So You Think You Can Think

May 4, 2020
DiCarlo (How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass), philosophy professor at the University of Toronto, breaks down the steps of critical thinking and the process of making a persuasive argument in this useful guide. To dissect core principles of argumentation, DiCarlo works through topics such as bias (biological, cultural, and ethnic), types of reasoning (deductive, inductive, and abductive), fallacies (red herrings and ad hoc), and how to address disagreement. DiCarlo hopes that as “people use the critical thinking skills fairly, they will be more empowered to have meaningful discussions about important issues, disagree entirely, and still be able to get along.” To make his points, he uses examples that are current, such as how President Trump exhibits philosopher “Harry Frankfurt’s distinction between lying and bullshit”; novel, as with arguments surrounding the existence of Bigfoot; and revolutionary, such as 19th-century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis’s arguments against customary medical practices that led to modern antiseptic procedures. Those looking to critically engage with information or “value discourse over hatred” will learn a lot from DiCarlo’s thorough study.