Critical Thinking Unit 5 Participation Activity: How to Disagree

1. Thanks, Dr. Chapman. You’re obviously an animal lover. You’ve got “Vegan Power” stickers on your laptop, and always talk about your pet bunnies. So aren’t you biased? Why should we listen to someone so biased in favor of animals?

• refutation

• counterargument

• contradiction

• responding to tone

• ad hominem

2. Thanks for sharing, Dr. Chapman. You’re an English professor, right? Not an Animal Ethics professor. So why should we listen to you when you’re not an expert on animals?

• refutation

• counterargument

• contradiction

• responding to tone

• ad hominem

3. Thanks, Dr. Chapman. I appreciate what you said, but I’m pretty sure I saw you eating a bacon & cheddar burger at Smashburger yesterday. So why should we listen to you when you don’t even practice what you preach?

• refutation

• counterargument

• contradiction

• responding to tone

• ad hominem

4. Thanks so much, Dr. Chapman. I think my issue with vegetarians like you is that you sound so smug. Like, you all seem to think you’re so much better than the rest of us. Why are you so condescending?

• refutation

• counterargument

• contradiction

• responding to tone

• ad hominem

5. Hi, Dr. Chapman. Thanks for presenting. I just want to point out that I disagree with you. I think it’s morally OK to buy and eat meat.

• refutation

• counterargument

• contradiction

• responding to tone

• ad hominem

6. Thanks for your talk, Dr. Chapman. I’d like to tell you why I think it’s OK to eat meat. I think humans have always eaten meat. Look at our teeth. Our incisors are meant to tear through meat.

• refutation

• counterargument

• contradiction

• responding to tone

• ad hominem

7. Thanks, Dr. Chapman. I’m interested in your 2nd premise about how buying meat causes animals to suffer. I’m not sure I agree with that point. I feel like it’s the corporations who are causing all the suffering, not me. How does a purchase cause suffering?

• refutation

• counterargument

• contradiction

• responding to tone

• ad hominem