The definition of clarity is the quality or condition of being clear or easy to understand. Social psychologists would say that she has high self-complexity. Perhaps the arguer has set out an explicit agenda orperhaps there is a dialogue between two arguers. Many arguments occur in a context where there is a definite question being considered. 8 Concreteness. This principle provides a way of aiming for the arguers intentions when the context is unhelpful and thus is subordinate to the principle of loyalty. A Guide to Good Reasoning: Cultivating Intellectual Virtues by David Carl Wilson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. The arguer might wish to thank you for improving on the original argument. Less is more. Judge Truman was the better candidate in the senatorial campaign. Clarity. Any time you have differences of opinions, it is vital that you research independently, so as not to be influenced by a specific bias. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. You may be stymied for any of several reasons. When the argument you are evaluating occurs in such a context, you should be prepared to consider in your evaluation not only whether it is sound, but also whether it commits a fallacy of conversational relevance. It helps when it is used to make good arguments easy to accept on their own merits. WebThe Principle of Clarity. %%EOF Voice mail? Fallacyan easy-to-make type of intellectual mistake. The excess material might even form the basis of a future piece of writing. "Conciseness for Better Composition." Dade County has the nations worst crime rate. Anthony Pellicano, a forensic audio specialist, testified for CBS Records in the case against rock band Judas Priest. So it is a charitable paraphrase, even though clearly false. 3. Know your point. It's also guilty of passive voice, consecutive prepositional phrases, and excessive verbiage. Take these steps in order and be concise and to the point in each one. At the end of the day, the piece must be in your own words. Duchess: Do, as a concession to my poor wits, Lord Darlington, just explain to me what you really mean. (Elenchi is from a Greek term for cross-examination; so this might be said to be the fallacy of ignoringignoratiothe question that is being askedthe elenchi). This is a crucial yet often overlooked component. (This provides a simple way of referring to the elements of the argument in your evaluation.) Rephrase passive "there is/are" constructions. Consider the following example: Sean breaks up with Amy via a text message. Even for fiction, having a clear statement of purpose can help keep you focused. Logical implicationthose things that must be true if the statement is true; if they were not true, there would be no imaginable way in which the statement could be true. 1 / 21. This principle does not say that you should feel fondness for the arguer or that you have any obligation to try to defend the argument. (Everyone could be late, for example, or the building could be locked.) 158 0 obj <>stream Sample exercise.Shopper to a store clerk: I cant find your orange juice. Implication: Shopper is interested in buying orange juice. Some writers even start at the conclusion. This means you should make sure the argument is expressed as clearly as possible, so that it is as easy as possible to tell whether the premises are true, whether the logic is good, and whether the argument is relevant to the conversation. On October 12th, in A less effective approach, one that doesnt get directly to the point could put the recipient on the defensive or miss the mark entirely by being cushioned in a lot of vague statements. This will help you assert your message and My own argument against his first premise would be sound: my premise (that no federal law was in place in 3000 b.c.) This is a good time to pull the team into finding the best solution. https://www.thoughtco.com/conciseness-speech-and-composition-1689902 (accessed May 1, 2023). Your description should be based on your own observations, not on hearsay or assumptions. In most conversational contexts (except for, perhaps, a bizarre piece of science fiction) this is so obviously false that you instinctively realize that I could not intend it, but that my real, unspoken, intent must be to draw attention to important similarities between her mind and a steel trap. You've accomplished something significant. Courtesy One must communicate in a friendly and polite manner. If the story of Noahs ark were true, then Noah wouldve had to violate federal law. It is usually possible to determine what is likely to be closer and what is likely to be farther from the arguers intent, and what is a clearer and what is a more obscure way of expressing it. In order to be decisive and make decisions quickly, you need to take time to unwrap all the information and set a plan of attack. Great words of wisdom here! During much of my career as a student I worked as a waiter. WebPrinciples of Environmental Science (William P. Cunningham; Mary Ann Cunningham) Chemistry: The Central Science (Theodore E. Brown; H. Eugene H LeMay; Bruce E. Bursten; Catherine Murphy; Patrick Woodward) Psychology (David G. Myers; C. Nathan DeWall) The Methodology of the Social Sciences (Max Weber) Voices of Freedom (Eric The arguer might simply express the argument too badly. This is a BETA experience. These are people who have lived in multiple countries and speak multiple languages and people with deep roots in the area theyre working in. Thought Leaders: A Virtual Roundtable Series. This broader fallacy, which includes the straw man fallacy, consists in this: apparently addressing the question at issue while actually addressing some other question. But