Assessing Arguments in ReasonSpace

To assess an argument, you must assess its inference and all its premises. ReasonSpace walks you through the process of assessing arguments on a map. When you're looking at a published map, there will be a button to assess it in the upper right corner of the screen.

When you're in assessment mode, you'll see an area on the right of the screen displaying assessment scales for all the items on the map. Each proposition will have a single scale, and each inference will have two such scales — one for the inference itself, and one for the whole argument of which it is a part. When you tap a portion of the scale a slider will appear there, indicating an assessment. You can then move the slider up or down to alter the assessment.

You should use the scales to assess the epistemic status of each proposition and inference. As you assess the premises and inferences, the system will compute assessments for the arguments and for their conclusions. In general, it is easiest to work from the bottom of the map to the top, and this order is reflected in the order of the scales in the area on the right. If you get lost at any point, you can jump to the next unassessed scale, by pressing the "Next" button.

For large maps, you may find it helpful to use focus view, which only shows one argument at a time. You will find a control to turn focus mode on or off in the view menu in the upper-left area of the screen (indicated by an eye icon).

When you're adjusting a slider, there will be a comment icon under it. Clicking it will reveal a textbox in which you can explain why you assessed the item as you did.

Assessing Propositions

In assessing a proposition, you are rating how near you are to knowing that proposition—how close you are to being able to tell that it's true. If you know the proposition to be true, then set the slider in the right-most region of the scale to indicate certainty. (There's some space within this region to allow for the fact, that among things we know, we may be more sure of some than others.) If you can't be sure that the premise is true, but you regard it as probably true, then mark it as probable by placing the slider somewhere in the area of the scale to the right of the center. Within this region, place it further to the right, the more probable you think it is. If you regard the proposition as a reasonable hypothesis, without thinking that it's more likely than not to be true, then rate is as possible by placing the slider in the area to the left of the center of the scale. If you have no basis for thinking the proposition might be true, or if you know that it's false, then rate it as unfounded by placing the slider in the left-most region of the scale.

Assessing Inferences

To assess an inference, you need to determine how strongly the argument would support their conclusions if all of its premises were certain. So, in assessing the inference assume for the sake of argument that you know the premises are true. Then think about whether they'd put you in a position to know that the conclusion is true. There are a few possibilities here. The inference might be a deduction—an argument in which the premises necessitate the conclusion. If so, then the slider should be set to the right-most position on the scale. Even if the inference isn't a deduction, it may nonetheless be compelling—that is, it may be strong enough that knowing the premises would put you in a position to know that the conclusion is true. If so, then set the slider in the right-most area of the scale. On the other extreme, the inference may be a non-sequitur.

How Strengths of Arguments and Conclusions are Calculated

Once all the premises and the inference for a given argument have been assessed, the system will calculate a strength for the argument as a whole, and if this is the only argument for its conclusion it will determine the epistemic status of the conclusion accordingly.

If there are multiple arguments for a conclusion, the system will set the conclusion to the strength of the strongest argument for it. You still have the option to set the strength higher, because sometimes the strength of multiple arguments can compound to yield a stronger overall case for a conclusion than any one argument does alone. (You'll have to use your judgment to determine whether this is so in any particular case.)

(Objections, if present, put an upper limit on the allowable assessment of the item objected to.)

Completing an assessment

After all the items in a map have been assessed, you can finalize the assessment by pressing the "Publish" button above the assessment scales. Doing so will take you to a summary of your assessment. It has a "copy link" button, which you can use to copy a link to the published assessment.