What are the Value and

descriptive assumptions
Assumptions

 In all arguments the writer will make assumptions.

Assumptions can be:
 Hidden or unstated
 Taken for granted.
 Influential in determining the conclusion
 Necessary, if the reasoning is to make sense
 Potentially deceptive.
A reason cane be true but not support
the claim/conclusion
 The government should require that ergonomically
designed computer equipment and furniture be
provided to workers. This will decrease the incidence of
repetitive stress injury, eye strain, headache, and neck
and back pain.
Makes Sense?

 The argument makes sense if you believe that it is the

responsibility of government to look after the welfare of
the individual.
 What if you believe that it is the individual’s responsibility
to take care of his own welfare? To provide for his own
health and safety by demanding it from the employer or
switching jobs if he can’t handle it?
Value Assumptions /Necessary
assumptions
 Values are ideas that people see as worthwhile . They provide standards of
conduct by which we measure the quality of human behavior.
 A person’s value preferences influence the reasons he provides and the
conclusion.
 The reasons will logically support the conclusion only if the value assumption
is added to the reasoning.
 Reason: Online gambling feeds addictions.
 Value Assumption: Public safety is more important than freedom of choice.
 Conclusion: Online gambling should not be legalized
Commonly held values
 adventure ambition privacy
 autonomy needs of the collective security
 comfort individual responsibility tolerance
 cooperation courage wisdom
 creativity equality of condition rationality
 equal opportunity excellence spontaneity
 flexibility freedom of speech tradition
 generosity harmony competition
 honesty justice
 novelty order
 patriotism peace
People give different priorities to
different values
 Should DNA information be kept in a national database for police
departments to access?
 Should schools and libraries be required to provide equal access to
computers for the disabled?
 Is Microsoft a monopoly that should be broken up because they have an
unfair advantage as the producers of the Windows system software?
 Value Conflicts:

 Should DNA information be kept in a national database for police

departments to access?
 Privacy vs. security
 Should schools and libraries be required to provide equal access to
computers for the disabled?
 Equal opportunity vs. Individual Responsibility
 Is Microsoft a monopoly that should be broken up because they have an
unfair advantage as the producers of the Windows system software?
 Competition vs. Fairness
Value conflicts
 Loyalty-Honesty
 Competition-Cooperation
 Freedom of Speech-Security
 Equality-Individualism
 Achievement-Learning
 Security-Excitement
 Generosity-Material success
 Rationality-spontaneity
 Tradition-novelty
 Individual Responsibility-Collective Responsibility
 Efficiency-Social stability
Common Conflicts
 The same value conflicts surface in many different social controversies and
are easy to identify:
 Individual freedom vs. respect for others: Should Nazi groups have web
sites?
 Public Safety vs. individual responsibility: Should watching TV while driving be
illegal?
 Many issues share important characteristics:
 Should face-recognition software be used in public places to identify
terrorists? Should the FBI be allowed to monitor messages? Should
information about child molesters be published on the internet (Megan’s
Law)?
 Can you identify a value conflict that exists in all of these? Hint: they all
involve the government knowing things about you and doing things with the
information.
Ethics, excuses, and rationalizations
 Ethics or morals are a stronger form of values that reflect right or wrong
behavior, or good and evil. Is it stealing?
 Your friend in the neighboring apartment can’t afford to pay for broadband
Internet access. He’s taking an online class and can’t keep up with the work
without it. He wants to run a cable out the window of your apartment to his
so he can use yours.

 Excuses or Rationalizations
When people violate their ethics or values, they often rationalize it with
something like the following:
 The ends justify the means / It’s not illegal
 I did it for you / He did it to me first
 Nobody got hurt / Everyone else does it
 I didn’t get any money for it / I deserve it
Descriptive Assumptions – what is being
assumed
 Unstated beliefs about the way the world IS or will BECOME.
 (Value assumptions are how the world SHOULD be)
 You will be happy with your Internet access if you sign up with Comcast.
They are the world’s largest ISP with over 12 million subscribers.

 What is being assumed? Is biggest always the best?

