Text Table of Contents #7:

What Are the Assumptions?

Assumption – a belief that is taken for granted - and usually unstated or implicit

Value assumptions◦ Belief about what “should be” - it “prioritizes” one thing over

another Should be “honest”, should be “fair” Corporations should care less about profits and more about the

environment What value assumption has to be true for this conclusion to be true?

Descriptive (definitional) assumptions◦ Belief about factual information – what “is”

To stop global warming we need to stop man-made pollution What descriptive assumption has to be true for this conclusion to be true?

In argument we need to identify which beliefs taken for granted impact the reasoning

As with ambiguous terms – to identify assumptions we look at the reasons, the conclusion, or the logical links between the reasons and the conclusion◦ Ex:

R1- We all agree everyone should pay their fair share of taxes R2 – Middle class & poor don’t have enough money to pay more R3 – Rich have money to pay more Conclusion – Rich should pay more taxes

Many parents get disturbed because their child is not acquiring skills at the same age as other children in the neighborhood. What these parents fail to realize is that a child learns at his own rate. There is nothing to worry about when a child fails to read by a certain age. When a kid feels a need to learn how to read, he will. Inside each child is the desire to acquire competencies. If left alone, these desires will lead the child in the direction the parent hopes. Pushing a child to read is a certain technique for creating an alienated reader.

Recently, we have lost community members in a large fire. It only seems logical now that we start implementing fire safety presentations or courses in our schools. The last thing we want to happen is for more tragedies to occur, especially in our schools.

The fire safety training will prevent this community from losing any more lives. Educational programs provide the best way to go if we are to avoid future disasters of this type.