CHAPTER 6 Hidden Argument Components – Good Reasoning Matters A Constructive Approach to Critical Thinking test bank

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CHAPTER 6
Hidden Argument Components

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT a principle of communication?
a) Assume that every gesture is a speech act.
b) Assume that a speech act is intelligible.
c) Interpret a speech act in a way that is in keeping with the meaning of its explicit elements.
d) Interpret a speech act in a way that fits the context in which it occurs.
e) All of the above are principles of communication.

2. Pick the best hidden premise(s) and/or hidden conclusion(s) to complete this argument.

If today is Thursday, then Zoe is either at work or on the golf course. Therefore, Zoe is at work.

a) Hidden premise: Zoe is on the golf course.
b) Hidden premise: Today is not Thursday.
c) Hidden premise: Today is Thursday and Zoe is not on the golf course.
d) Hidden conclusion: Zoe is a dedicated employee.
e) This argument does not have any hidden parts.

3. Pick the best hidden premise(s) and/or hidden conclusion(s) to complete this argument.

The company lost a lot of money last year. So we won’t get a wage increase this year.

a) Hidden premise: The company lost its money through gambling debts.
b) Hidden premise: We don’t get wage increases when the company loses money.
c) Hidden conclusion: I won’t be able to buy that new TV that I want.
d) Hidden conclusion: I deserved a wage increase this year.
e) This argument does not have any hidden parts.

4. Pick the best hidden premise(s) and/or hidden conclusion(s) to complete this argument.

If we’re having steak for dinner, we need to get propane for the BBQ. If we’re having spaghetti for dinner, then we can open a bottle of wine. So we either need to go get propane, or we can stay home and have a glass of wine before dinner.

a) Hidden premise: We have wine at home.
b) Hidden premise: We have steak in the refrigerator.
c) Hidden premise: We are having either steak or spaghetti for dinner.
d) Hidden conclusion: We are going to have a lovely evening.
e) This argument does not have any hidden parts.

5. Pick the best hidden premise(s) and/or hidden conclusion(s) to complete this argument

If we had lost electricity, my alarm clock wouldn’t be showing the right time, but it is showing the right time.

a) Hidden premise: Some neighbours lost electricity.
b) Hidden premise: We had a terrible storm during the night.
c) Hidden conclusion: We didn’t lose electricity.
d) Hidden conclusion: My alarm clock is broken.
e) This argument does not have any hidden parts.

6. Pick the best hidden premise(s) and/or hidden conclusion(s) to complete this argument

Either she’s mad at me or she’s working late tonight. If she’s mad at me, then we won’t be going to the movies. If she’s working late, then we won’t be going to the movies, either.

a) Hidden premise: We had an argument this morning.
b) Hidden premise: We like to go to the movies.
c) Hidden conclusion: We won’t be going to the movies.
d) Hidden conclusion: We will go out for dinner instead.
e) This argument does not have any hidden parts.

7. Pick the best hidden premise(s) and/or hidden conclusion(s) to complete this argument.

Thinking clearly and logically is an important skill, so all students should study the rudiments of logic. Courses on critical thinking should therefore be mandatory.

a) Hidden premise: Courses that all students should take should be mandatory.
b) Hidden premise: A course on rudimentary logic is offered at your school.
c) Hidden conclusion: Critical thinking skills are difficult to acquire.
d) Hidden conclusion: As a critical thinking student, you are ahead of the game.
e) This argument does not have any hidden parts.

8. Which of the following best expresses the charity that we should adopt when diagramming arguments with hidden premises or conclusion?
a) Make sure that any unstated claim you attribute to the arguer is something that you would believe if you were the arguer.
b) Make sure that for every unstated claim that you include, you make a donation to the arguer’s favourite charity.
c) Make sure that you include all unstated claims that you think the arguer might have wanted to include in the argument.
d) Make sure any unstated claim you attribute to the arguer is both necessary to the argument and something the arguer would accept.
e) There is no special charity that you should adopt when diagramming arguments.

9. When is an argument said to have a hidden conclusion?
a) An argument is said to have a hidden conclusion when its premises propose a conclusion that is left unstated.
b) An argument is said to have a hidden conclusion when the conclusion doesn’t include any indicator words (like “therefore”).
c) An argument is said to have a hidden conclusion when the argument is about things that are hidden, or things that should be hidden, or people playing hide-and-go-seek.
d) An argument is said to have a hidden conclusion when the person interpreting the argument can’t find the conclusion.
e) Arguments never have hidden conclusions.

