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50Dangerous dualisms or murky monism? A reply to Jim GarrisonJournal of Philosophy of Education 35 (4). 2001.Jim Garrison’s recent criticisms of what he refers to as ‘dangerous dualisms’ in my theory of critical thinking are unsuccessful. They fail, in large part, because of misinterpretations of my view, but also because of Garrison’s systematic reliance on problematic aspects of Dewey’s terminology and philosophy.
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41Meiland on Scheffler, Kuhn, and objectivity in sciencePhilosophy of Science 43 (3): 441-448. 1976.
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57Gimme That Old-Time Enlightenment Meta-NarrativeInquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 11 (4): 1-1. 1993.
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9‘Radical’ Pedagogy Requires ‘Conservative’ EpistemologyJournal of Philosophy of Education 29 (1): 33-46. 1995.Many defences of multiculturalist educational initiatives conjoin a‘liberal’ or ‘radical’ moral/political view—that education should endeavour to treat students with respect, and that respecting non-dominant,‘marginalised’ students requires protecting them from the hegemonic domination of the dominant culture—with what appears to be an equally radical epistemological view, according to which respecting minority students and cultures requires respecting their culturally specific epistemologies, w…Read more
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14Autonomy, Critical Thinking and the Wittgensteinian Legacy: Reflections on Christopher Winch, Education, Autonomy and Critical Thinking (review)Journal of Philosophy of Education 42 (1): 165-184. 2008.In this review of Christopher Winch’s new book, Education, Autonomy and Critical Thinking (2006), I discuss its main theses, supporting some and criticising others. In particular, I take issue with several of Winch’s claims and arguments concerning critical thinking and rationality, and deplore his reliance on what I suggest are problematic strains of the later Wittgenstein. But these criticisms are not such as to upend Winch’s powerful critique of antiperfectionism and ‘strong autonomy’ or his …Read more
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52Is it irrational to be immoral? A response to FreemanEducational Philosophy and Theory 10 (2). 1978.
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61Relativism, Incoherence, and the Strong ProgrammeIn Richard Schantz & Markus Seidel (eds.), The Problem of Relativism in the Sociology of (Scientific) Knowledge, Ontos. pp. 41-64. 2011.
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46Rationality and JudgmentMetaphilosophy 35 (5): 597-613. 2004.Philosophical/epistemic theories of rationality differ over the role of judgment in rational argumentation. According to the “classical model” of rationality, rational justification is a matter of conformity with explicit rules or principles. Critics of the classical model, such as Harold Brown and Trudy Govier, argue that the model is subject to insuperable difficulties. They propose, instead, that rationality be understood, ultimately, in terms of judgment rather than rules. In this article I …Read more
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70Goodmanian RelativismThe Monist 67 (3): 359-375. 1984.Nelson Goodman’s work is universally regarded as pioneering and fundamental, and his attempts to clarify the nature of induction, symbol systems, art, theorizing and understanding have received and continue to receive great attention. Central to that work is a view Goodman describes as “radically relativist.” Goodman’s unusual brand of relativism, however, while basic to the entire Goodman corpus, has yet to be carefully delineated and studied. I hope in this paper to begin such a study. I will …Read more
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11On Some Recent Challenges to the Ideal of ReasonInquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 15 (4): 2-16. 1996.
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144Critical ThinkingIn Nigel Blake, Paul Smeyers, Richard Smith & Paul Standish (eds.), The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Education, Blackwell. 2003.This chapter contains sections titled: The Nature of Critical Thinking Critical Thinking: Skills/Abilities and Dispositions Critical Thinking and the Problem of Generalizability The Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking “Critical Thinking” and Other Terms Referring to Thinking Critical Thinking and Education Critiques of Critical Thinking Conclusion.
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143The rationality of science, critical thinking, and science educationSynthese 80 (1). 1989.This paper considers two philosophical problems and their relation to science education. The first involves the rationality of science; it is argued here that the traditional view, according to which science is rational because of its adherence to (a non-standard conception of) scientific method, successfully answers one central question concerning science''s rationality. The second involves the aims of education; here it is argued that a fundamental educational aim is the fostering of rationali…Read more
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144Epistemic Normativity, Argumentation, and FallaciesArgumentation 11 (3): 277-292. 1997.In Biro and Siegel we argued that a theory of argumentation mustfully engage the normativity of judgments about arguments, and we developedsuch a theory. In this paper we further develop and defend our theory.
