| |
| |
|
Philosophy Information |
|
|
|
Critical Thinking To Go: Dodging The Pepperoni Pizza Fallacy
Today we commonly hear in the news journalistic items about religion and politics, or faith and something else, where the suggested "duo du jour" usually sit in opposition to one another. One could do this, of course, just as easily with other areas of human thought, as with sociology vs. history, or economics vs. psychology. But most people do not seem nearly as interested in this exercise as they seem anxious to set "religion" over against whatever other area they might find interesting. But this represents quite an odd way to view things (at the very best), and one might rightly call it propaganda (at the worst) in many instances. You see, life does not come at us in slices, as though it were one very large pepperoni pizza to go. When humans experience an event, we do not encounter it in a parade of neatly snipped segments, as though the civil war first showed us its psychological effects, then came its economic aspects, only after which we then got a look at its technological innovations. Just as with the runningback who grasps a fumbled football in the midst of many linesmen, life happens to us "all at once." Only after taking in an historically important event, and reflecting on it a bit, can we slice it up to study some of parts or aspects in isolation from the others -- as pundits might do, say, in an economics textbook. This, of course, makes students especially prone to confuse the way things happen on paper with how they occur on a battlefield, or in the midst of a revolution. Now this fallacy -- the error of confusing real life with its written counterpart, does not show up in informal logic texts. But it should, since it clearly misleads many these days. So, what to call it? I at first tried the "fallacy of compartmentalized reality." But the students in my head just blurted out, "WhatEVER." Then I mused, "fallacy of reflective segmenting." But I didn't understand that one myself. Finally, I landed on the more user-friendly label, the "Pepperoni Pizza" fallacy. Surely students could grab and digest this supreme combination of words (or was that "combination supreme"?). By way of illustration, I recently engaged a lively proponent of Mr. Darwin's views. In the course of our discussion, he suggested that evolutionary notions merely comprised "biological theories," and that I had mistakenly inquired about the ethics of it all. Here, the pepperoni began to fly. He didn't seem to realize (as Mr. Darwin clearly did) that theories we might properly call "biological," (or scientific) can -- and often do -- have obvious ethical implications. Ideas have logical effects not restricted to one academic field. You cannot win a debate by simply putting an arbitrary fence around an idea and yelling at its offspring, "Now stay!" Like illegal aliens, they tend to jump the borders when you aren't looking. This means that Darwinism, neo-Darwinism and "Punctuationism," like all other ideas, have logical consequences (implications) that affect every area of human thought and life. This is why you can find evolutionary ideas discussed in psychology textbooks, history books, and even pop magazines. In any case, evading or ignoring certain aspects of an idea's logical consequences to gain the upper hand in a debate -- or else to keep one's ship from sinking altogether -- now has a name. Armed with this knowlegde, you can clearly and distinctly show others when the need arises, that life tranpires only as a set of integrated circumstances, and that ideas have logical effects not properly limited to any one academic field. Reality and logic do not come made-to-order with extra cheese, so you don't get a discount on them with a coupon. To make a good case, then, we must follow the rules of valid and sound reasoning. Carson Day has written approximately 1.3 gazillion articles and essays, many with very insightful, if alternative, viewpoints. He presently writes for Ophir Gold Corporation, and specialized in the history of ideas in college. He has been quoted in the past as saying "What box?" and remains at large despite the best efforts of the civil authorities. You can visit the Ophir Gold Corporation blogsites at http://scriberight.blogspot.com (Writing With Power), http://ophirgoldcorp.blogspot.com (OGC's Free Web Traffic), or http://ophirgold.blogspot.com (Church and State 101)
MORE RESOURCES:
Philosophy - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Belief is Closure The CON in CONstructs:There are many esoteric wisdom schools and many divisions or a hierarchy in each one of them. Some of the initiates think they are all-knowing once they see what their school has placed in the ether to make them think what they want to think. MORAL ARMOR on Materialism and Profit Desiring to get the most out of life, life's lovers intend to earn and therefore deserve the best the world has to offer. Materialism is an anti-concept which damns this desire as a spiritually bankrupt, destructive pursuit. Nostradamus Saw The Luciferians are the inner cabal of the Vatican according to Malachi Martin (And have been for a long time as I have demonstrated in other books.). Reducing Human Population