-
109The Viciousness of Infinite RegressesThe Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy 5 25-29. 2007.Henry W. Johnstone (1996) attempts to use a notion of postponement to give a general account of viciousness of infinite regresses. Though some of his examples suggest that his notion applies to only beginningless regresses (...eRdRcRbRa), I will show that it also applies to endless ones (aRbRcRdRe...). Unfortunately, despite this expanded application, it does not apply to all vicious regresses, even to some of his own examples; it is cumbersome and unnecessary, and it fails to explain how some i…Read more
-
103What is an Infinite Regress Argument?Informal Logic 18 (2). 1996.I describe the general structure of most infinite regress arguments; introduce some basic vocabulary; present a working hypothesis of the nature and derivation of an infinite regress; apply this working hypothesis to various infinite regress arguments to explain why they fail to entail an infinite regress; describe a common mistake in attempting to derive certain infinite regresses; and examine how infinite regresses function as a premise
-
93Circular definitions, circular explanations, and infinite regressesArgumentation 8 (3): 295-308. 1994.This paper discusses some of the ways in which circular definitions and circular explanations entail or fail to entail infinite regresses. And since not all infinite regresses are vicious, a few criteria of viciousness are examined in order to determine when the entailment of a regress refutes a circular definition or a circular explanation.
-
68Critical Thinking and Emotional Well-BeingInquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 20 (3): 39-51. 2001.I describe some pedagogical challenges of teaching critical thinking, and propose one way of partly meeting them: the application of critical thinking skills to beliefs responsible for our emotions. I suggest ways of introducing the topic of emotions in our critical thinking courses, describe a project assigned to my students, and provide a model of the project.
-
53Sharon Bailin and Mark Battersby: Reason in Balance: An Inquiry Approach to Critical Thinking: MacGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2010, 348 pp (review)Argumentation 27 (1): 93-96. 2013.
-
45Critical Thinking and Small Group ActivitiesInformal Logic 30 (4). 2010.I mention the benefits, challenges, and costs of using small group activities to enhance our students’ learning of critical thinking skills in our courses, and then describe ten examples of these groups. Two of these examples are not commonly reported in the literature on small groups, so I describe them in greater detail to facilitate their use in our courses
-
43Counterexamples and Tacit PremisesInquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 20 (1): 9-22. 2000.I argue that there are at least two kinds of tacit premises; describe a certain type of counterexample against the validity of arguments, and then use it to identify one kind of tacit premise. I distinguish two classes of tacit premises on the grounds that they are discovered or constructed differently, they have different roles in an argument or causal explanation, and have different logical relations to each other.
-
42Counterexamples by Possible Conjunction and the Sufficiency of PremisesTeaching Philosophy 26 (1): 57-81. 2003.Showing that the premises of an argument are not sufficient for (viz., do not entail) a conclusion a conclusion involves citing a counterexample that would show the premises of the argument to be true and the conclusion false. This paper distinguishes counterexamples by analogy (an argument with the same form as argument against which it is advanced but where it is clearly the case that the premises are true and the conclusion is false), counterexamples by possible conjunction (a conjunction of …Read more
-
28W. Peter Robinson, Arguing to Better Conclusions. A Human Odyssey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2006, ISBN:0-8058-5951-9Argumentation 23 (2): 291-292. 2009.
-
27Eemeren, Frans H. van, Grootendorst, Rob and Snoeck Henkemans, A. Francisca (2002)Argumentation 18 (4): 489-494. 2004.
-
25Jacques Pierre, Mircea Eliade : le jour et la nuit. Entre la littérature et la science, Montréal, Hurtubise HMH , 1989, 376 pages (review)Philosophiques 20 (1): 205-206. 1993.
-
24Letting and making death happen, withholding and withdrawing life-support: Morally irrelevant distinctions (review)Journal of Medical Humanities 11 (2): 75-80. 1990.The author argues that there is no morally relevant distinction between letting and making death happen, and between withholding and withdrawing life-support. There is a discussion of possible adverse consequences in believing that there are moral distinctions. And then he shows that acknowledging the absence of such a distinction does not necessarily imply any endorsement of active euthanasia
-
24I examine a number of infinite regress arguments whose infinite regresses are presented or described in terms of recurring questions and answers in order to determine whether such recurring questions have any role in generating these infinite regresses, or in disqualifying the recurring answers. I argue that despite the existence of such infinite regress arguments and the suggestions of some philosophers, these recurring questions have no such roles. Some ways of handling these infinite regress …Read more
-
23Arguments about Arguments (review)Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 24 (1-2): 49-51. 2004.
-
17Infinte Regress ArgumentsSpringer. 2009.Infinite regress arguments are part of a philosopher's tool kit of argumentation. But how sharp or strong is this tool? How effectively is it used? The typical presentation of infinite regress arguments throughout history is so succinct and has so many gaps that it is often unclear how an infinite regress is derived, and why an infinite regress is logically problematic, and as a result, it is often difficult to evaluate infinite regress arguments. These consequences of our customary way of using…Read more
-
15The Viciousness of Infinite RegressesThe Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy 5 25-29. 2007.Henry W. Johnstone (1996) attempts to use a notion of postponement to give a general account of viciousness of infinite regresses. Though some of his examples suggest that his notion applies to only beginningless regresses (...eRdRcRbRa), I will show that it also applies to endless ones (aRbRcRdRe...). Unfortunately, despite this expanded application, it does not apply to all vicious regresses, even to some of his own examples; it is cumbersome and unnecessary, and it fails to explain how some i…Read more
-
9: I explore the logic of counterexamples by possible conjunction in order to extend their use to estimate the degree of support of premises; address some problems with my proposal; discuss some ways of teaching this extended use; and argue that conditional probability fails to express the degree of support of premises. The scant literature on this topic sometimes presents the degree of support of premises P1…Pn for conclusion C in terms of conditional probability, Pr. I will argue that the degre…Read more
-
7Arguments about Arguments (review)Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines 24 (1-2): 49-51. 2004.
-
4W. Peter Robinson, Arguing to Better Conclusions. A Human Odyssey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, New Jersey, 2006, ISBN:0-8058-5951-9 (review)Argumentation 23 (2): 291-292. 2009.