Critical Thinking and the Wider Web

1
Critical Thinking and the Wider Web

• Unit 2
• Gauging and Examining
• Popular Opinion
• Abortion

2
Abortion - Overview

• Usually refers to the deliberate termination of a
  pregnancy before the foetus is able to survive
  independently
• Legal in Great Britain up to the twenty-fourth
  week of pregnancy, or later for urgent medical
  reasons

3
Abortion

• Find and browse websites that address this issue
• Note the range of views you encounter, and the
  key site(s) for each view
• Note how prevalent each view is

4
Abortion Key Views

• Pro-life abortion is equivalent to murder, and
  should never or almost never be permitted
• Intermediate abortion should be permitted in
  certain circumstances
• Pro-choice women should always have the right
  to choose to have an abortion

5
Abortion Key Sites

• The BBC Religion and Ethics section on abortion
  provides an overview of key issues
• The BMA website provides a medical perspective,
  outlines the legal position, and considers the
  ethical issues for doctors asked to perform
  abortions

6
Abortion Key Sites

• Pro-life interest groups
• Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
• LIFE
• Pro-choice interest groups
• Pro-Choice Forum
• Abortion Rights

7
Abortion Key Sites

• Feminist perspectives
• Pro-choice Abortion Still a Feminist Issue
• Pro-life Women Deserve Better than Abortion (PDF)

8
Abortion Key Sites

• GravityTeens Quotes from the Pros section
  includes a highly selective collection of
  quotations from professionals involved with
  performing or organising abortions

9
Abortion Key Sites

• The Abortion is Murder website uses graphic
  images of aborted foetuses to make its point
  (Warning some people may find these images
  distressing)

10
Abortion Discussion Questions

• Which views are most widespread?
• How significant is this?
• Are there any discernable patterns in who holds
  each view?
• Among experts and lay people?
• In the UK and elsewhere in the world?
• Among religious and secular groups?

11
Abortion Discussion Questions

• How representative do you think the views you
  encountered are of wider society?
• What might make people more or less likely to
  express their views publicly?
• What might make them more or less likely to do so
  online?

12
Abortion Examining the Sites

• Look at some of the websites again, and consider
• How various views are expressed
• What techniques sites use to promote their views
• What you find persuasive and why

13
Abortion Discussion Questions

• What techniques are used to promote each view?
• Are arguments given? Do they work?
• Is evidence presented? Is it convincing?
• Are appeals to emotion or shock tactics used? Are
  these effective?

14
Abortion Discussion Questions

• Do any of the sites examined feature
• Evidence of bias or prejudice?
• Ad hominem arguments?
• Sweeping generalisations about opponents or
  opposing views?
• Statements you know to be false?
• How does this affect your reaction?

15
Abortion Discussion Questions

• What do you personally find persuasive? Why is
  this?
• Was there anything you found off-putting, or that
  had the opposite effect from that intended by the
  author?
• Did anything cause you to question views youd
  held previously?