this is not always the case. Once you've got that, prioritize it by the most pertinent points and prune out anything that's not vital. Sample exercise. There are times where an answer just needs to be given and given right now. Do you have to pause to take a breath? These are the kinds of terms and phrases to avoid: action item, vet the idea, monetize, bandwidth, paradigm shift, big picture, outside the box, sharpen your pencil, manage the optics, feet on the street, bench strength, plug and play Just speak like you would in a non-business setting. Sometimes, quick decisions can fall flat. That means if you have an assignment of 1,000 words, all but a very small percentage of those words must be original material. It sounds more conversational and less stilted. How would we want to be interpreted had we written those words? This process requires that you do two things concurrently: that you outline the argument in standard format, so that it is clear exactly which statements are premises and which are conclusions; and that you paraphrase it, so that any negative effects of rhetoric and other distracting language are minimized. Review anything in parentheses or between dashes, which can sometimes send a reader off on a winding path. Once you've honed your message, you reach sentence-level editing. Advertisement: AUTO REPAIR SERVICE. In speech or writing, the term conciseness refers to language that's brief and to the point. It applies before you decide how much you like the argument; its point is strictly to ensure that the clarified argument you go on to evaluate is the arguers argument. Lets look at a simple example in which a paraphrase achieves greater clarity, but at the same time violates the principle of loyalty. Forbes magazine describes Although reasoning is something that you can do in the relative privacy of your own mind, it is more commonly an act of communication. "Conciseness for Better Composition." Knowledge of the methods oflogical inquiry and reasoning, 3. Consider your audience To be clear and easy to understand, youll need to tailor your This fallacy is so named because a straw man is a lightweight construction of ones own devising, much easier to knock down than a real man. 5 Coherence. Ask yourself if you have sections, points, examples, or paragraphs that stray from your topic. To a physicist like Einstein this was most surprising. But you know what they meanafter all, you might quite reasonably say exactly the same thing, and you know what you would mean if you said it. All conclusions (main conclusion and subconclusions) preceded by in the left margin. Look for indications of the arguers intent both in what is said and in what is not saidthat is, in both the logical implications and the conversational implications. The difficulty is highlighted. And it would be fun to critique that premise by reminding Moore that, to the best of our knowledge, that particular federal law was not in place in the year 3000 b.c.thus, premise 1 is obviously false. Elenchi is from a Greek term for cross-examination; this might be said to be the Psychologists are trained to pay careful attention to clients' verbal and nonverbal behavior without revealing their own personal feelings about the client. Forbes lightheartedly chides the economists for their obscure writing and suggests that their conclusion really amounts to the simple truism. What: Describe the situation and be specific. Imagining that you are under the watchful eye of the arguer can serve to keep you in line. But when it is, you should take full advantage of it. For example: "There is a rule on the books to cover appropriate fence styles for the homeowners' association" is not as clear or concise as "The homeowners' association rulebook covers appropriate fence styles.". Plagiarism is easily detectedespecially in the digital age. Dade County is the best place in America to be a criminal. It would be offered in the context of evaluating Moores argument but would actually be an evaluation of another argument, not Moores. (Much of this is a matter of conversational implication.) For example, according to research published in Harvard Business Review3, teams often benefit from having a mix of cosmopolitan and local members. 4. Rhetoricthe art of of persuasive writing or speaking. Dont assume that every sentence in each passage is a premise or conclusion. If you're lucky, however, you'll be able to start at the paragraph or sentence level. They almost always have a rhetorical purpose as well; that is, they intend to persuade. WebChapter 8 Quiz Answers. Rather, it is conversationally implied. Chez Misko, the COO of Wisconsin Athletic Club, shares the Nine Cs of effective communication. Note this retort from one of the great philosophers of our time, W. V. Quine, to a lengthy critique of some of his views by one of the great linguists of our time, Noam Chomsky: Chomskys remarks leave me with feelings at once of reassurance and frustration. It is up to you whether you want to present the unclear sentences to students on a handout, for The standard clarifying format that we use in this text provides a simple way of making it obvious which is which. But there is a new problem: it isnt the authors conclusion any more. Whats more, for most people it takes repetition to remember and internalize what they have heard or learned. Concise. The easy-to-make mistake, in this case, is the straw man fallacy. It has the nations worst crime rate and does the laziest job of putting criminals behind bars. Almost every argument has a broader context, and the more you know about its broader context the more likely you are to correctly understand the intent of the arguer. But you instinctively