James Hall, Ph.D – Tools of Thinking – Understanding the World Through Experience and Reason (Video)

Course Overview

What is the best way to prove a case, create a rule, solve a problem, justify an idea, invent a hypothesis, or evaluate an argument? In other words, what is the best way to think?

Everyone has to think in order to function in the world, and this course will equip you with the tools to reason effectively in your pursuit of reliable beliefs and useful knowledge. Whether you are a budding philosopher searching for ultimate truths, a science student grappling with the nature of scientific proof, a new parent weighing conflicting child-rearing advice, or a concerned citizen making up your mind about today’s issues, Tools of Thinking will help you cut through deception and faulty reasoning to get closer to the essence of a matter.

In Tools of Thinking: Understanding the World through Experience and Reason, Professor Hall turns his friendly but intellectually rigorous approach to the problem of thinking, introducing you to a wide range of effective techniques.

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24 Lectures

Average 30 minutes each

1What Are “Tools of Thinking”?
2Which Tools of Thinking Are Basic?
3Platonic Intuition, Memory, and Reason
4Intuition, Memory, and Reason—Problems
5Sense Experience—A More Modern Take
6Observation and Immediate Inferences
7Further Immediate Inferences
8Categorical Syllogisms
9Ancient Logic in Modern Dress
10Systematic Doubt and Rational Certainty
11The Limits of Sense Experience
12Inferences Demand Relevant Evidence
13Proper Inferences Avoid Equivocation
14Induction Is Slippery but Unavoidable
15The Scientific Revolution
16Hypotheses and Experiments—A First Look
17How Empirical Is Modern Empiricism?
18Hypotheses and Experiments—A Closer Look
19“Normal Science” at Mid-Century
20Modern Logic—Truth Tables
21Modern Logic—Sentential Arguments
22Modern Logic—Predicate Arguments
23Postmodern and New-Age Problems
24Rational Empiricism in the 21st Century