Informal Philosophy

Informal Philosophy PDF Author: Avrum Stroll
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 0742570290
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Informal Philosophy provides an original look at how we should understand and teach philosophy. Avrum Stroll persuasively argues that philosophy should be evaluated using its own methodology and should not merely mimic formal scientific analysis, because while modern science does inform our philosophical views about man and his place in nature, it does not solve philosophical problems. Stroll effectively makes the case for the use of informal philosophy—that is, an approach guided by common sense, appealing to ordinary discourse, and employing a context-driven line of inquiry—to answer philosophical problems.

Informal Philosophy

Informal Philosophy PDF Author: Avrum Stroll
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 0742570290
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Informal Philosophy provides an original look at how we should understand and teach philosophy. Avrum Stroll persuasively argues that philosophy should be evaluated using its own methodology and should not merely mimic formal scientific analysis, because while modern science does inform our philosophical views about man and his place in nature, it does not solve philosophical problems. Stroll effectively makes the case for the use of informal philosophy—that is, an approach guided by common sense, appealing to ordinary discourse, and employing a context-driven line of inquiry—to answer philosophical problems.

Formal and Informal Methods in Philosophy

Formal and Informal Methods in Philosophy PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004420509
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
The title of this book refers to the tension between formal and informal elements in the ways analytical philosophy is practiced. The authors examine questions of the scopes and limits of both kinds of research methods.

Historical Foundations of Informal Logic

Historical Foundations of Informal Logic PDF Author: Douglas Walton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351930702
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
In just the last twenty years there has arisen a strong interest, especially among teachers of logic at the universities, in teaching techniques of applied logical reasoning and critical thinking. Many universities are now stressing these skills at an introductory level, and to meet the need, informal logic has begun to form and grow as a discipline in its own right. Like all subjects, it helps us to understand it if we can situate it in a context of historical development. This collection of essays provides the readings required to understand the development of a subject whose historical origins have been so far little studied. Many of the chapters are written by scholars in philosophy and speech communication who are themselves leading contributors to the subject, and their contemporary views throw light on how these earlier writers have influenced their thinking. This dimension gives an added interest to the essays, and indicates the way informal logic is currently evolving and seeking out its ancient historical origins.

The Rise of Informal Logic

The Rise of Informal Logic PDF Author: Ralph H. Johnson
Publisher: University of Windsor
ISBN: 0920233716
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
We are pleased to release this digital edition of Ralph Johnson’s The Rise of Informal Logic as Volume 2 in the series Windsor Studies in Argumentation. This edition is a reprint of the previous Vale Press edition with some minor corrections. We have decided to make this the second volume in the series because it is such a compelling account of the formation of informal logic as a discipline, written by one of the founders of the field. The book includes essential chapters on the history and development of informal logic. Other chapters are key reflections on the theoretical issues raised by the attempt to understand informal argument. Many of the papers were previously published in important journals. A number of them were co-authored with J. Anthony Blair. Three of them have appeared only in the present book.

A Fool's Errand

A Fool's Errand PDF Author: Matthew D'Antuono
Publisher: En Route Books and Media, LLC
ISBN: 9781732414808
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
What is the meaning of life? What is the nature of existence? Why am I here? What is real happiness? The big questions. Are there answers to these questions? In a world where we are bombarded by fuzzy and faulty non-thoughts by the media and society, this book provides an inspirational and accessible introduction for newcomers to the world of philosophical thought.

Informal Logic

Informal Logic PDF Author: Douglas Walton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 113947281X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 507

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Book Description
Second edition of the introductory guidebook to the basic principles of constructing sound arguments and criticising bad ones. Non-technical in approach, it is based on 186 examples, which Douglas Walton, a leading authority in the field of informal logic, discusses and evaluates in clear, illustrative detail. Walton explains how errors, fallacies, and other key failures of argument occur. He shows how correct uses of argument are based on sound strategies for reasoned persuasion and critical responses. This edition takes into account many developments in the field of argumentation study that have occurred since 1989, many created by the author. Drawing on these developments, Walton includes and analyzes 36 new topical examples and also brings in work on argumentation schemes. Ideally suited for use in courses in informal logic and introduction to philosophy, this book will also be valuable to students of pragmatics, rhetoric, and speech communication.

Doing the Best We Can

Doing the Best We Can PDF Author: Fred Feldman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400945701
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Several years ago I came across a marvelous little paper in which Hector-Neri Castaneda shows that standard versions of act utilitarian l ism are formally incoherent. I was intrigued by his argument. It had long seemed to me that I had a firm grasp on act utilitarianism. Indeed, it had often seemed to me that it was the clearest and most attractive of normative theories. Yet here was a simple and relatively uncontrover sial argument that showed, with only some trivial assumptions, that the doctrine is virtually unintelligible. The gist of Castaneda's argument is this: suppose we understand act utilitarianism to be the view that an act is obligatory if and only if its utility exceeds that of each alternative. Suppose it is obligatory for a certain person to perform an act with two parts - we can call it 'A & B'. Then, obviously enough, it is also obligatory for this person to perform the parts, A and B. If act utilitarianism were true, we appar ently could infer that the utility of A & B is higher than that of A, and higher than that of B (because A & B is obligatory, and the other acts are alternatives to A & B).

Acceptable Premises

Acceptable Premises PDF Author: James B. Freeman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139442435
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
When, if ever, is one justified in accepting the premises of an argument? What is the proper criterion of premise acceptability? Can the criterion be theoretically or philosophically justified? This is the first book to provide a comprehensive theory of premise acceptability and it answers the questions above from an epistemological approach that the author calls common sense foundationalism. It will be eagerly sought out not just by specialists in informal logic, critical thinking, and argumentation theory but also by a broader range of philosophers and those teaching rhetoric.

Understanding Arguments

Understanding Arguments PDF Author: Robert J. Fogelin
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
ISBN: 9780155926721
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Book Description


Informal Fallacies

Informal Fallacies PDF Author: Douglas N. Walton
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027250057
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
The basic question of this monograph is: how should we go about judging arguments to be reasonable or unreasonable? Our concern will be with argument in a broad sense, with realistic arguments in natural language. The basic object will be to engage in a normative study of determining what factors, standards, or procedures should be adopted or appealed to in evaluating an argument as “good,” “not-so-good,” “open to criticism,” “fallacious,” and so forth. Hence our primary concern will be with the problems of how to criticize an argument, and when a criticism is reasonably justified.