure, supported
by evidence, and leading to a conclusion
▫ Assumption = sthg that is taken as given, something that
you think is true although you have no definite proof
• Example
▫ Argument: A law that prescribes wearing a seatbelt is
redundant. People are rational and they see that wearing a
seatbelt doesn’t cost much and it can save their life. People
will wear seatbelts even without a law.
▫ Assumption: people are rational, they correctly calculate
costs and benefits and act upon those calculations
Uncover the evidence
• Example:
▫ The percentage of people using seatbelts is the
same in countries that have a law prescribing it as
in countries that don’t have such law.
▫ Some numbers from the real world that support
the claim, examples, historical examples, quotes
from experts, …
Evaluate the conclusion
• Does the argument convince you?
• Is the evidence persuasive?
• Why, why not?
• Have the argument changed your beliefs?
Sort out the political implications
• Does this argument matter for politics?
• If it does, how? How does it affect who wins and
who loses in a political process?
• You can review the CLUES framework in the
reading (pp. 20-21)
10/23/17
3
Group discussion:
Is Torture Ever Justified? (The Economist)
• The Economist – international newsmagazine,
usually a free-market, libertarian point of view
• - how may this affect an article about the U.S.?
• What is the argument made by those who blur
the definition of torture?
• What value do those people put a priority on
• What argument is made by people who say that
we cannot torture because of "who we are?"
What value do they prioritize?
• What sorts of evidence does The Economist
provide? What kind of evidence would you need
to show that torture works?
• Does the "who we are" argument require any
evidence?
• What conclusions do you draw based on what
you have read? Is torture ever justified? Can we
torture and remain true to ourselves?
• The U.S. has engaged in torture/activities
bordering torture:
• How has that changed how we are viewed in the
world?
• Does it make us stronger or weaker in the war on
terror?
• Discussion question for all:
• Would you allow "advanced interrogation
techniques"?
• Or would you call such techniques a torture and
ban them?
• Does this debate have any implications for
human rights law? Or is it a purely US domestic
issue?
Next week
• Read the assigned readings
AND
• Answer the CLUES questions at the end of each
reading
▫ Only President Obama’s speech doesn’t have
CLUES questions – you will need to design the
questions yourself and answer them.
• Submit the second draft of your essay to the IS
▫ If you haven’t submitted your first draft then your
draft next week will still be your “second” draft.