understand that, under these conditions, I surely would have given you the exact address had I known it. We can defend this paraphraseafter all, doesnt Moore say that the decisive flaw is that they ignore the federal law? As leaders, it is our job to get the very best out of our workforce. But because it is so easy to knock it down, we should ask whether we might have missed the point. An attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of ones experiences. Misunderstandings in the workplace cause productivity losses, hurt feelings, and unnecessary conflict. In an article from Creation/Science titled The Impossible Voyage of Noahs Ark, Robert Moore argues against creationists who defend the literal truth of the biblical account of Noahs ark. Chez Misko is the COO of Wisconsin Athletic Club. Review each paragraph for instances in which you've said the same thing in multiple ways. They form a species of a broader sort of fallacy of missing the point, traditionally termed the fallacy of ignoratio elenchi. What you say in your own department may be clear because everyone has been immersed in the same dialogue for months or because your educational backgrounds are similar. Because the average cruising speed reflects an animals metabolism, Bakker argues that many dinosaurs were warm-blooded.. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Clear arguments are arguments that can be evaluated. The subliminal argument has absolutely no basis in fact. Suppose Pellicano, the forensic audio specialist, had finished his remarks with the following additional assertion: We would then outline the entire passage as a complex argument, as follows: The revisions are highlighted. The information reads more clearly and is more easily understood when written as two sentences. Just remember that editing cluttershould be an ongoing process judiciously employed throughout the first draftand beyond. The more important it is, the more times you need to say it. The real object of sports writing, says a friend of mine who does it, is to keep readers away from the horrors in the rest of the paper. Thus sports continues its rounds as the Magnificent Evasion, since it also keeps us away from the bad news at home and in ones own psyche.Wilfred Sheed. If the eardrum does not vibrate then the message cannot be sent to the brain. As they spell out the situation, you listen to the issue, analyze their dilemma and guide them the best way possible. List Prompt: Make a list of at least eight transitional words. As mentioned for the outline, it can be helpful to keep deleted material in a separate document that you can later refer to should the need arise. The economists argued for the following conclusion: If the income and interest rate processes are sufficiently stochastic, then consumption eventually grows without bound. 0 When you are expecting others to do something in response to your communication, ask them to play back what they will do. Established in 2003, Club Solutions provides best practice, business resources that educate and empower health club professionals. Here's an example answer from a candidate who didn't have access to their manager: "At my previous job as a secretary at a construction firm, I was working on a Heres what it sounds like when you put all three pieces together: I have noticed that your dirty dishes have been left in the shared kitchen sink each of the past three days. The less flowery your prose, the more accessible will be. Observe the following examples. For example, if I say that I believe my family is more important than my work, but I tend to sacrifice their interests for the sake of my work, then I am being practically Surely Emerson does not mean that it is literally a joke to talk of Newtons philosophy being overthrown; this claim would make the premise obviously false. There is no need, at this point, to attempt to paraphrase or supply implicit statements. Sample exercise.Noziere was a self-confessed young murderess of the thirties whose case became notorious largely because, having killed her father, she then complained of incest. 9 Consistency. (I could be late even if I intend to be absent.) The logical implications of a statement are those things that absolutely must be true if the statement is true; if they were not true, there would be no imaginable way in which the statement could itself be true. This leads to a less obvious piece of advice: note carefully what the arguer does not say. If a statement is unclear, one cannot determine whether it is accurate or relevant. One needs to extract what is significant to write clearly. This principle provides a way of aiming for the arguers intentions when the context is unhelpful and thus is subordinate to the principle of loyalty. Do not try to communicate too many things in one message. Perhaps you can discover the circumstances under which the argument was offered, thereby better understanding its conversational implications. This is, a priori, improbable to the highest degree, consequently the result is doubtful.Derek Gjertsen. The solution is either to combine the best parts of redundant sentences or to start over and clarify the point you're trying to make. Paraphrase each argument for greater clarity as you are outlining it in standard clarifying format. We understand that they are intended as statements, even if their form does not logically mark them as such. So if the business moves from a quantity function to more services and processing, well move with it.. Clarity There must be clarity in terms of thought and expression. Repeatedly expose the target audience to the same messages over an extended period of time. Your priority in writing a first draft