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The unexamined life is not living, but is the unexamined course worth giving? Is there any value in giving in-class blue book exams in philosophy? Let’s exclude logic and critical thinking, what is the advantage to timed exams?  read more »

I’m trying to put together a grant to support the development of a system to collect, archive, and analyze examples for use in CT instruction across the curriculum. And I’m looking for both comments & collaborators. Here’s the 100 word summary:  read more »

There’s a good article in the NYTimes on research by Lera Boroditsky and colleagues on the influence of language categories on perception. If you were there, I’m sure you’d remember her presentation at the SPP in Edmonton. I think every person in the room had their hand up for a question. I’ve never seen anything like it. Anyway - I, like many of the people there, believe her research to be solid and interesting, but worry about the conclusion drawn. I won’t bias your reading, however: When Language Can Hold the Answer

Post by Gualtiero Piccinini

I have a student writing a paper on this, and it behooves me to understand what he is talking about.

According to Catholic orthodoxy, God consists of three different Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  How can that be?  Are they the same thing or three different things?  read more »

The last set of flash-based argument demos were designed to demonstrate validity as a function of form. These are meant to prove validity via truth-tables.

First, click ’start’ to transfer the truth and false values over to the P and Q in ‘P v Q’. Then complete the truth-table via the combo box, and click ‘check’:

Basic Truth-Table Static Link (Right /Ctrl click to ‘Save Target/File As…’ to download).

The NY Times has an article on the increased enrollments in Philosophy around the nation in the past few years. I’ve always believed that Republican administrations breed philosophy students, but I have little actual data to support that.

In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined

Be sure to read the entire article, as the last line is, perhaps, the most important, at least to some subset of my male students!

A year or so ago, I put these little things together in flash to demonstrate validity of argument as a function of form. Put anything in the top two boxes and press ‘Start’ to complete the argument. Feel free to use them as you see fit. As always, academic credit would be appreciated.

Modus Ponens Static Link (Right /Ctrl click to ‘Save Target/File As…’ to download.