Critical Thinking:Principles of Charity

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Critical thinking: the principle of charity
FengZhan Xu

Amy Leonard

EWRT 2

11 February 2024
What is principle of charity
Simply put, the principle of charity tells you to treat other people as intelligent people. If you treat people as being intelligent, you will do a better job at evaluating their arguments.

Make an exemple
Alex: “The human race has managed to land somebody on Mars and split the atom, therefore, we should be able to do something simpler, like redistributing the world’s substantial food supplies so that the poor get plenty.”
Argument: the first premise is false. We haven’t managed to land somebody on Mars.
Since it has a false premise, the argument couldn’t be either sound nor cogent. So it’s a bad argument.

As we saw so far, in order to implement the principle of charity, you should assume the best possible interpretation of other people’s arguments. This means that if it’s possible to interpret a statement in more than one way, you should generally assume that the speaker’s intended interpretation was the most rational and cogent interpretation out of the available options.
How to implement the principle of charity
How
 four steps to implementing the Principle of Charity
[You should attempt to re-express your target's position so clearly, vividly, and fairly that your target says, “Thanks, I wish I'd thought of putting it that way.”]
You should list any points of agreement (especially if they are not matters of general or widespread agreement).
You should mention anything you have learned from your target.
Only then are you permitted to say so much as a word of rebuttal or criticism.
Extend the principle of charity to minor issues in people’s statements
One of the best and simplest ways in which the principle of charity can be implemented is by choosing to ignore minor issues with your opponent’s argument, when those issues are not crucial to the main point that they are trying to make.
For example, if someone that you’re talking to has just presented an in-depth and well-thought argument, which contains a minor fallacy that has no bearing on the core of their argument, it will generally be preferable to ignore that issue, and focus primarily on the main point that they are trying to make instead.

Note
Note that, in this context, whether an issue is minor or major is determined primarily based on how important it is to the care of the argument, rather than how much “space” it takes in the argument.
For example, a long argument might contain a single fallacious sentence that is crucial to its core message, and should therefore be addressed, and at the same time also contain several paragraphs that aren’t important to its core message, and could therefore be ignored.
Uncharitable Explanation: The premise that we have formulated theories to completely describe our reality is false. We currently don't possess a theory of everything, which, if we're being pedantic, is how this statement must be interpreted due to the word completely. Thus, since the argument possesses a false premise, it can be neither sound or cogent; therefore, it's a bad argument and should be rejected.
Humans are capable of achieving momentous feats when they choose to work collectively. We have put a man on the moon, harnessed the energy of the atom, have formulated theories to completely describe our reality from the quanta all the way up to galactic scales.

Therefore, we should be able to figure out how to harness the power of nuclear fusion; the energy of the stars.
What
Charitable Explanation: Most people are already aware that humanity has yet to craft a theory of everything. The chances are very good that our fellow interlocutor does as well and simply made a minor mistake in wording. Therefore, instead of interpreting the argument as if there's a false premise, we interpret it charitably and assume that he/she simply made a mistake and was not referencing a theory of everything
A concept that is related to the principle of charity is Hanlon’s razor, which suggests that you should not attribute to malice to actions which can be explained by other causes, such as a misunderstanding of the topic at hand.

You can integrate Hanlon’s razor into the principle of charity, so that in cases where it’s clear that there is in fact an issue with another person’s argument, you should assume that this is unintentional on their part, as long as it’s reasonable to do so. This means that, whenever possible, you should give people the benefit of the doubt, and attribute issues in their arguments to a misunderstanding on their part or to a similar issue, rather than to a malicious intent to deceive
Extend the principle of charity to people’s intentions
Why
The other person might be irrational in some way, which could cause them to prefer an interpretation other than the best possible interpretation of their statement.
Your own assessment might be flawed in some way, which could cause you to prefer an interpretation other than the best possible interpretation of the original statement. This can happen, for example, because you yourself are irrational, or because you aren’t aware of important information that the speaker has.
You and the other person might hold different but valid viewpoints or values, which could cause you to view different interpretations of the original statement as being the best possible interpretation
Remember that your charitable interpretation might be wrong
Tip
As with other philosophical principles, the principles of charity must be applied with common sense, in order to avoid most potential issues which can occur as a result of its application.

Specifically, this means that should always assess the situation before deciding how to interpret someone else’s statement, and that you should assume the best possible interpretation of other people’s argument only as long as it’s reasonable and productive to do so. For example, if you’re debating someone, and they present an argument that they clearly know is fallacious, it might be preferable to simply address the issues with their argument, rather than trying to identify a rational interpretation for it.
Apply the principle of charity with common sense
Apply
GOOD
LUCK!
The principle of charity is a philosophical principle that denotes that, when interpreting someone’s statement, you should assume that the best possible interpretation of that statement is the one that the speaker meant to convey.
Accordingly, to implement the principle of charity, you should not attribute falsehoods, logical fallacies, or irrationality to people’s argument, when there is a plausible, rational alternative available.
You can extend the principle of charity and use it comes to people’s intentions, so that if there is an issue with someone’s argument, you should give them the benefit of the doubt, and assume that the issue is unintentional on their part
Summary

Critical Thinking:Principles of Charity

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