When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People

How Philosophy Can Save Us from Ourselves

De: Steven Nadler, Lawrence Shapiro

Narrado por: Jonathan Yen

There is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. They believe that vaccinations cause autism. They reject the scientific consensus on climate change as a "hoax". Worse, bad thinking drives bad acting - it even inspired a mob to storm the US Capitol. In this book, Steven Nadler and Lawrence Shapiro argue that the best antidote for bad thinking is the wisdom, insights, and practical skills of philosophy. When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People provides an engaging tour through the basic principles of logic, argument, evidence, and probability that can make all of us more reasonable and responsible citizens.

When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People shows how we can more readily spot and avoid flawed arguments and unreliable information; determine whether evidence supports or contradicts an idea; distinguish between merely believing something and knowing it; and much more. In doing so, the book reveals how epistemology, which addresses the nature of belief and knowledge, and ethics, the study of moral principles that should govern our behavior, can reduce bad thinking. Moreover, the book shows why philosophy's millennia-old advice about how to lead a good, rational, and examined life is essential for escaping our current predicament.

©2021 Steven Nadler and Lawrence Shapiro (P)2021 Tantor

Epistemic stubbornness

Nadler is my favorite Spinoza scholar. He and his co-author have provided us with an excellently reasoned and and readable guide for better thinking. Now how to get my fellow Americans to read and re-read it.