But in answer to your question, I think that having some basic critical thinking skills is a prerequisite of being a good citizen in a democracy. If you are too easily swayed by rhetoric, weak at analysing arguments and the ways that people use evidence, and prone to all kinds of biases that you are unaware of, how can you engage politically? So yes, all of us can improve our critical thinking skills, and I do believe that that is an aspect of living the examined life that Socrates was so keen we all should do.
Think With Socrates An Introduction To Critical Thinking Downloads Torrent
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Nigel Warburton is a freelance philosopher, writer and host of the podcast Philosophy Bites. Featuring short interviews with the world's best philosophers on bite-size topics, the podcast has been downloaded more than 40 million times. He is also our philosophy editor here at Five Books, where he has been interviewing other philosophers about the best books on a range of philosophy topics since 2013 (you can read all the interviews he's done here: not all are about philosophy). In addition, he's recommended books for us on the best introductions to philosophy, the best critical thinking books, as well as some of the key texts to read in the Western canon. His annual recommendations of the best philosophy books of the year are among our most popular interviews on Five Books. As an author, he is best known for his introductory philosophy books, listed below:
An Introduction to Philosophy provides a survey of central themes within the western, analytic tradition of philosophy. The book presents the fundamentals of logic and critical thinking, the Socratic method, and approaches to knowledge based in...read more
Payne has written a solid introduction to philosophy for students with little to no background in the subject matter. His text covers the core ancient philosophers, basic logical reasoning, explorations in the philosophy of science and mind, and the main branches of ethics. It is a short text, so therefore Payne has left out some key branches of thought, such as aesthetics, structuralism, or critical theory. Additionally, there is no index or glossary with this text. Still, he does a good job introducing the basics within his limited space.
The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way that I could detect. I found the examples used were culturally diverse, as well as gender-neutral and appropriate. Here is probably the place to mention that this textbook fails to include many examples of female or other minority philosophers or texts. As a discipline, we all need to do more to undermine this view of the philosophical canon as white, western, male and privileged. I would be supplementing this textbook with readings from female philosophers, and I would consider introducing a topic from a non-traditional perspective such as asian or african philosophy. No textbook can include everything, but introductions to a discipline need to be at the forefront in making sure students don't think the subject is only for white, male people and interests.
According to Glaser, the process of critical thinking comprises a persistent effort to analyze any accepted form of knowledge in the light of new evidence that supports it or challenges it for further analysis. It begins with the ability to recognize problem with the existing knowledge, belief or assumptions then goes on to find workable means of solving the problem. This process includes collection of empirical evidence and then to state the unstated assumptions and values with clear descriptions in understandable language. Clarity and accuracy of interpreting the data is the key to convince those who stand strong on the already constructed knowledge. It is not at all an easy task to cohesively appraise evidence and evaluate arguments, to recognize the existence (or non-existence) of logical relationships between propositions, and then to carefully draw warranted conclusions which are not over generalized. The critical thinkers are ready to put the conclusions and generalizations to test before reconstructing one's patterns of beliefs, and they examine closely before they move on to render judgments about specific things phenomenon of life.
In the Renaissance (15th and 16th Centuries), a torrent of scholars in Europe became active in thinking critically about religion, society, human nature, and law. Their assumption was that most of the domains of human life were in need of searching analysis and critique. Among these scholars were Colet, Erasmus, and Moore in England. Francis Bacon, in England, was explicitly concerned with the way we seek knowledge. He recognized explicitly that the mind cannot safely be left to its natural tendencies. In his book The Advancement of Learning, he argued for the importance of studying the world empirically. He laid the foundation for modern science with his emphasis on the information-gathering processes.
In France, Descartes is the one who gave rebirth to critical thinking in his text be called the Rules for the Direction of the Mind. In it, Descartes argued for the need for a special systematic disciplining of the mind to guide it in thinking. He maintained that there is a need in thinking for clarity and precision. He developed a method of critical thought based on the principle of systematic doubt. In the same time period, Sir Thomas Moore developed a model of a new social order, Utopia, in which every domain of the present world was subject to critique. The critical thinking of these Renaissance and post-Renaissance scholars opened the way for the emergence of science and for the development of critical theory as we find it today.
John Dewey agreed to this and he also focused more on developing thinking skills rather than merely transfer of knowledge. Similarly from the work of Piaget, we get the awareness of the egocentric and socio-centric tendencies of human thought and of the special need to develop critical thought which is able to reason within multiple standpoints, and to be raised to the level of "conscious realization." From the contribution of depth-psychology, we have learned how easily the human mind is self-deceived, how easily it unconsciously constructs illusions and delusions, how easily it rationalizes and stereotypes, projects and scapegoats. Hundreds of thinkers have contributed to the development of critical thought. Yet for most educational purposes, it is the summing up of base-line common denominators for critical thinking that is most important. 2ff7e9595c
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