CCO101 Thinking and Reasoning
Tutor Marked Assessment
Lee Zhi Jie, Edmund (T07)
Student No: Z1581911
1. Writer’s Main Claim
Asma’s main claim is that the implications of play are more important than we think
2. Reasons Provided
2(i) Play is the Pinnacle of Human Activity
Asma begins this argument by citing Nietzsche’s metaphorical description of the development
of human consciousness. The latter uses the child in play to represent the final stage of
metamorphosis. Along with the heightened sense of self-awareness after breaking free from
cultural and social norms as well as authority, certain traits like creativity are internalized.
The writer then notes an objection made by certain “hard-nosed intellectuals” arguing that play
is but “a symbol of disorder” – implying that it is not an activity of importance. This line of
reasoning is backed by several reputable philosophers.
The pair comprising of Platos and Aristotle suggest that play is merely downtime from
productivity and not worthy of mention in comparison with leisure. Juvenal’s writings goes a
step further to suggest that passive play distracts the public from matters of national importance
that caused the deterioration of public responsibility in Rome.
Asma’s rejoinder, quoting Bertrand Russell, is that humans are missing out on the point of life
(i.e. getting detached) due to their obsession with tangible results alone, causing them to have
less time to ponder over a wide array of issues. These include matters that require a human
touch - like social issues. Russell believes that an organized reduction of work will result in a
happier and more prosperous society.
The writer is trying to show that the importance of play is underestimated by showing how play
is an all-important activity.
2(ii) Positive Social Effects of Play Observed in Juvenile Mammals
In his next point, Asma emphasises the positive social effects of play. He elaborates on the
important role of play in the young mammal’s development as it allows them to learn more
about relationships and forge alliances. In addition, they pick up on more complex concepts
like dominance and submission among their peers.
2(iii) Play is Fuel for Productivity
Asma argues that play is the origin from which “extrinsic goods flow and eventually return”.
By “extrinsic goods”, the writer is referring to tangible productivity.
This is based off the assumption that our lives have intrinsic value and should not merely be
measured extrinsically in the context of play. He takes the playing of an instrument as an
example where it is considered both the pursuit and fulfilment of potential where a player puts
in a tangible amount of work into his instrument while simultaneously unlocking his/her
potential.
3. Critical Evaluation
4(i) First Line of Reasoning
I pose two separate objections to Asma’s rejoinder that relies on Bertrand Russell’s point of
view on play on the grounds that it commits the fallacy of hasty generalisation at least twice.
First, Russell assumes that if the modern man spends less time on work, he will spend more
time pondering on other topics of importance like social issues – exhibiting higher order
thinking for the good of the society.
This line of reasoning does not consider factors like the varying cognitive abilities of the
individuals involved, availability of information for analysis and the willingness of the
individual to ponder over deeper issues. These variables show that the matter at hand is more
complex than it seems.
Next, Russell argues that the systematized reduction of work will lead to happiness and
affluence in a state provided its citizens have more time to consider important issues.
The author’s statement does not consider the likelihood of a nation’s citizens to act on their
sophisticated thoughts. In addition, I am of the opinion that the reduction of tangible
productivity to achieve prosperity and joy is an oxymoron.
Of course, working four hours a day might make individuals happy in the short term since they
have more leisure time. However, the writer has to acknowledge that there is a trade-off
between the amount of work done and productivity of society as a whole. If a lack of
productivity affects the provision of basic needs like food, water and security (from domestic
and foreign threats), a society can be neither happy nor prosperous.
While I believe that play definitely has its merits – I argue that it is not essential for survival
and therefore should not be considered the pinnacle of human activity.
4(ii) Second Line of Reasoning
Once again, I have two separate objections to Asma’s second reason which states that positive
social effects of play have been observed in juvenile animals – more specifically mammals. He
stops short of explicitly concluding that human beings enjoy such benefits as well.
My first objection relates to a possible false analogy. By making such a broad, sweeping
generalisation about mammals as a whole, Asma has subtly added humans into the comparison.
My concern is whether such a comparison would be fair since human beings have notable
differences with the rest of the mammal class – amenities and methods of education being some
of them. If there has been research done on the positive social effects of play on human
children, the writer has not included it in his reasoning.
My second objection is content specific – that whether the social effects of play on mammals
are good or bad is still uncertain. A study done on meerkats (Sharpe, 2011) indicates that play
has no bearing over social bonding or the amount of aggression displayed. After five years of
research on the social effects of play in meerkats, Sharpe’s study was still inconclusive.
Therefore, the social effects of play observed in juvenile animals are vague at best and it is
unclear whether a comparison can be drawn to human beings.
4(iii) Third Line of Reasoning
I support Asma’s third line of reasoning in light of external evidence.
An article published on Fox News indicates that employees of a corporation are likely to be
more productive at work if their firm allows them to incorporate elements of play into their
daily routines. It is believed that the psychological benefits of play help with the creativity of
the workers and in turn encourages idea generation – which is the lifeblood of corporations
involved in design and research.
4. Conclusion
Due to the descriptive nature of his essay and the use of sizeable amounts of figurative language
(understandable since the essay was posted to a philosophy forum) Asma’s reasons do not stand
out strongly enough to fully back up his claim. The flaws in his reasoning weakens his
argument further.
However, I acknowledge that my point of view has its limitations since I have not covered all
of the writer’s reasons in depth.
As such, I agree with Asma’s claim that the implications of play are more significant than we
think only to a small extent.
(Word Count: 1121)
Appendix A - Argument Map
References
Asma, S. (2015, April 27). Reclaiming the power of play. Retrieved
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/reclaiming-the-power-of-play/
September 29, 2015.
from
on
Sharpe, L. (2011, May 17). So you think you know why animals play. Retrieved from
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/so-you-think-you-know-why-animals-play/ on
September 29, 2015.
Tarkan, L. (2012, September 15). Work hard, play harder: fun at work boosts creativity,
productivity. Retrieved from http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/09/13/work-hard-playharder-fun-at-work-boosts-creativity-productivity/ on September 29, 2015.