We continue our look at philosophical reasoning by introducing two more types: induction and abduction. Hank explains their strengths and weaknesses, as well as counterarguments and the Socratic method.
Before we dive into the big questions of philosophy, you need to know how to argue properly. We’ll start with an overview of philosophical reasoning and breakdown of how deductive arguments work (and sometimes don’t work).
A guide to filing Freedom of Information Act requests
Long Description:
This document is a guide to accompany a training workshop “How to File a FOIA” to celebrate the University of Washington Center for Human Rights’ 10th Anniversary Celebration in May 2019. The guide includes information on researching, writing, submission, and tracking of FOIA requests, and was created by UWCHR graduate research fellow, Emily Willard in May 2019 based on previous drafts of training manuals for UWCHR interns. This training guide for anyone who is interested in filing a FOIA related to public interest.
Word Count: 8192
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We are surrounded by attempts to persuade us: advertisements, editorials, blog posts, and so forth. When should you be persuaded and when not? This textbook helps you improve your reasoning skills so that you can recognise successful (and unsuccessful) arguments. It contains embedded questions so that you can practice your skills as you go.
This presentation is on Bertrand Russels chapter human knowledge in the Introduction to Philosophy book. Rosen, Byrne, et al. Norton Introduction to Philosophy (2nd edition).
This course provides a rigorous and critical introduction to the foundation, structure and operation of the international human rights movement, as it has evolved through the years and as it impacts the United States. The course introduces students to the key theoretical debates in the field including the historical origin and character of the modern idea of human rights, the debate between universality and cultural relativism, between civil and human rights, between individual and community, and the historically contentious relationship between the West and the Rest in matters of sovereignty and human rights, drawing on real life examples from current affairs.
Word Count: 6872
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Born in Königsberg, East Prussia, Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a German philosopher and scientist (astrophysics, mathematics, geography, anthropology) from East Prussia. Quite generally regarded as one of history’s truly great thinkers, Immanuel Kant is known for the historical synthesis of his transcendental method. His philosophy brought together the two major currents competing at the time of the Enlightenment, the metaphysical approach and the empirical approach. Through his “Copernican revolution,” Kant moved the criterion of truth from assertions about an external reality to the immediacy of the knowing self. His contribution practically put an end to philosophical speculation as it had been practiced for centuries, it established a firm basis for factual knowledge (in particular the scientific method), but it also opened the way to agnosticism on ultimate issues. For better or for worse, his legacy has never been entirely transcended to this day.
This unit looks at the interplay between losses in privacy and gains in convenience that accompany the ever-expanding use of and reliance on digital media and technology in our lives. The aim is not to convince students of a specific stance; rather, it is to provide an opportunity for students to look critically at the ways in which privacy has changed and to think about taking intentional action regarding their own use of digital media.
Each week of the unit, students will grapple with an essential question that focuses their attention on one aspect of privacy. As the core text, George Orwell’s 1984 elucidates two major definitions of privacy: first, the internal thoughts that we develop and contemplate without outside influence; and second, the freedom from being observed, accessed, and controlled by outsiders.
Throughout this unit, students will produce short argumentative pieces drawing evidence from the texts read for and discussed in class. The short pieces of writing students produce throughout the class will culminate in a final argumentative essay weighing the interplay and value of privacy and convenience in our digital lives.
This module will allow students in philosophy, geography, earth science, political science, and global studies to learn about social contract theory while applying it to water access problems in India. The module presented here may be modified to fit one’s class and instructional style. Social contract theory explains why people need to cooperate to escape suffering and to behave ethically. Social contract theory is: (1) an ethical theory; (2) a justification for government; as well (3) an explanation for group cooperation. Students will use Internet resources and the attached documents.
Today we conclude our unit on Philosophy of Religion and Hank gets a little help from Indiana Jones to explain religious pragmatism and Pascal’s Wager, fideism, and Kierkegaard’s leap to faith.
Inferring and Explaining is a book in practical epistemology. It examines the notion of evidence and assumes that good evidence is the essence of rational thinking. Evidence is the cornerstone of the natural, social, and behavioral sciences. But it is equally central to almost all academic pursuits and, perhaps most importantly, to the basic need to live an intelligent and reflective life.
Long Description:
This volume reflects the development and theoretical foundation of a new paradigm for critical thinking based on inquiry. The field of critical thinking, as manifested in the Informal Logic movement, developed primarily as a response to the inadequacies of formalism to represent actual argumentative practice and to provide useful argumentative skills to students. Because of this, the primary focus of the field has been on informal arguments rather than formal reasoning. Yet the formalist history of the field is still evident in its emphasis, with respect to both theory and pedagogy, on the structure and evaluation of individual, de-contextualized arguments. It is our view that such a view of critical thinking is excessively narrow and limited, failing to provide an understanding of argumentation as largely a matter of comparative evaluation of a variety of contending positions and arguments with the goal of reaching a reasoned judgment on an issue. As a consequence, traditional critical thinking instruction is problematic in failing to provide the reasoning skills that students need in order to accomplish this goal. Instead, the goal of critical thinking instruction has been seen largely as a defensive one: of learning to not fall prey to invalid, inadequate, or fallacious arguments.
Word Count: 116090
ISBN: 978-0-920233-85-6
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Short Description:
This book is designed to integrate concepts of responsible management with the evolving discourse around corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues and sustainability as viewed from multiple perspectives including that of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this book we also consider indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Metis) perspective and equity, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI) issues. The book works as a roadmap to a journey of responsible management and includes links and references to current research articles and websites with topical examples, learning outcomes, key take-aways, reflective questions, and suggested additional readings.