 Just because Comcast is the largest ISP in the world, does it mean that they
will provide the best Internet service?
 These kinds of assumptions are also called reality assumptions
Is the assumption reliable? Both at once

 Unstated beliefs about the way the world IS or will BECOME.

 (Value assumptions are how the world SHOULD be)
 You will be happy with your Internet access if you sign up with Comcast.
They are the world’s largest ISP with over 12 million subscribers.

What is being assumed? Is biggest always the best?

 Just because Comcast is the largest ISP in the world, does it mean that they
will provide the best Internet service?
 These kinds of assumptions are also called reality assumptions
Value and Descriptive assumptions.

 The Value Assumption: Freedom of information is important

 Trials and executions should be televised-the public has the right to know
what’s going on in our courts.
 Information about the judicial system needs to be more widely
disseminated.

 The Descriptive Assumption

 Televising the trials and executions would inform the public about the judicial
system.
 Is this a valid assumption? Would people really watch trials and executions
on TV?
How to identify assumptions
 Investigate the author’s background
 Use reverse role-playing. Take the opposite position.
 Look for common value conflicts. There may be more than one.
 Ask “Why do the consequences of the author’s position seem so important to
him or her?” Look for a gap between the reasons and conclusion.
 Get more information about the issue or similar controversies.
 Search for similar social controversies to find comparable assumptions

Look at the Author’s Background

 A clue can come from the preferences usually held by a person like the writer.
What interests does such a person naturally wish to protect?
 doctor, politician, computer professional, marketer, college professor, student,
longshoreman, etc.
Making Connections:
 Gap between Reasons and Conclusion
 You look for assumptions because you want to judge how well the reasons support the
conclusion. Ask:
 How do you get from the reason to the conclusion?
 If the reason is true, what else must be true for the conclusion to follow?
 Supposing the reason(s) were true, is there any way in which the conclusion
nevertheless could be false?

 Look for ideas that support reasons

 A reason is presented with no clear support; yet the believability of the reason
depends on the acceptability of ideas that have been taken for granted. From Oct 7
 In thumbing through the classifieds, it becomes apparent that despite the sagging
economy, there is real demand for customer service reps. That's the good news. More
disheartening, though, is that an alarming number of companies listed people skills
and personality -- not computer skills -- as the most sought-after qualities for
candidates. The last people you want as your first -- maybe your only -- customer
touchpoint are personable dimwits who are working for you because they can't get
jobs anywhere else.
Making Connections:
 Conclusion: Companies should hire customer service reps for technical skills,
not people skills.
 Reasons:
 Candidates with people skills are dimwits.
 Personable candidates can’t get jobs anywhere else.
 Customer service reps are the customer touchpoint.
 Assumption:
 Job seekers with good personalities do not have computer skills.
Making Connections:
 This is a receptionist position, so we need a mature woman for the job. It's
important that our clients feel comfortable as soon as they walk in here.
 You can't go to the party in that outfit. Everyone will think you're completely
clueless about how to dress, and no one will want to been seen with you.
 The death penalty is proof that we value revenge more than we value
people. We should save and rehabilitate people rather than giving up on
them.
 Latoya is really successful-she's only 28 and she's making $170,000 a year.
 There is good news in that rape is on the decline in this country-there are
20% fewer police reports this year than last year at this time.
 The people in that city don't care about the homeless-their city council
voted against contributing $2,000 to a county fund to help the homeless.
 Drugs and prostitution should be legalized. They are legal in Amsterdam and
they solve more problems than they cause.
 From Becoming a Critical Thinker by Sherry Diestler.
Making Connections:
 Clients only feel comfortable around mature women (ambiguous too, what
does “mature” mean?)
 The speaker knows how everyone will respond to the outfit or everyone at
the party judges you by your clothing
 People who favor the death penalty only want revenge or every criminal
can be rehabilitated
 Money is the measure of success
 All rapes are reported.
 Spending public money is the way to care for the homeless.
 What worked in Amsterdam will work in the U.S.
 You may have worded yours a little differently.