Influential philosophers argue that humans are purely rational beings; cognitive studies show people are wired to accept false beliefs; reviewing some built-in biases; learning that logic is the perfect corrective; what one will learn moving forward.
Practicing finding the logical arguments hidden in statements by looking for indicator words that either appear explicitly or are implied; how to identify the structure of an argument; focusing on whether it is deductive or inductive.
Exploring four common logical fallacies; circular reasoning uses a conclusion as a premise; begging the question invokes the connotative power of language as a substitute; equivocation changes the meaning of terms; distinction without a difference.
Deepening the understanding of the fallacies of informal logic; examining five additional reasoning errors that include appeal to authority, appeal to common opinion and appeal to tradition; testing oneself with a series of examples.
Considering five fallacies that often arise when one tries to reason their way from cause to effect; the post hoc fallacy; continuing with other fallacies such as neglect of a common cause and causal oversimplification.
Recognizing common diversionary fallacies in a discussion; ad hominem attacks try to undermine the arguer; straw man tactics substitute a weaker argument for a stronger one; red herrings introduce an irrelevant subject; examining cases of each.
Steven Gimbel
Host
