Philosophy 107 (1-10-20) PDF

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Summary

Taught by Neil Tognazzini...

Description

Philosophy 107 A Class on Reasoning Reasoning: -

What are the necessary ingredients of good reasoning? What exactly is the connection between two statements when one counts as a reason in favor of the other?

The Plan: -

Judge the strength of reasons… requires: o The ability to understand reasoning… requires:  The ability to recognize reasoning… requires:  The ability to understand what we read… requires: o The ability to read reflectively

How to Succeed in this class: -

Read the text before class, which will help you get more out of the PowerPoint slides… Practice: o Do the exercises (in gray boxed throughout the chapters)  Check your answers (end of each chapter) o Pay particular attention to the ‘Passages for Analysis’ at the end of each chapter  Quizzes will be modeled after those passages

Paraphrasing -

The first step: practice reading reflectively by learning to paraphrase. o Paraphrase: to say the same thing in different words Often adequate paraphrases will involve completely different words. o Give two different paraphrases of: “No more!”  1: “Stop playing chopsticks!”  2: “You win.” o Give two different phrases of: “Are you hungry?”  1: “Do you want to get lunch with me?”  2: How could you possibly eat anything else after the meal we just had?”

Context -

In the right context, we can see that these paraphrases are correct In fact, knowledge of people and their motivations is crucial to understanding language Understanding reasoning also requires empathy and GUS o I have class at 9am, so ill set my alarm for 8am o I have class at 9am, and I need an hour to get ready and have breakfast, so ill set my alarm for 8am

o ECT, it can go on and on in ever more context and detail Paraphrasing -

2 Types of paraphrase: o Bare-Bones Paraphrase: a short summary of essential content. A headline made into a sentence. o One-Paragraph Paraphrase: a few-sentences conveying the essential content. What you would tell your mom.

Padding -

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In a paraphrase, we want: o A summary of what was said (the main point) o NOT:  How it was said, or by whom, or why or what information is needed to understand it. The rest is padding (inessential to stating the main point): o 1: Background: information to help the reader understand the passage, not what the passage is about. (Setting definition, education, frills) o 2: Dispensable detail: What passage is about but would make the paraphrase too long. (Restatement, illustration, excessive) An Example with practice (See slides online): o Headline: Smoking increases metabolism o Paraphrase: Smoking increases the body’s metabolism, especially if one smokes while engaged in physical activity, which explains why some people gain more weight than others when they quit....