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USA Edition | Today Is Thursday, May 23, 2013 |
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Socratic Warning
Newsroom Magazine
May Challenge
Or Demand
Critical Thinking
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The intellectual roots of critical thinking date back to the Greek philosophers.
Socrates discovered, by means of probing questions, that in the exchange of competing ideas, people sometimes make confident claims based on unreliable assumptions or failed logic.
Such arguments, he discovered, were either erroneous in fact, absent sufficient foundation, or failing in logic. Instead, most arguments were based on confused meanings, inadequate evidence, or contradictory beliefs.
Socrates' contributions to critical thinking were many -- for he established new ways to think about contentious issues in terms of the quality of assumptions, facts and logic.
Thus Socrates demonstrated that persons may have passion, or power or high position but yet be deeply confused and irrational.
Good journalism, like compelling debate, is based on a clear understanding of facts and the logical construction of one's argument. And that is what the Socratic Method and The Sophist Tradition is all about.
Evidentiary Approach
The Socratic Method is the preferred way to examine issues.In the Socratic mode of questioning, postulations, ideas or arguments are examined for their clarity and logical consistency by systematic analysis of facts, assumptions and logical methodology to support a conclusion.
Socratic analysis is accomplished by means of a series of probing questions that systematically examine the quality of an argument or conclusion.
Understanding the quality of information, argument or one's conclusions, is fundamental to critical thinking -- and the goal of critical editing.
Historical Foundation
Socrates’ practice was followed by the critical thinking of Plato (who recorded Socrates’ thought), Aristotle, and the Greek skeptics, all of whom emphasized that things are often very different from what they appear to be.Only the trained mind is prepared to see through the way things look to us on the surface (delusive appearances) to the way they really are beneath the surface (the deeper realities of life.)
From this ancient Greek tradition emerged the need, for anyone who aspired to understand the deeper realities, to think systematically, to trace implications broadly and deeply; for only thinking that is comprehensive, well-reasoned, and responsive to objections can take us beyond the surface.
Means Of Analysis
The common denominators of Critical Thinking requires, for example, the systematic monitoring of thought; that thinking, to be critical, must not be accepted at face value, but must be analyzed and assessed for its clarity, accuracy, relevance, depth, breadth, and logical validity. All reasoning occurs within points of view and frames of reference.All reasoning proceeds from some goals, objectives, and has an informational base. All data, when used in reasoning, must be interpreted. That interpretation involves concepts, that concepts entail assumptions, and that all basic inferences in thought have implications, and each of these dimensions of thinking need to be monitored where problems of thinking can occur.
Questioning Chain
The result of the collective contribution of the history of critical thought is that the basic questions of Socrates can now be much more powerfully and focally framed.In every domain of human thought, and within every use of reasoning within any domain, it is now possible to question:
• ends and objectives
• the status and wording of questions
• the sources of information and fact
• the method and quality of information collection
• the mode of judgment and reasoning used
• the concepts that make that reasoning possible
• the assumptions that underlie concepts in use
• the implications that follow from their use
• the point of view or frame of reference within which reasoning takes place
Jeffrey Slee
Logician
| Browsing Materials Tagged Martin Nesirky | Organized In Date Order | [ 7 items ] | |||
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The renewed clashes in the north, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a military coup d’état in March have uprooted hundreds of thousands of civilians. Over 412,000 people have been forced to flee the country’s north, and an estimated five million people have been affected by the conflict.
New York
United Nations Concerned Over Reports Of Rebel Military Movements In Northern Mali
New York, Jan 10 2013
The United Nations is concerned about the reported military movements of rebel groups along the frontline in northern Mali, as well as related tensions, a spokesperson for the world body said today.
“We ask the Malian rebel groups to abide by Security Council resolutions 2071 and 2085 calling for them to cut off all ties with terrorist organizations,” the spokesperson, Martin Nesirky, added in a news briefing at UN Headquarters in New York.
According to media reports, on Thursday, Islamist rebels seized control of Konna – a city of 50,000 people some 700 kilometres north-east of the capital, Bamako.
Northern Mali has been occupied by radical Islamists after fighting broke out in January 2012 between Government forces and Tuareg rebels – just one of several security, political and humanitarian problems the West African nation has been dealing with since last year.
The renewed clashes in the north, as well as the proliferation of armed groups in the region, drought and political instability in the wake of a military coup d’état in March have uprooted hundreds of thousands of civilians. Over 412,000 people have been forced to flee the country’s north, and an estimated five million people have been affected by the conflict.
The Malian Government and rebel groups are expected to meet for peace talks in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, on 21 January.
“We urge adherence to the cessation of hostilities declared on 4 December 2012 in Ouagadougou and continue to call on the parties to engage in dialogue to address the situation,” Mr. Nesirky told reporters.
He added that the United Nations is supporting the mediation efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and “we look forward to the resumption of negotiations which are now scheduled for 21 January.”
Citing the threat to regional peace from terrorists and Islamic militants in rebel-held northern Mali, the Security Council adopted resolution 2071 in October last year. Amongst its various points, it held out the possibility of the 15-member body endorsing an international military force to restore the unity of the West African nation.
It also called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to support the Malian political process and provide military and security planners to ECOWAS, the African Union and other partners to help frame a response to a request by Mali’s Transitional Authorities for such a force.
With resolution 2085, adopted in December last year, the Council authorized the deployment of that international military force – the African-led International Support Mission in Mali, to be known as AFISMA – for an initial period of one year.
In his remarks to the media, Mr. Nesirky also said that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa, Said Djinnit, continues supporting the political talks in Mali, including on the establishment of an inclusive national dialogue and the development of a roadmap for transition. In addition, he noted that Romano Prodi, the UN Special Envoy for the Sahel – in which Mali is located – is in Bamako.
AFISMA is tasked with contributing to the rebuilding of the Malian Defence and Security Forces, as well as supporting the Malian authorities in “recovering the areas in the north under the control of terrorist, extremist and armed groups and in reducing the threat posed by terrorist groups.”
In addition, it will be responsible for, amongst other tasks, supporting the Malian authorities in their primary responsibility to protect the population and to create a secure environment for the civilian-led delivery of humanitarian assistance and the voluntary return of internally displaced persons and refugees.
Source: United Nations