Current issues and enduring questions 8th edition pdf

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ELEVENTH EDITION

Current Issues and Enduring Questions

A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings

SYLVAN BARNET Professor of English, Late of Tufts University

HUGO BEDAU Professor of Philosophy, Late of Tufts University

JOHN O’HARA Associate Professor of Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing, Stockton University

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Acknowledgments

Text acknowledgments and copyrights appear at the back of the book on page 758, which constitutes an extension of the copyright page. Art acknowledgments and copyrights appear on the same page as the art selections they cover.

Preface

This book is a text — a book about reading other people’s arguments and writing your own arguments — and it is also an anthology — a collection of more than a hundred selections, ranging from Plato to the present, with a strong emphasis on contemporary arguments and, in this edition, the first in full color, new modes of argument. Before we describe these selections further, we’d like to describe our chief assumptions about the aims of a course that might use Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings.

Probably most students and instructors would agree that, as critical readers, students should be able to

summarize accurately an argument they have read;

locate the thesis (the claim) of an argument;

locate the assumptions, stated and unstated, of an argument;

analyze and evaluate the strength of the evidence and the soundness of the reasoning offered in support of the thesis; and

analyze, evaluate, and account for discrepancies among various readings on a topic (for example, explain why certain facts are used, why probable consequences of a proposed action are examined or are ignored, or why two sources might interpret the same facts differently).

Probably, too, students and instructors would agree that, as thoughtful writers, students should be able to

imagine an audience and write effectively for it (for instance, by using the appropriate tone and providing the appropriate amount of detail);

present information in an orderly and coherent way;

be aware of their own assumptions;

locate sources and incorporate them into their own writing, not simply by quoting extensively or by paraphrasing but also by having digested

material so that they can present it in their own words;

properly document all borrowings — not merely quotations and paraphrases but also borrowed ideas; and

do all these things in the course of developing a thoughtful argument of their own.

In the first edition of this book we quoted Edmund Burke and John Stuart Mill. Burke said,

He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves, and sharpens our skill.

Our antagonist is our helper.

Mill said,

He who knows only his own side of the cause knows little.

These two quotations continue to reflect the view of argument that underlies this text: In writing an essay one is engaging in a serious effort to know what one’s own ideas are and, having found them, to contribute to a multisided conversation. One is not setting out to trounce an opponent, and that is partly why such expressions as “marshaling evidence,” “attacking an opponent,” and “defending a thesis” are misleading. True, on television talk shows we see right-wingers and left-wingers who have made up their minds and who are concerned only with pushing their own views and brushing aside all others. But in an academic community, and indeed in our daily lives, we learn by listening to others and also by listening to ourselves.

We draft a response to something we have read, and in the very act of drafting we may find — if we think critically about the words we are putting down on paper — we are changing (perhaps slightly, perhaps radically) our own position. In short, one reason that we write is so that we can improve our ideas. And even if we do not drastically change our views, we and our readers at least come to a better understanding of why we hold the views we do.

Features

THE TEXT

Part One: Critical Thinking and Reading (Chapters 1–4) and Part Two: Critical Writing (Chapters 5–7) together offer a short course in methods of thinking about and writing arguments. By “thinking,” we mean serious analytic thought, including analysis of one’s own assumptions (Chapter 1); by

“writing” we mean the use of effective, respectable techniques, not gimmicks (such as the notorious note a politician scribbled in the margin of the text of his speech: “Argument weak; shout here”). For a delightfully wry account of the use of gimmicks, we recommend that you consult “The Art of Controversy” in The Will to Live by the nineteenth-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer reminds readers that a Greek or Latin quotation (however irrelevant) can be impressive to the uninformed and that one can knock down almost any proposition by loftily saying, “That’s all very well in theory, but it won’t do in practice.”

We offer lots of advice about how to set forth an argument, but we do not offer instruction in one-upmanship. Rather, we discuss responsible ways of arguing persuasively. We know, however, that before one can write a persuasive argument, one must clarify one’s own ideas — a process that includes arguing with oneself — to find out what one really thinks about a problem. Therefore, we devote Chapter 1 to critical thinking; Chapters 2, 3, and 4 to critical reading (Chapter 4 is about reading images); and Chapters 5, 6, and 7 to critical writing.

Parts One and Two together contain thirty readings (seven are student papers) for analysis and discussion. Some of these essays originated as op-ed newspaper pieces, and we reprint some of the letters to the editor that they generated, so students can easily see several sides to a given issue. In this way students can, in their own responses, join the conversation, so to speak. (We have found, by the way, that using the format of a letter helps students to frame their ideas, and therefore in later chapters we occasionally suggest writing assignments in the form of a letter to the editor.)