Growth Due to the indoctrination of World Religions and their control over the masses, prior peoples were told to procreate the next generation to serve their god or gods. They were told how to live their lives and taught about sinful thoughts. Animus Mundi and Intelligent Design Animus Mundi:The World Mind or Critical Mass of intellectual and spiritual energy was called Animus Mundi by the spiritually aware revivalists of the turn of the century. The spirit or 'anima' (Aristotle) in all that is includes things not alive as we think of it. William Butler Yeats There are adepts outside of what is called alchemy who have achieved great things in these areas and there are alchemists before Socrates and Aristotle, or Da Vinci and Newton; who all true experts know were alchemists. For any author or journalist who would produce a TV documentary on the subject and not even interview a hermeticist (much less an alchemist) it is obvious their intent is not to educate. Satus Anxiety 'Every adult life could be said to be defined by two great love stories. The first - the story of our quest for sexual love - is well known and well-charted. Why Im Glad Im Not a Minority Writer I'll admit that I used to be jealous of my compadres who were minorities in my BFA Creative Writing program. The rest of us were just crusty white kids with no rhythm. Life in the Universe; Part 1 Is there life ( extraterrestrial life or any other form of life) elsewhere in the universe.. Illuminati in Kentucky Illuminati in Kentucky:My fevered imagination includes the probability that Andrew Jackson and stories of the Bell Witch are connected with this kind of knowledge."In his 1806 book Travels In America, Thomas Ashe writes of his experiences with a vast cavern originally discovered in 1783 beneath the city of Lexington, 300 feet long, 100 feet wide and 19 feet high, containing exotic artifacts, a stone altar for sacrifices, human skulls and bones piled high, and mummified remains. Culture and Knowledge In eastern Cultures the passing of thought was considered valuable, so much in fact that even to this day members of those cultures respect their elders and listen to their advice. The passing of such thoughts and concepts and philosophies is of extreme value. The Tree of Life and Allies There are names in many languages and cultures or even within each culture, separate cults with different names for 'forces of nature'. Allies, guides, elementals, fairies, elves, gnomes, leprechauns and so the list would grow into the thousands. The Pertinence of Nudity Every kind of nudity is an abstraction. A man without clothes submits himself to immediate opinion. Checked Into Nirvana. Where Is Joy? Eckhart Tolle lived upto his twenty ninth year in a state of almost continual anxiety interspersed with periods of suicidal depression. Then he woke up one night with a feeling of absolute dread. Nature Worship NATURE WORSHIP: - Wicca and witchcraft or other shamanic attunements akin to the kind of ethic and awe the great and beautiful (FREE) North American Indians had before the arrival of the 'civilized' men from the Old World."A Guide to Nature Spirituality Terms Selena FoxFounder and leader of Circle Sanctuary, an internationally linked Nature Spirituality resource center and Shamanic Wiccan church based in Mt. Stranded Notions: Time And Philosophy Of The Individual As I look back now, a long time seems to span itself behind me, opening up a trench of thoughts that I carry on my back. There is yet another spanning time, a future, actually it is a degree of time where the past is firmer and unmoving, anticipant even. Critical Thinking To Go: Dodging The Pepperoni Pizza Fallacy Today we commonly hear in the news journalistic items about religion and politics, or faith and something else, where the suggested "duo du jour" usually sit in opposition to one another. One could do this, of course, just as easily with other areas of human thought, as with sociology vs. Archetypes DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY (ARCHETYPES): - "All material bodies are condensations of frozen bodies." (2) Jung is becoming 'in vogue' again, I hear. Life in the Universe Part II We are most probably not the only beings in the universe interested in other planets and heavenly bodies.Based on reports and various sources of information our very own planet is visited by different shapes of unknown unidentified flying objects and mysterious entities believed to be visitors from space. Phony-Baloney Detection Lesson #2 Appeals to AuthorityListen to this quote by a guy I am sure some of you have heard of:"Our society is dominated by experts, few more influential than psychiatrists. This influence does not derive, however, from our superior ethics or goodness or from any widespread consensus that we are especially admirable?"[1]Don't you just love that?He goes on to say, that Americans have become a people too dependent on so-called "experts" who "for better or for worse, exert an influence that far exceeds the actual wisdom (I might add here humility and grace) we demonstrate.
|
| home | site map | Tele88.co.uk | Soscili.com | UltimateWealthCorner.com | JustDial.tk | bennyong.com |
| © 2006 Velocity Spark Network. Hosted by Hostonfire.com |