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21Neither Humean nor (fully) Kantian be: Reply to CuypersJournal of Philosophy of Education 39 (3). 2005.In this paper I reply to Stefaan Cuypers' explication and critique of my views on rationality and critical thinking (Cuypers, 2004). While Cuypers' discussion is praiseworthy in several respects, I argue that it (1) mistakenly attributes to me a Humean view of (practical) reason, and (2) unsuccessfully argues that my position lacks the resources required to defend the basic claim that critical thinking is a fundamental educational ideal. Cuypers' analysis raises deep issues about the motivationa…Read more
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40The bearing of philosophy of science on science education, and vice versa: the case of constructivismStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 35 (1): 185-198. 2004.
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12Knowledge and certainty: Feminism, postmodernism, and multi-culturalismIn Wendy Kohli (ed.), Critical Conversations in Philosophy of Education, Routledge. pp. 190--200. 1995.
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62C. A. Hooker, Reason, Regulation, and Realism: Towards a Regulatory Systems Theory of Reason and Evolutionary Epistemology. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1995British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 48 (1): 121-125. 1997.
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16Instrumental Rationality and Naturalized Philosophy of SciencePhilosophy of Science 63 (5). 1996.In two recent papers, I criticized Ronald N. Giere's and Larry Laudan's arguments for 'naturalizing' the philosophy of science. Both Giere and Laudan replied to my criticisms. The key issue arising in both interchanges is these naturalists' embrace of instrumental conceptions of rationality, and their concomitant rejection of non-instrumental conceptions of that key normative notion. In this reply I argue that their accounts of science's rationality as exclusively instrumental fail, and conseque…Read more
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123Review of Paul Boghossian, Fear of Knowledge: Against Relativism and Constructivism (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2007 (1). 2007.
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7Reason and Education: Essays in Honor of Israel SchefflerSpringer Verlag. 1996.Israel Scheffler is the pre-eminent philosopher of education in the English-speaking world today. This volume collects seventeen original, invited papers on Scheffler's philosophy of education by scholars from around the world. The papers address the wide range of topics that Scheffler's work in philosophy of education has addressed, including the aims of education, cognition and emotion, teaching, the language of education, science education, moral education, religious education, and human pote…Read more
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36Rationality and anemia (response to baigrie)Philosophy of Science 55 (3): 442-447. 1988.In his (1988), Brian Baigrie criticizes my earlier discussion of the rationality of science (Siegel 1985). In this response, I argue that (1) Baigrie misses the point of my tripartite distinction between different questions one can ask about science's rationality, (2) Baigrie's argument that the history of the development of methodological principles is crucial to philosophical discussion of the rationality of science is flawed, and (3) Baigrie's charge that my view is "anemic" rests on a failur…Read more
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76Is confirmation differential?British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 40 (1): 105-119. 1989.
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121Educating Reason: Rationality, Critical Thinking, and EducationRoutledge. 1990.Beginning with a discussion of the Informal Logic Movement and the renewed interest in critical thinking in education, this book critically assesses the work of Robert Ennis, Richard Paul and John McPeck.
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33New Work on Critical Thinking: Comments on Frímannsson, Holma and RitolaStudier i Pædagogisk Filosofi 4 (1): 55-62. 2015.New Work on Critical Thinking: Comments on Frímannsson, Holma and Ritola
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220The Oxford handbook of philosophy of education (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2009.Philosophy of education has an honored place in the history of Western philosophical thought. Its questions are as vital now, both philosophically and practically, as they have ever been. In recent decades, however, philosophical thinking about education has largely fallen off the philosophical radar screen. Philosophy of education has lost intimate contact with the parent discipline to a regrettably large extent--to the detriment of both. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Education is inte…Read more
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Areas of Specialization
Epistemology |
Philosophy of Physical Science |
Areas of Interest
Metaphilosophy |
Philosophy of Religion |
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