should be to get through it from start to finish. Look for indications of the arguers intent in the broader context. Rajeev Sharma, (Ph.D.) Alumnus IIMA and BITS, , MS, MBA, PCT, PGDPRA, CSSGB, B. Pharma. Likewise with implicit statements in arguments; sometimes they are logically implied, but usually the implication is conversational. Dade County does the laziest job of putting criminals behind bars. WebClarity in communication has following features: It makes understanding easier. Say Id like to restate what Ive heard to make sure I understood fully and correctly. Even though the communication should ultimately be the responsibility of the sender rather than the responsibility of the receiver, why take chances? Click the card to flip . Use I instead of You at the beginning. Notice that usually (but not always) applying this principle results in selecting the interpretation that is most likely to make the argument sound. Will the reader still understand the point you're attempting to make if you delete it? It does not follow, however, that anything goes. It would miss the point. WebRational inquiry is often initiated by the detection of an unusual similarity or difference. Its also effective. An obvious way to find out the arguers intent is to note carefully what the arguer says. Once we have identified the conclusion (the first sentence) and the premises (each half of the second sentence), it can be painlessly put into standard clarifying format, as follows: Lets take a slightly more complicated example. Example 3 Here's an example answer from a candidate who didn't have access to their manager: "At my previous job as a secretary at a construction firm, I was working on a Friday afternoon. Your email address will not be published. No one has the time or tolerance for it. This format sets the stage for evaluation of the argument, which should follow. If I say, Her mind is a steel trap, one of the logical implications is that her mind is a mechanism made out of steel that opens and closes and is designed for catching animals and not for thinking. I am expected at the meeting. Newton will remain preeminent in the field of natural philosophy or No scientist will ever disprove Newtons philosophy would also be acceptable paraphrases of Emersons statement above, for example. WebClarity: Understandable, the meaning can be grasped; to free from confusion or ambiguity, to remove obscurities. Outlines for Every Type of Writing Composition, Tips to Write a Great Letter to the Editor, Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition, The Introductory Paragraph: Start Your Paper Off Right, Definition and Examples of Paragraphing in Essays, Make Your Paragraphs Flow to Improve Writing, Explore and Evaluate Your Writing Process, Understanding Organization in Composition and Speech, Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia, M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester, B.A., English, State University of New York. Assume that the circumstances in each case are not unusual. When possible, let the phrases stand alone as sentences. from inspiring English sources. If it does, then you are violating the principle of charity and committing the straw man fallacy (which is a version of the fallacy of missing the point). Go ahead and double check so that you dont end up doing work that doesnt match the expected outcomes. Acheson and Senator Robert Taft were both members of the governing body of Yale University. Straw man fallacyuncharitably representing an argument or position in a way that makes it too easy to attack. Thus an agreement between a Japanese and a foreign businessman should be reduced to its basic elements, and each point thoroughly discussed, to make sure each side understands and actually does agree to what the other side is saying.Boyne De Mente, Says Buntrock of Chem Waste, Were waste managers, so we have to help our customers manage their waste. These implications are drawn on the basis of broader customs that we all follow that govern the use of certain sorts of expressions under certain circumstances. Thats because you need to tailor your message to your audience and broad distribution doesnt allow for that to happen (see tip #1). From there you can determine the best way to polish and strengthen your current skill set and establish a plan for your future growth. Since she was almost certainly not his daughter, this seems rather hard cheese.Derek Malcolm, Manchester Guardian. Suppose you call me on the telephone and I almost immediately say to you, Im already very late for a meeting on another part of campus. Some of the things logically implied by this remark are: Im already very late for a meeting on another part of campus. But that doesn't mean you should make a decision just to make one. Keep it simple. There is a problem in interpreting each of the following passages. Look only at the highlighted sentence, which serves as a premise for the final sentence. Cutting on a large scale is something may writers have a problem with. Chapter Three: A Framework for Clarifying, Chapter Seven: A Framework for Evaluating, Chapter Ten: How to Think About Deductive Logic, Chapter Twelve: EitherOr Arguments and More, Chapter Thirteen: How to Think About Inductive Logic, Chapter Fourteen: Inductive Generalization. , disregarding every discrepancy while regarding every crepancy. In this chapter and the next three, you will find dozens of examples of the use (and misuse) of rhetoric. I wanted to bring this to your attention because my lunch time comes right after yours, and I have to move your dishes before I can wash my own. To be effective, concise writing must deliver a clear message using an economy of words.