Category Archives: Media Articles, Cartoons

Letters to the editor, cartoons, opinion pieces that demonstrate some point of philosophy or critical thinking (a good place for fallacies of reasoning).

Biased sample? Circular reasoning?

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Peter Ellerton

Discuss.

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Science and Conspiracy

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Peter Ellerton

A useful resource produced by NASA debunking claims that the moon landings were faked. Debunking moon landing conspiracies

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The Limits of Imagination

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Peter Ellerton

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What use Philosophy?

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Peter Ellerton

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Truth Puzzles booklet

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Peter Ellerton

A useful teaching resource in deductive logic.  Booklet of logic puzzles. Truth Puzzles

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Can We Choose To Believe Something?

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Peter Ellerton

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Honesty and Charity in Arguments

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Peter Ellerton

From NYTimes – By GARY GUTTING, The Stone Link – As a philosophy professor, I spend much of my time thinking about the arguments put forward by professional philosophers. As a citizen (and an occasional columnist for The Stone), I also spend lots of … Continue reading →

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Analogy

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Another analogy brought to you by Dilbert.

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Whose brain is it? Consciousness, free will and the brain.

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

If ‘I’ change ‘my’ mind?  Then where do ‘I’ fit in?

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The Tale of the Slave

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Robert Nozick’s dangerous question.

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10 Philosophical Principles

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

From John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, Aristotle’s ‘mean’ philosophy to the principle of charity, here are the greatest principles of philosophy By JULIAN BAGGINI, Editor of The Philosopher’s Magazine 1. THE HARM PRINCIPLE by JOHN STUART MILL, 1806-1873 Whenever legislation is … Continue reading →

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The Fallacy of Deepest Offence

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

Are all ideas equal? Not in the classroom By Peter Ellerton, University of Queensland There is a widespread belief amongst teachers that it is part of their duty of care, even a defining aspect of their professionalism, that all views … Continue reading →

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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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What Democracy is not…

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Peter Ellerton

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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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