Program / Course 26: Comprehensive Assessment / Lesson 5.3
What you will learn
- State an objection in a form its supporters would accept.
- Choose the strongest objections to each proposition, not the weakest.
- Answer an objection by showing a flaw, giving a better explanation or conceding a point.
- Recognize when an objection is not answered and say so.
The big idea
A defense is tested by its objections. The strongest form of an objection should be stated first, in words its supporters would accept, and only then answered. An answer can show that a premise is false, that the argument is invalid, that a better explanation exists, or that the objection proves less than it seems to. Some objections cannot be fully answered, and an honest paper says so. This is private work, and no one but the student decides whether an answer succeeds.
Key terms
- Objection
- A reason offered against a claim or against an argument for it.
- Rebuttal
- A reply to an objection that tries to show it fails.
- Concession
- Granting that part of an objection is correct, and saying how this affects the claim.
- Straw man
- A weak or distorted version of an opposing view, which is easy to defeat and proves nothing.
- Charity
- The practice of reading an opponent’s view in its most reasonable form.
- Residual difficulty
- A problem that remains after the best reply. Admitting it is a sign of honesty.
Background
The course plan asks the student to state and answer the strongest objections to each proposition. This is the hardest part of a written defense. Many people, when they write in defense of a view, imagine objections that are easy to answer. A fair paper reverses this: it asks what the most thoughtful critic would say, and it puts that in its best form.
Where can strong objections be found? Read critics, and not only those who share your view. The library includes writers such as Hume, Nietzsche, Freud and Marx, and philosophers who have written on evil and hiddenness, such as Mackie and Rowe, whose work is described in the Stanford Encyclopedia entries. Ask also a thoughtful believer from another tradition what troubles them about your claim. Objections from within Christianity, such as those from other churches, can be as pointed as those from outside.
There are four basic replies. One shows that a premise of the objection is false or unsupported. Another shows that the objection does not follow from its premises. A third gives a better explanation of the same facts. A fourth grants the point but argues it is not enough to defeat the claim. Any reply may be combined with the others. Some objections have no complete reply, and it is better to say so than to bluff.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Find the best objections
For each proposition, write down three objections that a thoughtful critic would raise. Rank them by strength. Do not discard an objection because you cannot answer it. That is the one to include.
Step 2: State each fairly
Write each objection in two or three sentences, using the critic’s own best reasoning. Ask: would the critic say that I have put it well? If the answer is no, rewrite it.
Step 3: Answer each in one of the four ways
Choose the form of reply that fits: a false premise, an invalid step, a better explanation, or a concession with limits. Write the answer in a few sentences and give evidence for it. Do not answer with a personal attack or a claim that the critic is closed-minded.
Step 4: Record what remains
After each answer, write a sentence on whether the objection is fully answered, partly answered or open. For example: this reply shows the argument does not prove its conclusion, but it leaves open why so much suffering occurs.
Step 5: Revise the case
Return to the first part and change it in light of the objections. If an objection showed that a support was weak, remove or qualify it. A paper that has been revised in this way is stronger than one that only adds replies at the end.
- Would a supporter of the objection say that I have stated it well?
- Is this the strongest objection or only the easiest?
- Does my reply answer the objection, or only a different one?
- Have I conceded anything that should be conceded?
- Which objections remain open, and have I said so?
- Has the process changed my original claim?
Examples
A strong objection
To the claim that Jesus rose bodily: the earliest accounts differ in details of the empty tomb and the appearances, and the sources are all from believers, so the event cannot be established historically. This is a strong form because it uses a real feature of the evidence. (A constructed example.)
A fair reply with a concession
The reply grants that the accounts differ in details and that the sources are from believers. It argues that differences of detail are common in independent testimony, that Paul reports the appearances early, and that the source being a believer does not make the report false, though it calls for care. It admits that the question of the miraculous remains. (A constructed example.)
An open difficulty
To the claim that suffering does not disprove a good God, an objection from animal suffering for millions of years is raised. The student admits that existing defenses address this less well than they address human free will, and states that the matter is unresolved. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
The scholastic method, used by Aquinas in the Summa, states objections first, in their strength, and then answers them. This is a model for a written defense that Catholic students may follow.
Orthodox
Orthodox teaching often responds to objections by pointing to the limits of human reasoning about God and to the lived witness of the church, while still engaging arguments. An Orthodox student may find the apophatic way, which speaks of what cannot be said of God, a helpful element.
Protestant
Protestants have a long history of controversial writing. The reformers answered Catholic and radical objections in detail, and modern evangelical apologists engage skeptical objections directly.
Skeptical and secular
A skeptic values a defender who states objections fairly and concedes points that deserve it. A defense that ignores strong objections is generally regarded as unpersuasive, whatever its conclusion.
Why it matters
Stating strong objections is an act of honesty and a test of understanding. A student who can state a critic’s best argument and still hold a view, or revise it, has learned more than one who has only met agreeable voices.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: To state an objection fairly weakens my case.
Correction: It strengthens it. A reader trusts a writer who shows the real difficulties and answers them.
Misunderstanding: Every objection has a complete answer.
Correction: Some do not. Saying so honestly is part of a good defense.
Misunderstanding: An objection from within Christianity is not an objection.
Correction: Objections from other churches or from other readings of Scripture can be as strong as those from outside.
Knowledge check
What are four ways of replying to an objection?
Show that a premise is false or unsupported, show that the conclusion does not follow, give a better explanation of the same facts, or grant the point but argue that it is not enough to defeat the claim. These can be combined, and sometimes the honest conclusion is that the objection remains open.
Why state the strongest objection and not the easiest one?
Because answering a weak objection proves nothing and misleads the reader. A defense is tested only when it faces the best case against it. Choosing easy objections is the straw man fallacy, and a careful reader, or the student at a later date, will notice.
What should be done with an objection that cannot be answered?
State it fairly, give the best reply available, and say that a difficulty remains. Then consider whether the claim should be qualified. Admitting a residual difficulty is honest and does not by itself show that the claim is false.
Where can strong objections be found?
In the writings of thoughtful critics, in philosophical entries such as those of the Stanford Encyclopedia, in the work of authors such as Hume, Nietzsche, Freud and Marx in the library, and in conversation with believers of other traditions. Reading only agreeable sources will give only weak objections.
Think it through
- Which objection to your own claim troubles you most?
- Have you ever avoided a strong objection because you could not answer it?
- What would it take for you to concede a point?
- Who could read your statement of an objection and tell you if it is fair?
Independent assignment
Objections and replies
In your own notebook or documents, add a section of about 500 words to the draft of your first proposition. State two or three strong objections in their best form, give a reply to each, say whether each is fully answered, partly answered or open, and revise the earlier part of the draft where needed. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae Notice how each article states objections before replying. Read selectively.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Hume on Religion A major set of objections to arguments for belief.
- Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals A challenge to Christian morality, to read critically.
- Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion A psychological objection to religion.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Problem of Evil Objections from evil and replies.
- Proverbs 18:17 On hearing the other side.