All of the essays in the book are accompanied by a list of Topics for Critical Thinking and Writing.1 This is not surprising, given the emphasis we place on asking questions in order to come up with ideas for writing. Among the chief questions that writers should ask, we suggest, are “What is X?” and “What is the value of X?” (pp. 226–27). By asking such questions — for instance (to look only at these two types of questions), “Is the fetus a person?” or “Is Arthur Miller a better playwright than Tennessee Williams?” — a writer probably will find ideas coming, at least after a few moments of head scratching. The device of developing an argument by identifying issues is, of course, nothing new. Indeed, it goes back to an ancient method of argument used by classical rhetoricians, who identified a stasis (an issue) and then asked questions about it: Did X do such and such? If so, was the action bad? If bad, how bad? (Finding an issue or stasis — a position where one stands — by asking questions is discussed in Chapter 6.)

In keeping with our emphasis on writing as well as reading, we raise issues not only of what can roughly be called the “content” of the essays but also of what can (equally roughly) be called the “style” — that is, the ways in which the arguments are set forth. Content and style, of course, cannot finally be kept apart. As Cardinal Newman said, “Thought and meaning are inseparable from each other… . Style is thinking out into language.” In our Topics for Critical Thinking and Writing, we sometimes ask the student

to evaluate the effectiveness of an essay’s opening paragraph,

to explain a shift in tone from one paragraph to the next, or

to characterize the persona of the author as revealed in the whole essay.

In short, the book is not designed as an introduction to some powerful ideas (though in fact it is that, too); it is designed as an aid to writing thoughtful, effective arguments on important political, social, scientific, ethical, legal, and religious issues.

The essays reprinted in this book also illustrate different styles of argument that arise, at least in part, from the different disciplinary backgrounds of the various authors. Essays by journalists, lawyers, judges, social scientists, policy analysts, philosophers, critics, activists, and other writers — including first-year undergraduates — will be found in these pages. The authors develop and present their views in arguments that have distinctive features reflecting their special training and concerns. The differences in argumentative styles found in these essays foreshadow the differences students will encounter in the readings assigned in many of their other courses.

Parts One and Two, then, offer a preliminary (but we hope substantial) discussion of such topics as

identifying assumptions;

getting ideas by means of invention strategies;

finding, evaluating, and citing printed and electronic sources;

interpreting visual sources;

evaluating kinds of evidence; and

organizing material as well as an introduction to some ways of thinking.

Part Three: Further Views on Argument consists of Chapters 8 through 12.

Chapter 8, A Philosopher’s View: The Toulmin Model, is a summary of the philosopher Stephen Toulmin’s method for analyzing arguments, covering claims, grounds, warrants, backing, modal qualifiers, and rebuttals. This summary will assist those who wish to apply Toulmin’s methods to the readings in our book.

Chapter 9, A Logician’s View: Deduction, Induction, Fallacies, offers a more rigorous analysis of these topics than is usually found in composition courses and reexamines from a logician’s point of view material already treated briefly in Chapter 3.

Chapter 10, A Psychologist’s View: Rogerian Argument, with an essay by psychotherapist Carl R. Rogers and an essay by a student, complements the discussion of audience, organization, and tone in Chapter 6.

Chapter 11, A Literary Critic’s View: Arguing about Literature, should help students to see the things literary critics argue about and how they argue. Students can apply what they learn not only to the literary readings that appear in the chapter (poems by Robert Frost and Andrew Marvell and a story by Kate Chopin) but also to the readings that appear in Part Six, Enduring Questions: Essays, a Story, Poems, and a Play. Finally, Part Three concludes with

Chapter 12, A Debater’s View: Individual Oral Presentations and Debate, which introduces students to standard presentation strategies and debate format.

THE ANTHOLOGY

Part Four: Current Issues: Occasions for Debate (Chapters 13–18) begins with some comments on binary, or pro-con, thinking. It then gives a Checklist for Analyzing a Debate and reprints five pairs of arguments — on student loan debt (should it be forgiven?), using technology in the classroom (is it a boon or a distraction?), the local food movement (is it a better way to eat?), childhood and parenting (what’s best for kids?), genetic modification of human beings, and mandatory military service (should it be required?). Here, as elsewhere in the book, many of the selections (drawn from popular journals and newspapers) are short — scarcely longer than the 500-word essays that students are often asked to write. Thus, students can easily study the methods the writers use, as well as the issues themselves.

Part Five: Current Issues: Casebooks (Chapters 19–25) presents seven chapters on issues discussed by several writers. For example, the first casebook concerns the nature and purpose of a college education: Should students focus their studies in STEM fields in the hopes of securing a more stable future and contributing to the economy, or should college be a place where students learn empathy, citizenship, and critical thinking — attributes often instilled by the humanities?

