5
A Checklist for Reasoning
1)
All reasoning has a PURPOSE.
Take time to state your purpose clearly.
Distinguish your purpose from related purposes.
Check periodically to be sure that you are still on target.
Choose significant and realistic purposes.
2)
All reasoning is an attempt to FIGURE something out, to settle some
QUESTION, solve some PROBLEM.
Take time to clearly and precisely state the question at issue.
Express the question in several ways to clarify its meaning and scope.
Break the question into sub-questions.
Identify if the question has one right answer, is a matter of mere opinion,
or requires reasoning from more than one point of view.
3)
All reasoning is based on ASSUMPTIONS.
Clearly identify your assumptions and determine whether they are
justifiable.
Consider how your assumptions are shaping your point of view.
4)
All reasoning is done from some POINT OF VIEW.
Identify your point of view.
Seek other points of view and identify their strengths as well as
weaknesses.
Strive to be fairminded in evaluating all points of view.