Thinking Socratically

A different approach to critical thinking, both conceptually and pedagogically, Thinking Socratically encourages students in a user-friendly way to improve their own natural reasoning skills. An enjoyable collection of readings presents students with real-life situations that raise questions about the basic assumptions of rationality, naturally engaging them in open dialogue - the hallmark of the rational person. The situations range from the problem of evidence at a trial to the absence of an explanation of why two children died in the same day care center on the same day. While the important objectives of more standard texts are not ignored, this book goes beyond the usual. Thinking Socratically considers topics that are not generally covered by other textbooks, such as the advantages of rationality over irrationality, the limits of rational thinking, the web of belief, the values implicit in science, the weaknesses of dogmatic and relativistic thinking. Thinking Socratically stresses understanding rather than gimmickry and rule memorization. It focuses on the connections between language and the world and what makes statements about the world acceptable or unacceptable. This is not an informal logic text but a genuine critical thinking text.