AND philosophical.
I've added to our curriculum.
One night a week, I'm reading a chapter out loud from one of the following books and then we discuss, en famille.
The Philosophy Files
and
Crimes Against Logic
I'm alternating the books and at the rate of one a week, altogether this should take 20 weeks (since I very logically added up all the chapters. Cunning, that.)
The Philosophy Files book is organized in 'files' or topics for discussion. It's illustrated with humorous black line cartoons and it's quite funny, but the actual content is serious. The author often presents the arguments as, well, arguments, by quoting from supposed conversations between friends debating the issues, and interjects his own information throughout by pointing out some fallacies in certain arguments, or simply expanding on an idea. The topics up for debate range from Should I eat meat? to Does God exist? as well as tackling virtual reality in How do I know the world isn't virtual?
Crimes Against Logic is a more challenging book but so very worth it. The first chapter at least should be mandatory reading for anyone who participates in online forums. It's called The Right to Your Opinion and will finally clear up for everyone why it's so unsatisfying when debaters retreat behind the "I'm entitled to my opinion" bulwark. The Guardian described this book thus: "Ruthlessly exposes logical flaws....angry and witty" and that's pretty much the sum. It's subtitled "Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians, Priests, Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders" so it takes a broad sweep at most of the claims made in the public sphere of our lives.
I'm still waiting for the new edition of Weston's A Rulebook for Arguments (publication date is Jan 31, 2009)
to arrive and then I'll try to figure out how to fold it in.
4 comments:
Oh, I love the sound of 'Crimes Against Logic'. I shouldn't really try to add yet another thing to our schedule...but this sounds important :-)
Thanks for the reviews!
I used to worry that there weren't enough secular resources for teaching logic and philosophy to children, but as it turns out, there's more all the time. And what fun to explore and learn along side your own child. Those discussions are the soul of homeschooling.
We started out with Fallacy Detective (NOT secular, but a good kid-friendly rundown of logical fallacies with the added challenge of seeing through the author's own biases) and are now having a go at Philosophy for Kids. When that's done we'll definitely be checking out your suggestions.
Have you read "Don't Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking" by Thomas Kida? It folds in nicely with logic and since I'm fresh out of history reading for Leila, she'll be starting that tomorrow. Luckily, it's right up her 14-year-old argumentative alley.
So glad you're back blogging again and doing so well.
Those books sound fabulous. Thanks so much for sharing.
Sandy - thanks so much for that recommendation! Looks fabulous!
Lorna - I know what you mean about the sched being full; that's partly how it ended up being in 'night school' for us. :-)
keptwoman - You're welcome & thanks for dropping in!
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