By John Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.com
Go to your local bookstore these days and you might be surprised to see a spate of flashy new books advocating atheism. “The God Delusion” (Dawkins), “God is not great” (Hitchens), “The Atheist Universe” (Mills), etc., etc., are all highly marketed, big-buck productions (and even New York Times bestsellers).
These sorts of books [...]
Category Archive for 'Thinking'
Common Propaganda Techniques
Posted in Thinking on Apr 15th, 2008
Edward Filene helped establish the Institute of Propaganda Analysis in 1937 to educate the American public about the nature of propaganda and how to recognize propaganda techniques. Filene and his colleagues identified the seven most common “tricks of the trade” used by successful propagandists (Marlin 102-106: Propaganda Critic: Introduction). These seven techniques are called:
Name Calling
Glittering [...]
38 dishonest tricks of argument
Posted in Thinking on Apr 15th, 2008
Thirty-eight dishonest tricks of argument (taken from “Straight and crooked thinking” by Robert H. Thouless, Pan Books, ISBN 0 330 24127 3, copyright 1930, 1953 and 1974):
(1) The use of emotionally toned words (pp 10-25)
Dealt with by translating the statement into words emotionally neutral
(2) Making a statement in which “all” is implied but “some” is [...]
Occam’s Razor
Posted in Thinking on Apr 15th, 2008
Occam’s Razor: A Useful Tool in Logic
The term “Occam’s Razor” comes from a misspelling of the name William of Ockham. Ockham was a brilliant theologian, philosopher, and logician in the medieval period. One of his rules of thumb has become a standard guideline for thinking through issues logically. Occam’s Razor is the principle that, if [...]
Common Fallacies in Thinking
Posted in Thinking on Apr 15th, 2008
( Note: This list comes from the Atheism web and the examples given are pretty shoddy. However, the list is fairly good, and we should always be sensitive to using language and reasoning in a intellectually honest way when sharing our convictions with others… )
Accent
Accent is a form of fallacy through shifting meaning. In this [...]