scholarly journals Critical thinking; the father of all disciplines

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 70-76
Author(s):  
M. Adeyinka Akapo ◽  

Looking at the history of philosophy, one will see that philosophy is often credited with the attributes of critical thinking, hence, critical thinking is always discussed as a tool of or the same as philosophy. Whereas it seems almost impossible to find philosophy or philosophizing without critical thinking, it may not be true to say that they are the same. This work therefore, demonstrates that philosophy and critical thinking are very complementary, but are not same, and critical thinking is not a tool of philosophy. It agrees that philosophy is the mother, but show that critical thinking is the father, of rational enquiries. For long, critical thinking and philosophy have served to produce results of rational enquiry hence the identification of the critical thinking DNA as is found in all the results of rational and creative thought. Adopting the method of critical analysis, this work concludes that critical thinking should be seen and appreciated for what it is and that it is better for all disciplines to emphasize the need and role of their paternal (critical thinking) DNA as it is what brings them to their pragmatic utilitarian value.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-540
Author(s):  
Euclides Nenga Manuel Sacomboio

The global community is racing to slow down and eventually stop the spread of COVID-19, which is a pandemic that has killed thousands of lives and made tens of thousands sick. The new coronavirus has already reached Angola, with 25 confirmed cases, among them 2 died and 6 were cured. The government has decreed a state of emergency on 24 March 2020 for 15 days, which was extended twice for the same number of days that will make it possible to reduce clusters of people and keep them at home. This study reflected on the diverse ways of leadership. It is an article of theoretical, technical and scientific reflection, based on the experience of a new epidemiological situation, with a critical analysis based on technical, scientific and professional experience, with bibliographic input of data obtained from information published in scientific articles, newspapers, magazines and other official documents published in Angola and worldwide related to COVID-19. This article emerged from critical thinking based on the current situation of COVID-19 in Angola in the world and is reflected in this article, what Angola should learn and learned from the experience of other countries that also imported the disease, their history of investment in health, characteristics of their populations, their economies and other aspects.


Apeiron ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Proios

Abstract Plato’s invention of the metaphor of carving the world by the joints (Phaedrus 265d–66c) gives him a privileged place in the history of natural kind theory in philosophy and science; he is often understood to present a paradigmatic but antiquated view of natural kinds as possessing eternal, immutable, necessary essences. Yet, I highlight that, as a point of distinction from contemporary views about natural kinds, Plato subscribes to an intelligent-design, teleological framework, in which the natural world is the product of craft and, as a result, is structured such that it is good for it to be that way. In Plato’s Philebus, the character Socrates introduces a method of inquiry whose articulation of natural kinds enables it to confer expert knowledge, such as literacy. My paper contributes to an understanding of Plato’s view of natural kinds by interpreting this method in light of Plato’s teleological conception of nature. I argue that a human inquirer who uses the method identifies kinds with relational essences within a system causally related to the production of some unique craft-object, such as writing. As a result, I recast Plato’s place in the history of philosophy, including Plato’s view of the relation between the kinds according to the natural and social sciences. Whereas some are inclined to separate natural from social kinds, Plato holds the unique view that all naturalness is a social feature of kinds reflecting the role of intelligent agency.


2021 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 277-287
Author(s):  
John M. Rose ◽  

Heidegger’s works are useful in teaching undergraduates in a variety of ways besides simply introducing Heidegger as an important figure in the history of philosophy. This paper outlines the role of Heidegger in the structure of my Ancient Philosophy course, an intermediate level requirement in the history of philosophy for the philosophy major at Goucher College. The thematic role of Heidegger in the course is illustrated with the intersection of Heidegger’s and Heraclitus’ philosophies and their related pedagogy of following language in a polysemic movement that can break the spell of sclerotic ordinary language about beings. Both Heraclitus and Heidegger move from the ordinary opining of the natures of things to the enigma at the heart of language. The paper also references the effect of this pedagogy on students with writer’s block, or graphophobia, when faced with their first attempts at serious philosophical writing. I conclude with describing the outcome of overcoming the fear of writing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Toji Omonovich Norov ◽  

The universe, the space that make up their basis planets in it, their creation, the main essence of their creation, form, composition, meaning, movements, interactions, their influence on human life and activities, the role of man in the universe and in life on Earth, life, the criteria of activity and processes occurring in time and space have long been of interest to humanity. One of the main problems in the history of philosophy is the question of space and time. This problem was defined in different ways in the great schools of thought by thinkers of different periods. One of these great thinkers is Alisher Navoi. Navoi's works, along with other socio-philosophical themes, uniquely express and analyze the problems of the firmament and time. Its main feature is that it is based on the divine (pantheistic) religion, Islam, its holy book, the Koran and other theological sources, as well as on the secrets of nature and the Universe, the main miracle of Allah - human intelligence, the power of enlightenment, they are the key revealing all these secrets.