Part Six: Enduring Questions: Essays, a Story, Poems, and a Play (Chapters 26–28) extends the arguments to three topics: Chapter 26, What Is the Ideal Society? (the voices here range from Thomas More, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King Jr. to literary figures W. H. Auden, Walt Whitman, and Ursula K. Le Guin); Chapter 27, How Free Is the Will of the Individual within Society? (authors in this chapter include Plato, Susan Glaspell, and George Orwell); and Chapter 28, What Is Happiness? (among the nine selections in this chapter are writings by Epictetus, C. S. Lewis, and the Dalai Lama).

What’s New in the Eleventh Edition

This eleventh edition brings highly significant changes. The authors of the previous ten editions established a firm foundation for the book: Hugo Bedau, professor of philosophy, brought analytical rigor to the instruction in argumentation. and Sylvan Barnet, professor of English, contributed expertise in writing instruction. They have now turned the project over to John O’Hara, professor of critical thinking, to contribute a third dimension, augmenting and enriching the material on critical thinking throughout, especially in the early chapters. Other changes have been made to ensure practical instruction and current topics.

Fresh and timely new readings. Thirty-seven of the essays (about one- third of the total) are new, as are topics such as genetically engineered foods, protection of religious rights in prison, marijuana regulation, technology’s place in classrooms, social media’s effect on “real life,” over- and under- parenting, American exceptionalism, police violence against minorities, and the widespread jailing of U.S. citizens.

New debates and casebook topics. New debates include Technology in the Classroom: Useful or Distracting?, The Current State of Childhood: Is “Helicopter Parenting” or “Free-Range Childhood” Better for Kids?, and Mandatory Military Service: Should It Be Required? New casebooks —

which were developed based on feedback from users of the text — include Race and Police Violence: How Do We Solve the Problem?, Online Versus IRL: How Has Social Networking Changed How We Relate to One Another?, The Carceral State: Why Are So Many Americans in Jail?, and American Exceptionalism: How Should the United States Teach about Its Past?

A vibrant new design. A new full-color layout makes the book more engaging and easier for students to navigate, and an expanded trim size allows more space for students to annotate and take notes. Over fifty new visuals, including ads, cartoons, photographs, and Web pages, provide occasions for critical inquiry.

Expanded coverage of critical thinking in Part One. Part One has been heavily revised to help better show students how effective reading, analysis, and writing all begin with critical thinking. Enhancements include an expanded vocabulary for critical thinking, instruction on writing critical summaries, guidance on confronting unfamiliar issues in reading and writing, new strategies for generating essay topics, and extended critical reading approaches.

New “Thinking Critically” activities. Throughout the text, new interactive exercises test students’ ability to apply critical thinking, reading, and writing concepts. Students can also complete these exercises online in LaunchPad.

Expanded discussion of developing thesis statements in Chapter 6. This updated section helps better illustrate for students what the difference is between taking a truly critical position versus resting on their laurels in argumentative essays.

Updated coverage of visual rhetoric in Chapter 4. The “Visual Rhetoric” chapter has been expanded to include discussion of how to analyze images rhetorically, including how to recognize and resist the meanings of images, how to identify visual emotional appeals, and what the difference is exactly between seeing passively and truly looking critically.

LaunchPad for Current Issues and Enduring Questions. This edition of Current Issues includes access to LaunchPad — an interactive platform that brings together the resources students need to prepare for class, working with the textbook. Features include interactive questions and exercises and quizzes on all of the readings and instructional content, allowing instructors to quickly get a sense of what students understand and what they need help with. You and your students can access LaunchPad at

macmillanhighered.com/barnetbedauohara. Students receive access automatically with the purchase of a new book. Students can purchase standalone access at macmillanhighered.com/barnetbedauohara. To get instructor access, register as an instructor at this site.

