Assumptions

What is the meaning of the word assumption?

The word assumption means something which is taken for
granted but is not stated.


For example, I may assume when I get on an aeroplane that
the pilot has been trained and is qualified to fly the machine
safely with all the passengers in it. I do not feel the need to
examine the pilots licence or checkup on his history. I am
making an assumption. It is probably a very safe
assumption, but it is not based on conclusive evidence.

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Look at the argument given:

Shaun: Annes gone home early.

Jim: What makes you say that?

Shaun: Her cars not in the car park.

What is Shauns argument?

Shauns argument is that Anne has gone home early.
The reason he gives is that her car is not in the car park.

Is there anything extra that Shaun is assuming when he
draws his conclusion?
He is assuming a lot.

He is assuming that Anne has not gone somewhere else
besides going home.
He is assuming that no one else drove the car out of the car
park.
Yet another assumption he is making is that she drove to
work in her car that day.

All of these assumptions Shaun makes are unstated
assumptions. They are not needed to come to the
conclusion that Anne has gone home early.



What is needed to come to the conclusion and to accept
the argument that Shaun makes, is to make the
assumption that Anne herself took the car home. Accepting
that Anne drove the car herself is therefore necessary
to the argument which fails completely without it.

That is why it is called an underlying assumption.


In critical thinking, the word

assumption means that part of the argument which
is not stated, but is needed in order for the
argument to work i.e. it is another reason that is needed
for the argument to make sense.
In Critical Thinking an underlying assumption works
in two important ways:
First in giving support to the basic reasons
presented in the argument
Second as a missing step within the argument

perhaps as an additional reason which must be
added to the stated reasons in order for the
conclusion to be established
or

perhaps as an intermediate conclusion
which is supported by the reasons and in turn
supports the main conclusion.



Therefore, an argument rests heavily on the
underlying assumption, as it does on the stated
reasons, to establish the conclusion.

Without the underlying assumption the argument
will fail.


Think about the reasoning.

What conclusion is the author trying to get us to
accept?
What basic reason does he offer?
Is there an intermediate conclusion?
Can you identify a stage in the argument which has
not been stated i.e. an underlying
assumption/missing reason?


Example
If cigarette advertising were banned, cigarette
manufacturers would save the money they would
otherwise have spent on advertising. Thus, in order to
compete with each other, they would reduce the price
of cigarettes. So, banning cigarette advertising would
be likely to lead to an increase in smoking.




The argument starts with a basic reason:
If cigarette advertising is banned, cigarette
manufacturers save the money they would
otherwise have spent on advertising.

and from this draws the intermediate conclusion:
Thus in order to compete with each other, they
reduce the price of cigarettes.

This then leads to the main conclusion:
So banning cigarette advertising leads to an
increase in smoking.


The MC would not follow from the IC if a reduction in the price of
cigarettes made no difference to the number of cigarettes bought
and smoked.

So an assumption underlies this move that if cigarettes were
cheaper, smokers would smoke more, or non-smokers would
become smokers. The conclusion does not say exactly what it
means by an increase in smoking, so we cannot be sure whether
the assumption is

If cigarettes were cheaper, smokers would smoke more,
or
If cigarettes were cheaper, more people would smoke.

But it will require one of these assumptions that is underlying the
argument to support the MC.

So the underlying assumption taken together with the IC gives
support to the MC of the argument.
Lets look at this example:
Advances in fertility treatments will soon allow parents to
choose the sex of their child. This will have serious
consequences for society, as there will be more
unemployed young men and, as most car accidents are
caused by young men, the number of car accidents will rise.

The argument links choice about the sex of a child to
problems related to having more boys than girls. The
argument therefore rests on the notion that parents will
choose boys in preference to girls.

