Thinking to Some Purpose
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"I am convinced of the urgent need for a democratic people to think clearly without the distortions due to unconscious bias and unrecognized ignorance. Our failures in thinking are in part due to faults which we could to some extent overcome were we to see clearly how these faults arise. It is the aim of this book to make a small effort in this direction." - Susan Stebbing, from the Preface Despite huge advances in education, knowledge and communication, it can often seem we are neither well-trained nor well practised in the art of clear thinking. Our powers of reasoning and argument are less confident that they should be, we frequently ignore evidence and we are all too often swayed by rhetoric rather than reason. But what can you do to think and argue better? First published in 1939 but unavailable for many years, Susan Stebbing's Thinking to Some Purpose is a classic first-aid manual of how to think clearly, and remains astonishingly fresh and insightful. Written against a background of the rise of dictatorships and the collapse of democracy in Europe, it is packed with useful tips and insights. Stebbing offers shrewd advice on how to think critically and clearly, how to spot illogical statements and slipshod thinking, and how to rely on reason rather than emotion. At a time when we are again faced with serious threats to democracy and freedom of thought, Stebbing’s advice remains as urgent and important as ever. This Routledge edition of Thinking to Some Purpose includes a new Foreword by Nigel Warburton and a helpful Introduction by Peter West, who places Susan Stebbing’s classic book in historical and philosophical context. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents FOREWORD BY NIGEL WARBURTON INTRODUCTION BY PETER WEST PREFACE TO THE 1939 EDITION 1 Prologue: Are the English Illogical? 2 Thinking and Doing 3 A Mind in Blinkers 4 You and I: I and You 5 Bad Language and Twisted Thinking 6 Potted Thinking 7 Propaganda: An Obstacle 8 Difficulties of an Audience 9 Illustration and Analogy 10 The Unpopularity of Being Moderate 11 On Being Misled by Half, and Other Fractions 12 Slipping Away from the Point 13 Taking Advantage of Our Stupidity 14 Testing Our Beliefs 15 Epilogue: Democracy and Freedom of Mind INDEX
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