Summary: Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, dialectic of verbal reasoning. Knowing the difference between the two will make you a better reader, listener, thinker, writer, and speaker. Introduction Sometimes a tool becomes so important to us, it’s impossible to imagine not having it. I tend to think of shoes, my pocket knife, and my …
Category: Education
Debiasing Desire an Interesting Paper
I found this paper, or rather, saw it linked on Twitter. It purports to criticize the behaviors of online dating platforms for their sexual racism, suggest that sexual selection is the result of more than individual choice, but rather of cultural factors as well, “In this view, individuals’ intimate affiliations are not the product of …
What is a Spiritual Exercise?
In What is Ancient Philosohy?, Pierre Hadot argues that ancient philosophers were offering ways of life that eschewed the pull of the passions and instead aimed at optimal human existence (happiness or ευδαιμονια). In order to accomplish this, philosophers weren’t just offering arguments or proposing ideas just to change people’s ideas, they were trying to help …
On the Importance of Philosophical Reasoning for Biblical Exegesis: Edward Feser and Romans 1:18-23
Introduction In my mind, the ability to engage in philosophical reasoning in order to tease out the implications of particular interpretations of the Bible and other truths is indispensable for reading the Bible and teaching it to others. Example Edward Feser, in a post titled, “Repressed Knowledge of God?” comments that the common interpretation of Romans …
How to pass any exam
I’ve told my students this exact advice so many times: Here are some posts I’ve written about serious study strategies: Lecture to the wall Thomas Aquinas on Memory Study Space The Bible’s Study Pattern
The Hurt-Feelings Fallacy
The internet made me abreast of an informal fallacy which I have dubbed: The Hurt-Feelings Fallacy When a premise and/or conclusion of an argument hurts somebody’s feelings or hypothetically could do so in the future, then the argument is problematic. Because of this, the conclusion and the premises are all false. Similarly, if the corollaries …
Growth and Biblical Wisdom
Everybody has a self-theory, some hypothesis or doctrine about what/who they are. Some of these theories are simple sentences like, “I’m an athlete.” Others are more fundamental, like, “I’m worthless.” According to Carol Dweck and Daniel Molden, our self-theories lead directly to our self-esteem maintenance/repair strategies after we fail at a task or to reach …
Burning off dead wood
What is a human being and how does it grow? Two men offer helpful and constructive answers can be found below. To be human is to be the sort of creature whose mind can incorporate struggles and trials into itself to become more. Marcus is commenting on the Stoic concept that human beings are rational …
How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?
So asks Tyler Durden in, Fight Club. I think it’s a serious question. And even for men to prefer gymnastic exercises by far to the baths, is perchance not bad, since they are in some respects conducive to the health of young men, and produce exertion—emulation to aim at not only a healthy habit of but …
Two Types of Honesty
There are two types of honesty: Frankness: Saying what you think/feel is true, simply. When one is being frank, you could speak complete untruths (objectively speaking) while still being honest. Scientific Accuracy: This mode of honesty is intentionally humble in the sense that you say what you think could provide evidence for, qualify what you …