Elements of Reason

Essay text:

You may need to tailor the worksheet to your specific discipline. ________________________________________ PURPOSE What's my purpose? Why am I doing this? ________________________________________ ISSUE, QUESTION, OR PROBLEM TO SOLVE What is the issue? What is the precise question I'm trying to answer? How can I define the problem? ________________________________________ ASSUMPTIONS What am I taking for granted? Should I assume or take it for granted? Are my assumptions justifiable? ________________________________________ POINT OF VIEW What is my point of view? What are other points of view? Do I need to consider the subject from any other perspectives? ________________________________________ INFORMATION What information is necessary to answer the question? How will I get the data? Is the evidence laid out clearly? Have I searched for information against my position & explained its relevance? ________________________________________ CONCEPTS What ideas or concepts will help to explore the question, problem, or issue? What concepts will guide the reasoning process? What basic concepts do I need to clarify? Have I defined my concepts precisely? ________________________________________ INTERPRETATION & INFERENCE What conclusion, decision, judgment or belief will result from reasoning process? What different interpretations might arise from the facts? What do I base my conclusion on? Is the conclusion justifiable? Is the belief, opinion, action or policy in accord with reason and evidence? Do my inferences follow directly from evidence to conclusion? Are my inferences logical, consistent, and of sufficient depth? What is actually implied and what might be carelessly inferred? ________________________________________ IMPLICATIONS & CONSEQUENCES OF CONCLUSION Where does my reasoning take me? What consequences might follow beyond the point I've taken the reasoning? Might any false implications or undesirable consequences follow?