We would say that the assumption is that parents would
choose boys in preference to girls if they are allowed to
choose the sex of their child.
It is important to note that the argument will fall to pieces
without this assumption[i.e. underlying assumption].
C
R1
R2
Example 3
One third of the population still smokes. Everyone must
know that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease.
So knowing the dangers of smoking is not sufficient to stop
people from smoking
There are two basic reasons here.
Is there a missing step, a missing reason here that is
giving support to the argument?
Yes. The claim that everyone must know suggests that
there is an unstated reason for expecting people to be
well-informed on this topic so the assumption made is
that there has been widespread publicity on the
dangers to health of smoking on television, in
newspapers and by means of posters in the waiting rooms
of doctors, hospitals, etc.
R1 R2
C

So when identifying underlying assumptions
remember that:

An underlying assumption is one that is needed
to support a conclusion or validate an
argument.

An underlying assumption is necessary for
accepting the conclusion.


An underlying assumption is a missing
premise/reason.

An underlying assumption is part of the structure of
the argument.

An underlying assumption can be challenged just like
any other premise.


Young people are not very interested in politics and tend
not to vote. Most people who do vote are the older, well-
off people. Governments tend to represent the interests
of those who have voted for them. Elected governments,
therefore, do not represent all sections of society.
Politicians should change their approach to ensure that
more young people vote.

This argument rests on the idea that governments should
represent all sections of society.

In other words, the argument relies on an assumption that
governments should represent all sections of society.
R1 R2
R3
R4(IC)
MC
This example again shows clearly that an assumption is
part of the structure of an argument. To be more precise:
assumptions are a missing step in the argument, a
missing reason that the argument needs in order to
support the conclusion. It is the missing reason between
the other reasons and the conclusion.

You can see this more clearly if we write the assumption
into the argument as follows:
R1 Young people are not very interested in politics and
tend not to vote.
R2 Most people who do vote are older, well-off people.
R3 Governments tend to represent the interests of those
who have voted for them.
R4(IC) Elected governments, therefore, do not represent all
sections of society.
R5(U Assumption) Governments should represent all
sections of society.
MC: Politicians should change their approach to ensure
that more young people vote.

The underlying assumption now acts as the fifth reason
in the argument.

Recent research has shown that a foetus can hear at 30
weeks old. Computer-generated white noise was played
to foetuses between 23 and 34 weeks old. Ultrasound
scanning did not pick up any response under 30 weeks
old but it did detect heart and movement responses in
the 30-34-week-olds. This fits with the fact that a babys
hearing develops in the 30-34 week period.Given this
new knowledge, we should encourage pregnant women
to play music to their babies.
MC
R1
R3(IC)
R2
Which of the following is an underlying assumption of
the above argument?

A. Heart and movement responses cannot be detected in
foetuses under 30 weeks old.
B. Foetuses over 30 weeks old can distinguish between
different types of sound.
C. Foetuses are particularly responsive to computer-
generated white noise.
D. Hearing sounds such as music is beneficial to a foetus
of at least 30 weeks old.


A. Heart and movement responses cannot be detected in
foetuses under 30 weeks old.


It is not A. This statement is not in the passage, in that we
know that we can detect movement in the 30-34-week-old
foetuses but not what the results were below this age.
However, even if this statement were true, it would tell us
nothing about whether or not we should encourage women
to play music to their babies. It is a statement that is not in
the passage, but it is not a missing step in the argument.



B. Foetuses over 30 weeks old can distinguish between
different types of sound.


It is not B. The argument is about sound in general;
whether particular types of sound can be detected does not
really mater. All we need to know is that babies can hear.
And we are told this in the passage their hearing
develops at 30-34 weeks. This statement therefore, is not
an assumption either.


C. Foetuses are particularly responsive to computer-
generated white noise

It is not C. This is a bit like A, in that it may be true or not
and is certainly not in the original passage. However, the
conclusion is about playing music to babies in the womb,
so again we have a statement that is not in the original
passage, but is not needed for the argument to work, which
means it is not an assumption.


D. Hearing sounds such as music is beneficial to a foetus
of at least 30 weeks old.


D is the correct answer. By stating that there is a benefit to
foetuses we suddenly are given a reason why pregnant
women should play music to their unborn babies. This is
the missing step in the argument in other words the
underlying assumption that is needed to make the
argument.