First, Put some major issues on the table, like racism, abortion, socialism-vs-capitalism, war, and education. Think about how passionate people are screeching at each other about these issues. Take a step back, and consider any of these issues through the following steps.
1. Diagnostic: What is the real problem?
2. Prescription: Given the diagnosis, what is the best solution?
3. Theoretical Dimensions/conflicts/foundations
4. Historical Application
5. Current Application
Watch for these:
- Watch for emotional appeals/divisive
- Presumptive characterizations of the problems that need to investigate
Tips That You Can Do Now
- Suspend judgement, admit ignorance, be impartial-before-partisan
- Seek to know the basic beliefs of the people you are studying
- Self-Test: if you agree with every policy from a given person or group, chances are, you’re not even thinking things through
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Steve Byerly
I am a philosopher that is interested in what makes life worth living, what is worth pursuing, and how we can learn from the past. I believe that good philosophy benefits everyone and that there should be philosophers that present philosophy to those outside of the academy.
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