In installment 1 I wrote about the opinion of Neal Boortz and the Rational Responders that creationists and Christian theists are unreasonable and irrational. So what does it mean to be reasonable and what is rational thinking?
Logic is the process of offering reasons (or premises) for holding a specific belief (or conclusion). Logic requires the proposal of a conclusion along with a list of premises for believing that the conclusion is true. Logic involves the critical examination of the reasons for a held belief and an evaluation as to how well they support the belief.
I could say that I believe that the Carolina Panthers will win the Super Bowl in 2008. A New England Patriots fan may challenge me on that belief and when he does, if I respond by saying 'BECAUSE' then I have provided the weakest of all arguments! My argument becomes stronger if I can provide one or more reasons to support my belief. Coach Fox plans to beef up the offensive line. Injured players will have recovered by next season. I could provide this argument ....
premise 1 - the offensive line will be 'beefed up'
premise 2 - injured players will return
Logic is the process of offering reasons (or premises) for holding a specific belief (or conclusion). Logic requires the proposal of a conclusion along with a list of premises for believing that the conclusion is true. Logic involves the critical examination of the reasons for a held belief and an evaluation as to how well they support the belief.
I could say that I believe that the Carolina Panthers will win the Super Bowl in 2008. A New England Patriots fan may challenge me on that belief and when he does, if I respond by saying 'BECAUSE' then I have provided the weakest of all arguments! My argument becomes stronger if I can provide one or more reasons to support my belief. Coach Fox plans to beef up the offensive line. Injured players will have recovered by next season. I could provide this argument ....
premise 1 - the offensive line will be 'beefed up'
premise 2 - injured players will return
premise 3 - we've still got Jake
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conclusion - the Panthers will win the 2008 Super Bowl
Above I've depicted a relatively weak argument for believing that the Panthers will go all the way. But at least it is a stronger argument than 'BECAUSE'! By adding additional premises I make my argument stronger. I can also help my argument by making each of my premises stronger. For example, my argument would be much stronger if one of my premises truly read: 'all of the other NFL teams have replaced their players with three year olds'.
So this is a 'crash course' in logic. In future installments, logic will be applied to the comments made by Neal Boortz and the Rational Responders.
__________________________________________
conclusion - the Panthers will win the 2008 Super Bowl
Above I've depicted a relatively weak argument for believing that the Panthers will go all the way. But at least it is a stronger argument than 'BECAUSE'! By adding additional premises I make my argument stronger. I can also help my argument by making each of my premises stronger. For example, my argument would be much stronger if one of my premises truly read: 'all of the other NFL teams have replaced their players with three year olds'.
So this is a 'crash course' in logic. In future installments, logic will be applied to the comments made by Neal Boortz and the Rational Responders.
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