Reading Sympathetically and Critically

1. Reading Sympathetically and Critically • To effectively read arguments, you should adopt a multistep approach. • Read as a believer. • Read as a doubter. • Consider alternative views, and analyze sources of disagreement. • Use disagreement productively to prompt further investigation. “The idea that we should be open to all ideas is very different from the supposition that all ideas are equally valid” --Lawrence Summers, President, Harvard University

2. Reading as a Believer • Practice “empathic listening” (see the world through the author’s eyes). • This requires putting aside your own viewpoint for the moment. • For this AND the other steps in reading arguments effectively, you must: • -read the argument carefully for general meaning. • -analyze each paragraph for says and does. A does statement identifies a paragraph’s function. A says statement summarizes the paragraph’s content.

3. Reading as a Doubter • Whether you tend to agree with the argument or not, you should now read it critically or skeptically. • Demand more proof, doubt evidence given, challenge the author’s assumptions and values. • -What is the background of the author or his or her sources? What bias is being brought forward? • -What are the source of the claims made? • -Are alternatives ignored?

4. Considering Alternative Views and Analyzing Sources of Disagreement • Since an argument involves two or more conflicting assertions, you must be sure to consider the important disagreements. • Disagreements may be: • -about facts or reality. “Facts” are often not the empirical facts of science, but are often contested. • -about values, beliefs, or assumptions. For example, sometimes these disagreements may manifest themselves as disagreements about definitions (e.g., what is pornography or what is a minority).

5. Using Disagreement Productively to Prompt Further Investigation • This is both a strategy for reading arguments and a bridge towards constructing your own arguments. • -Seek out sources of facts and more complete versions of alternative (and the current) views. • -Determine what values are at stake in the issue and articulate your own values. • -Consider ways to synthesize alternative views. "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken.” --Oliver Cromwell to members of parliament