10. Non-verbal demonstrations are most reliable (and useful) in which of the following fields?
a) Advertising
b) Science
c) Interpretive dance
d) Rhetoric
e) None of the above

11. Which of the following best represents a “loaded question”?
a) Do you still prefer your hamburgers “fully loaded”?
b) What is your cat’s name?
c) Are you guilty of this crime?
d) Are you still stealing money from the cash registers at your work?
e) None of the above

12. What is the best way to deal with a “loaded question” when one is asked of you?
a) Deny everything!
b) Refuse to answer.
c) Expose the assumption hidden in the question and dispose of it.
d) Ask the question of the person who asked it of you.
e) Answer it with a simple “yes” or “no,” as appropriate.

13. When we analyze an argument with non-verbal elements, how do we include these non-verbal elements in our analysis of the argument?
a) We include the images as they are in the argument diagram.
b) We build a reference to the image into the premises or conclusion
c) We simply leave them out of our argument diagram.
d) All of the above
e) None of the above

14. Which of the following is an example of a (potentially questionable use) of non-verbal demonstrations in advertising?
a) Before-and-after photographs used to promote a particular weight loss program
b) A trailer used to advertise a new movie
c) The scent sprayed from a sample bottle used to promote a perfume
d) In-store samples of new processed foods
e) All of the above

15. Which of the following is NOT one of the four kinds of non-verbal elements that may function in an argument?
a) Non-verbal demonstrations are used to provide some direct evidence for a conclusion.
b) Diagrams provide visual cues that help guide an audience to a certain conclusion.
c) Symbolic references are used to make a non-verbal reference to some idea, person, or thing.
d) Metaphors are used to figuratively ascribe some characteristic to the subject of the metaphor.
e) Argument flags are used to draw our attention to an argument.

True or False Questions

1. Arguments are always fully explicitly expressed.

2. “Hidden” argument components are always intentionally left out by the author, either to try to trick us, or to make us feel witty when we figure it out, or both.

3. The following is a speech act: :o)

4. When diagramming an argument, if there appears to be a hidden premise that would need to be expressed as a controversial claim, it is best to leave it out of the diagram.

5. Visual and musical flags are important to arguments because they draw attention to the argument, but they generally are not themselves elements of the argument (rather, they are “noise”).

6. The most basic way in which non-verbal elements function as argument components occurs when music, sounds, images, or even aromas provide evidence for some conclusion.

7. Non-verbal demonstrations are generally avoided in science.

8. Non-verbal speech acts can be understood by applying the principles of communication.

9. Traditionally, non-verbal demonstrations were highly-regarded forms of argument.

10. A maximum of one kind of non-verbal element can be used per argument.

11. When constructing your own arguments, you should include as many non-verbal elements as possible in order to enhance your argument.

12. Sometimes the same non-verbal elements (e.g., a particular piece of music) may convey more than one kind of non-verbal meaning.

13. Verbal and non-verbal metaphors should both be interpreted similarly: they should both describe one thing as though it is another.

14. The non-verbal elements of arguments function as symbols that can replace words, represent some idea, or refer to someone or something.

15. Non-verbal means of communication have a purely intellectual appeal.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is our goal in diagramming all explicit and hidden parts of an argument?

2. Why do we avoid including all of the background assumptions that the author clearly holds when diagramming arguments?

3. When identifying hidden components of an argument, what caution should you adopt, and why?

4. When diagramming an argument with a hidden component, how do we indicate that particular components are hidden?

5. Why should one always consider the context when interpreting a speech act?

 

Short Answer Questions

1. In diagramming, our aim is to make explicit all aspects of the argument we will want to discuss when we assess the argument. (p. 140)

2. Every argument makes many assumptions. There is no reason to enumerate them when they are not controversial assumptions, for they do not need to be discussed. They can be taken for granted because they reflect widespread agreement about the world, about language, and about what is right and wrong. In contrast, those assumptions that are speculative or debatable need to be represented as hidden premises in the diagramming of an argument, so that such assumptions can be recognized and discussed. (p. 139)

3. In identifying hidden components of an argument, you will want to identify all the hidden components relevant to the argument: you need to recognize the whole argument. But you must at the same time make sure that you do not add too many components and in this way misrepresent the argument. In identifying hidden components, you should work like an archaeologist rather than an architect: you do not want to build up an argument but to discover what is already there, even though it is there implicitly. (p. 135)

4. Within legends and diagrams, we indicate hidden components by prefixing “H” to the symbols that we use to represent them. In the case of a hidden conclusion, it is represented as “HC.” (p. 136)

5. Principle 2—context—directs us to interpret a speech act by considering the context in which it occurs. This context includes the other speech acts it is connected to and the broader social context in which it occurs. If a speech act is an answer to a question, then it must be understood in terms of this question. (It would be very difficult to correctly interpret the speech act if the context wasn’t taken into consideration.) (p. 132)