Category Archives: Resources

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Fallacies Poster

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

A lovely job from http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/  please visit the site for interactive presentation.

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What Truth Doesn’t Mean

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

The truth, the whole truth and … wait, how many truths are there? Calling something a “scientific truth” is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it carries a kind of epistemic (how we know) credibility, a quality assurance that a … Continue reading →

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Can science answer questions about morality?

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Sam Harris on TED

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The Language of Science

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Listen and learn: the language of science and scepticism Peter Ellerton Making sure what’s intended is what’s heard can be more difficult than it seems. Melvin Gaal (mindsharing.eu) As scientists, one of our responsibilities should be to promote clarity. A lot … Continue reading →

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Analysis of Critical Thinking in Climate Science

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

No one likes to change their mind, not even on climate People put up all kinds of psychological barriers to changing their minds. Thomas Galvez Last night’s ABC documentary I Can Change Your Mind About Climate was about two people — … Continue reading →

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Post hoc ergo propter hoc or False Cause – Correlation does not imply causation

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Another legend from Dilbert.

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Philosophy — What’s the Use?

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Are you looking to see why teaching philosophy is important?  Another great article from NYTimes The Stone Almost every article that appears in The Stone provokes some comments from readers challenging the very idea that philosophy has anything relevant to … Continue reading →

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What Democracy is not…

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Discuss.

Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons, PowerPoints, Video and other Media, Social and Political Philosophy | Leave a comment

Another Double Blind Test surprise

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Stradivarius Fails Sound Test Versus Newbie Violins Download pdf (from sciam) Can you tell the difference between modern violins and antiques crafted by Italian masters? Don’t feel too bad – expert players can’t do it either. In a double-blind test, 21 experienced … Continue reading →

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When Should Science be Censored?

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

Calls to censor details of potential killer flu via ABC News The suppression of breakthrough research into deadly bird flu strains has been labelled scientific censorship by some, but others say it is a necessary step to prevent a possible … Continue reading →

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Truth

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

Discuss…

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Correlation Does Not Imply Causation

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

Another classic from Dilbert See also  Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

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Philosophical Zombies

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

From the concept by Chalmers.  Could humans exist that are not conscious?  The extract below is from his site. Philosophical zombies It is philosophical zombies that I’m most interested in here, since I’m a philosopher and they raise very interesting … Continue reading →

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The Coherentist’s Nightmare

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

The coherency theory of truth

Posted in Critical Thinking, Media Articles, Cartoons, Philosophy of Language | Comments Off

Harvard Justice Series: The Moral Side of Murder

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

Part One:

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1,500 Animal Species Practice Homosexuality

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

Not natural?  Think again…  Homosexuality is quite common in the animal kingdom, especially among herding animals. Many animals solve conflicts by practicing same gender sex. via http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/20718.aspx?page=1  From the middle of October until next summer the Norwegian Natural History Museum … Continue reading →

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Conspiracy, Independent Scholarship and the Truth as a Commodity

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

Great stuff again from The Stone (NYTimes) Who Wrote Shakespeare? While it is perfectly obvious to everyone that Ben Jonson wrote all of Shakespeare’s plays, it is less known that Ben Jonson’s plays were written by a teen-age girl in … Continue reading →

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The Backfire Effect

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

When people believe more strongly in something AFTER they have been given information that refutes it…. Good explanation here http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/06/10/the-backfire-effect/ And paper by Brendan Nyhan here (pdf).  Abstract below. An extensive literature addresses citizen ignorance, but very little research focuses … Continue reading →

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Logic, Knowledge Systems and World Views

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

The way of logic – 02 December 1995 – New Scientist FOR almost two centuries, anthropologists have been studying how non-European cultures understand the world around them. Now philosophers of science are getting in on the act. Armed with intellectual … Continue reading →

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Bayesian Inference (Homo Bayesianis)

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Peter Ellerton

Bayesian Inference (and a good explanation of Bayes’ Theorem) ~best to ignore this one if you’re not already in the loop~ via http://www.brera.mi.astro.it/~andreon/inference/Inference.html

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