Acknowledgments

Finally, the authors would like to thank those who have strengthened this book by their comments and advice on the eleventh edition: Heidi Ajrami, Victoria College; Rick Alley, Tidewater Community College; Kristen Bennett, Wentworth Institute of Technology; David Bordelon, Ocean County College; Linda Borla, Cypress College; Chris Brincefield, Forsyth Technical Community College; Erin Carroll, Ocean County College; Tamy Chapman, Saddleback College; Donald Carreira Ching, Leeward Community College; Jeanne Cosmos, Mass Bay Community College; Marlene Cousens, Yakima Community College; Christie Diep, Cypress College; Sarah Fedirka, University of Findlay; Mary Ellen Gleason, Paul D. Camp Community College; Michael Guista, Allan Hancock College; Anthony Halderman, Allan Hancock College; Tony Howard, Collin College; Tariq Jawhar, Tidewater Community College; Patrick Johnson, Northwest Iowa Community College; Amy Jurrens, Northwest Iowa Community College; Fay Lee, Lone Star College CyFair; James McFadden, Buena Vista University; Patricia Mensch, Bellevue College; Cornelia Moore, Victor Valley College; Sylvia Newman, Weber State University; Robert Piluso, Chaffey College; Jenni Runte, Metropolitan State University; Anne Spollen, Ocean County College; Rosanna Walker, College of the Desert; Ronald Tulley, University of Findlay; Steve Yarborough, Bellevue College; and our anonymous reviewers from San Joaquin Delta College, University of South Alabama, and Worcester State University. We would also like to thank Kalina Ingham, Elaine Kosta, Martha Friedman, Angela Boehler, and Jen Simmons, who adeptly managed art research and text permissions.

We are also deeply indebted to the people at Bedford/St. Martin’s, especially to our editor, Alicia Young, who is wise, patient, supportive, and unfailingly helpful. Steve Scipione, Maura Shea, John Sullivan, and Adam Whitehurst, our editors for all of the preceding editions, have left a lasting impression on us and on the book; without their work on the first ten editions, there probably would not be an eleventh. Others at Bedford/St. Martin’s to whom we are deeply indebted include Edwin Hill, Leasa Burton, Karen Henry, Joy Fisher Williams, Jennifer Prince, Elise Kaiser, and Jessica Gould,

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all of whom have offered countless valuable (and invaluable) suggestions. Intelligent, informed, firm yet courteous, persuasive — all of these folks know how to think and how to argue.

Get the Most Out of Your Course with Current Issues and Enduring Questions

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LAUNCHPAD FOR CURRENT ISSUES AND ENDURING QUESTIONS : WHERE STUDENTS LEARN

LaunchPad provides engaging content and new ways to get the most out of your book. Get an interactive e-book combined with useful, highly relevant materials in a fully customizable course space; then assign and mix our resources with yours.

Auto-graded reading quizzes, comprehension quizzes on argument topics, and interactive writing templates help students to engage actively with the material you assign.

Pre-built units — including readings, videos, quizzes, discussion groups, and more — are easy to adapt and assign by adding your own materials and mixing them with our high-quality multimedia content and ready-made assessment options, such as LearningCurve adaptive quizzing. LearningCurve now includes argument modules focusing on topic, purpose, and audience, arguable claims, reasoning and logical fallacies, and persuasive appeals (logos, pathos, and ethos).

LaunchPad also provides access to a Gradebook that provides a clear window on the performance of your whole class, individual students, and even results of individual assignments.

A streamlined interface helps students focus on what’s due, and social commenting tools let them engage, make connections, and learn from each other. Use LaunchPad on its own or integrate it with your

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Brief Contents Preface

PART ONE CRITICAL THINKING AND READING

1  Critical Thinking

2  Critical Reading: Getting Started

3  Critical Reading: Getting Deeper into Arguments

4  Visual Rhetoric: Thinking about Images as Arguments

PART TWO CRITICAL WRITING 5  Writing an Analysis of an Argument

6  Developing an Argument of Your Own

7  Using Sources

PART THREE FURTHER VIEWS ON ARGUMENT

8  A Philosopher’s View: The Toulmin Model

9  A Logician’s View: Deduction, Induction, Fallacies

10 A Psychologist’s View: Rogerian Argument

11 A Literary Critic’s View: Arguing about Literature

12 A Debater’s View: Individual Oral Presentations and Debate

PART FOUR CURRENT ISSUES: OCCASIONS FOR DEBATE

13 Student Loans: Should Some Indebtedness Be Forgiven?

14 Technology in the Classroom: Useful or Distracting?

15 The Local Food Movement: Is It a Better Way to Eat?

16 The Current State of Childhood: Is “Helicopter Parenting” or “Free- Range Childhood” Better for Kids?

17 Genetic Modification of Human Beings: Is It Acceptable?

18 Mandatory Military Service: Should It Be Required?

PART FIVE CURRENT ISSUES: CASEBOOKS 19 A College Education: What Is Its Purpose?

20 Race and Police Violence: How Do We Solve the Problem?

21 Junk Food: Should the Government Regulate Our Intake?

22 Online Versus IRL: How Has Social Networking Changed How We Relate to One Another?

23 Immigration: What Is to Be Done?

24 The Carceral State: Why Are So Many Americans in Jail?

25 American Exceptionalism: How Should the United States Teach about Its Past?