Author(s):  
Richard Moran

In addition to his contributions to the history of philosophy, Bernard Williams’s later work is concerned with more explicit reflection on the role of history in the constitution of the discipline of philosophy, the fact that, unlike the case of the natural sciences, the great figures of philosophy are part of the contemporary discussion in philosophy. In addition these reflections became increasingly concerned with what is distinctive about history as a form of knowledge, a form of knowledge which does not attract the attention of analytic philosophers. Historical knowledge is at once empirical and evidence-based but also, insofar as it concerns human affairs and institutions, obliged to make sense of and reconstruct the perspective of the practices and participants themselves. Part of the importance of historical understanding for Williams lies in its position as a model for humanistic knowledge that is non-reductionist while also being non-ideal, empirical, and “impure.”


Author(s):  
Carla Della Gatta

This chapter foregrounds the essential role of critical analysis in an era when facts, feelings, opinions, news, and propaganda have become increasingly hard to disambiguate. Carla Della Gatta explains that Shakespeareans are in an excellent position to help students navigate this terrain, thanks to our field’s “lengthy, cross-cultural, and international history of determining, disputing, and reinterpreting facts,” a habit that can be put to especial use in identifying various modes of misinformation and bias. This chapter relates exercises in introductory scholarly editing and comparative theatrical/film analyses that enable students to be makers, not just consumers, of knowledge. Putting primary sources directly in students’ hands empowers them to apply rigorous analysis, solve interpretive problems, and hone their confidence in questioning established authority and venerated “facts.” The payoffs span from the understanding of Renaissance literature to informed encounters with “fake news,” biased sources, or unresearched content.


Author(s):  
Christiana Olfert

Aristotle’s theories of truth, practical reasoning, and action are some of the most influential theories in the history of philosophy. It is surprising, then, that so little attention has been given to his notion of practical truth. In Aristotle on Practical Truth, C. M. M. Olfert gives the first book-length treatment of this notion and the role of truth in our practical lives overall. She offers a novel account of practical truth: it is the truth, in the technical Aristotelian sense of “truth,” about what is good simpliciter (haplôs) for a particular person in her particular situation. Olfert argues that, understood in this way, Aristotle’s notion of practical truth is an attractive idea that illuminates the core of his practical philosophy. But it is also an idea that challenges a common view that in practical reasoning, we aim at action or acting well as our primary goals, not at truth and knowledge. Contrary to this common view, Olfert shows that in dialogues such as Charmides, Protagoras, and Republic, Plato describes practical reasoning as being concerned equally with grasping the truth and with acting well. She argues that Aristotle develops this Platonic picture with the notion of practical truth and with a technical notion of rational action as fitting ourselves to the world. Using key texts from the Nicomachean and Eudemian Ethics, as well as De Anima, Metaphysics, De Interpretatione, and Categories, Olfert demonstrates that practical truth deserves to be treated as a central and plausible Aristotelian idea.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timur Mahamatov

The textbook describes the history of philosophy, based on the generalization of the latest achievements of philosophical knowledge, the main sections of the theory of philosophy are covered in a new way, and the appendix contains cases that contribute to consolidating the knowledge gained on the history of philosophy and form independent and critical thinking among undergraduate students. Meets the requirements of the federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation. It is recommended to undergraduate students of various fields of study and undergraduates, graduate students, teachers, as well as anyone interested in philosophical science.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 156-172
Author(s):  
Nawzad Jamal Faraj

This paper tries to answer a main question: what is critics and criticism? It is obvious that Kant’s philosophy marked by “Criticism” which is defined as a philosophical turn in the history of philosophy. In Kant’s philosophy critic is not just a title of his three main books, but it is his way of look at philosophy and the role of philosopher. In other words, the main task of philosophy and philosophizing, it is not defending or interpreting a single philosophical perspective, but it is to judge and criticize all kinds of philosophical enquires. This mean that since Kant’s approach, philosophical inquiry has taken another direction: toward the critic of philosophical subjects. Philosophy have to start with critic of reason and its scope. And reason alone is in charge of criticizing. In other words, reason is the suspicious guilty one and the defender in the court of reason.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-169
Author(s):  
Bernard Freydberg

Both in Force of Imagination: The Sense of the Elemental (2000) and in his very recent Logic of Imagination: The Expanse of the Elemental (2012), John Sallis enacts a reconfiguration of the relationship of geometry to elementology, which might be regarded more generally as a rethinking of the relation of mathematics to philosophy. The paper will trace this reconfiguration in two ways: (1) as it lies present but concealed in the history of philosophy, for example, in Descartes’ so-called “dualism” and in Kant’s pure productive imagination, and (2) in its present creative evolution in fractal geometry, as Sallis interprets it. Sallis draws together the mathematical affinity with a fundamental aesthetic drive, likening mathematical patterns to choreographic ones. I conclude by following this strain as it points to specific dance companies, and to my own sense of aesthetic homecoming as presented in my Imagination in Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason.


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