The Art of the Argument

“The Art of the Argument”
by Phil Youngblood, PhD

As we experience life, we each develop a model of how the world works in our heads. This is a critical development because the world must make sense for us to be able to operate within it. However, since we each have a different set of experiences, it is inevitable that the way we view the world will be unique, and different from the way everyone else views it.

Most of the presentations hosted by the Science Circle have been in the fields of the natural sciences, with occasional forays into the social and applied sciences, so talks that wander into logic, philosophy, and rhetoric may be unfamiliar to many of us. However, as illustrated by the Science Circle’s 3D display at the recent Second Life 21st Birthday celebration, the foundation of all science is built on a working knowledge of those areas of thought.

During this one hour together, let’s discuss some of the following questions. The presenter will facilitate the discussion in voice and participants are encouraged to respectfully join in the discussion in chat.

CONCEPTS

—What are the studies of logic, philosophy, and rhetoric? How are they related?

—How do these studies form the foundation of all science?

—What is critical thinking and why is it important to us?

PRACTICE

—There are other people in the world besides us. In what ways do we view others?

—People have different views than we do. In what ways do we treat these different views?

—Why might we need to reconcile the different ways we view the world? If so, how?

NEW SCIENCE CIRCLE EVENTS

—Science Circle Forum – giving voice to and listening to different viewpoints

—Science Circle Debate – persuasive arguments for or against opposing viewpoints

Phil Youngblood