Moral Reasoning Essay

Chapter 16 is about critical thinking and moral arguments. Critical thinking is a mode of thinking in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully analyzing, assessing, and reconstructing it. A moral argument is an argument with a conclusion that expresses a moral claim. Logic is rational thoughts and formats tool or ways of reasoning. Formal logic is the use of deductive reasoning and is a structured argument with a set of premises and one conclusion. Informal

in the early 1960s. However, her assertions can be seen to be heavily detached from the real engagement in the society. Therefore, this paper provides a detailed analysis into some of the weaknesses and fallacies as exhibited by Camille Paglia’s reasoning. Camille Paglia talks about the increasing risk of rape in the current society as women demand more freedom without putting into consideration that it is their responsibility to take care of themselves. What the author forgets is that she is trying

The age of Enlightenment was a progression of the cultural and intellectual changes in Europe that had resulted from the scientific revolution during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The scientific revolution and the discoveries made about the natural world would ultimately challenge the way people perceived the world around them. Scientist found real answers, by questioning flawed ancient beliefs that were widely held and maintained by the church. Ultimately, these discoveries and scientific

to, therefore, disagree with Descartes, reason varies from individual to individual and also depending on situations and circumstances. This quote does relate to today’s morals and humanity specifically in the justice system. In the court system the United States relies on some level of “reasonable” doubt. Jurors use reasonings to analyze facts and determine a verdict without relying on their senses, despite not being at the scene of a crime or incident. Descartes quote came to mind at the very beginning

However there were a few philosophers who challenged this distinction between reason and emotion. David Hume said that humans project subjective feeling onto an act or situation and call it good or bad if it makes us feel good or bad respectively. Our moral compass dictates how we feel about actions in these situations. This means that human nature influences our emotions and reason. The question that comes to mind is, is the nature of humans essentially good or

reason” (plato.stanford.edu). Reason is defined as “the power of the mind to think, understand and form judgments logically” (theoryofknowledge.net). There are two forms of reasoning, namely deductive and inductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is to form a specific conclusion from a set of general premises. Inductive reasoning, on the other hand, is the formation of a general conclusion from a set of specific premises (sociology.about.com). In both, although the conclusion may or may not be true

intellectuals including Copernicus, Keplar, Isaac Newton, and René Descartes. Through their discoveries, these men displayed to society, the immense power of science coupled with human reasoning. Imaginations danced with ideas of a world characterized by unending progress in knowledge, technical advancement, and moral sensibility. The 18th-century American polymath, Benjamin Franklin was captivated by this image of an enlightened world, and felt compelled to better himself through proper thought and

characteristic of humans is their ability to reason. According to Aristotle the function, or purpose, of a human being, is in fact, to do well at acting in accordance with reason (Irwin 13). Subsequently, within the realm of reasoning resides making choices with, and regard to, reasoning. So rational choices then also play a role in the fulfillment of human nature. Immanuel Kant depicted, free will, as something that is “ascribed to every rational being” (Brussel 215). If free will is the ability to act

creatively determine solutions to resolve arguments or solve issues. We do use metacognition, to helps us understand by weighing it against existing knowledge and asking questions. For example, does this new information correspond with my existing reasoning, morals, knowledge, etc. Is the information useful, or does it have value? Additionally, critical thinking is maintaining an open mind and allowing ourselves to accept new ideas even when these ideas are contrary to our existing beliefs. This open-minded

part of a good essay is profound thinking that uses textual evidence to support its reasoning; the same skill will be necessary