IS 360: Survival of the Fittest

I. Philosophy and Science

Philosophy is like science in rationally pursuing an understanding of how things are, but differs from science in also pursuing an understanding of how things should be and in trying to relate the scientific view of things to the common sense view.

II. Philosophy and Human Nature

The philosophy of human nature attempts to take proper account of both the similarities and the differences between creatures like us and other living organisms.

III. Critical Thinking

A. Thinking: Rational cognitive processes that (help) determine what we believe and how we act.

B. Critical: Rational and reflective; conscious and controlled.

C. Critical Thinking is more effective and more autonomous

IV. Arguments

A. Publicly accessible linguistic manifestations of reasoning processes.

B. Arguments have two aspects that must be evaluated separately.

1. Structure:

Do the premises support the conclusion?

Deductive

If the premises were true, would the conclusion have to be true as well?

Inductive

If the premises were true, would the conclusion probably be true also?

[NOTE WELL: These questions can be answered without knowing the actual truth-values of either the premises or the conclusion.]

2. Content:

Are the premises acceptable?

Are the premises uncontroversial in the context or well supported with evidence (sub-arguments)?