Long Description:
This book is designed to integrate concepts of responsible management with the evolving discourse around corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues and sustainability, I bring in current perspectives including that of the United Nations and its Sustainable Development Goals. In this book I also consider indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Metis) perspective and equity, diversity, and inclusivity (EDI) issues. The book works as a roadmap to a journey of responsible management and includes links and references to current research articles and websites with topical examples, learning outcomes, key take-aways, reflective questions, and suggested additional readings. The textbook is organized into eleven chapters within four sections, each addressing a particular part of the learning journey: starting the journey, societal integration of responsible management, responsible management and business considerations, sustainability and sustainable development. Instructors can choose to present each chapter according to their particular curricular focus and course learning outcomes over a 6, 8, or 12 week semester. Each chapter is organized so that they can be read on their own or supplemented by the referenced or suggested readings. Instructors can use the suggested reflective questions or create their own based on the topical material. In the end, the learning journey starts and ends with the learner and so the intent of this book is to make it an accessible and relevant journey considering the many wicked problems that are found today.
Word Count: 34786
ISBN: 978-1-7782569-1-2
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Long Description:
Hosted by:
Word Count: 20480
ISBN: 978-1-55195-470-7
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Last week we introduced Thomas Aquinas’s four cosmological arguments for the existence of god; today we introduce his fifth argument: the teleological argument, and the ensuing dialogue it initiated.
The Republic of Plato is one of the classic gateway texts into the study and practice of philosophy, and it is just the sort of book that has been able to arrest and redirect lives. How it has been able to do this, and whether or not it will be able to do this in your own case, is something you can only discover for yourself. The present guidebook aims to help a person get fairly deep, fairly quickly, into the project. It divides the dialogue into 96 sections and provides commentary on each section as well as questions for reflection and exploration. It is organized with a table of contents and is stitched together with a system of navigating bookmarks. Links to external sites such as the Perseus Classical Library are used throughout. This book is suitable for college courses or independent study.
Short Description:
This "textbook" is interactive, meaning that although each chapter has text, they also have interactive HTML5 content, such as quizzes, simulations, interactive videos, and images with clickable hotspots. Students receive instant feedback when they complete the interactive content, and therefore, can learn and check their understanding all in one place. The first unit introduces students to the nature of science, including scientific controversies, and information literacy, including how to analyze literature and identify stakeholders. Unit 2 is organismal biology, including carbon cycling and population growth, and unit 3 is molecular biology with a focus on gene expression.
Long Description:
This “textbook” is interactive, meaning that although each chapter has text, they also have interactive HTML5 content, such as quizzes, simulations, interactive videos, and images with clickable hotspots. Students receive instant feedback when they complete the interactive content, and therefore, can learn and check their understanding all in one place. I still consider this textbook to be fairly text-heavy and will continue to make it even more interactive content!
The image on the cover represents the creation of this book. I pulled most of the content from open resources, modified them, added questions, and now offer them for you to use!
I chose the content to align with two courses that I teach: environmental and organismal applications and biomedical applications. Unit 1 introduces students to science, which both courses use. Unit 2 covers content necessary for understanding conservation implications (the underlying theme of the course is de-extinction), and Unit 3 focuses on proteins so that students can understand the implications of modifying DNA (the underlying theme is CRISPR).
Please use this book as you see fit for your classes. I look forward to hearing how to make this book even more useful in the future!
Word Count: 27692
ISBN: 978-1-62610-106-7
(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)
Short Description:
This "textbook" is interactive, meaning that although each chapter has text, they also have interactive HTML5 content, such as quizzes, simulations, interactive videos, and images with clickable hotspots. Students receive instant feedback when they complete the interactive content, and therefore, can learn and check their understanding all in one place. The first unit introduces students to the nature of science, including scientific controversies, and information literacy, including how to analyze literature and identify stakeholders. Unit 2 is organismal biology, including carbon cycling and population growth, and unit 3 is molecular biology with a focus on gene expression.
Long Description:
This “textbook” is interactive, meaning that although each chapter has text, they also have interactive HTML5 content, such as quizzes, simulations, interactive videos, and images with clickable hotspots. Students receive instant feedback when they complete the interactive content, and therefore, can learn and check their understanding all in one place. I still consider this textbook to be fairly text-heavy and will continue to make it even more interactive content!
The image on the cover represents the creation of this book. I pulled most of the content from open resources, modified them, added questions, and now offer them for you to use!
I chose the content to align with two courses that I teach: environmental and organismal applications and biomedical applications. Unit 1 introduces students to science, which both courses use. Unit 2 covers content necessary for understanding conservation implications (the underlying theme of the course is de-extinction), and Unit 3 focuses on proteins so that students can understand the implications of modifying DNA (the underlying theme is CRISPR).
Please use this book as you see fit for your classes. I look forward to hearing how to make this book even more useful in the future!
Word Count: 34749
(Note: This resource's metadata has been created automatically by reformatting and/or combining the information that the author initially provided as part of a bulk import process.)
This reformation will present readers a view of interdisciplinarity and the foundational components that have been present throughout human history. You might ask, why is there a problem with interdisciplinarity now? What this book outlines are the questionable and potentially, malevolent ideals that have been pervasive in our society that go against the forms of logic and reason. This will be a catalyst towards a reform for epistemological connections in logic, ethics and emotion that relate to us as autonomous individuals that impact our learning, life, and society.