Nathaniel Bluedorn, Hans Bluedorn
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By: Christian Logic
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
Tempts me to give up the faith 1 out of 5 stars.
17 of 26 people found this review helpful.
Can somebody please tell me why a "Christian perspective" has to mean "creationist perspective"? This is not a group with which I want to identify.
Every creationist who has read this first sentence will probably dart down to click the "not helpful" button before reading on, and this is precisely the kind of non-thinking that I wish to avoid imparting to my children. For this reason, I will be throwing out my copy of this book.
I found this book terrible because it mixes legitimate learning with propaganda, a most insidious and distasteful form of lying. It does give good coverage of fallacies, but it sneaks in little bits of dogma, particularly creationist dogma, which is 100% unbackable, and which has zero right to show up in a book about critical thinking - particularly as it is presented in the manner outlined in the chapter on repetition propaganda. Students really ought to be encouraged to start with the evidence and work toward an unbiased conclusion, rather than starting with the conclusion and digging around for evidence. The authors outline common fallacies and then commit the fallacies to promote a political agenda, which I find highly unsavory.
The book also contradicts itself many times - for example, it calls a quotation from an expert a valid appeal to authority, but then goes on to attempt to discount the peer-reviewed findings of every legitimate scientist since 1900. It warns about the danger of equivocation - changing the definition of a word partway through an argument - and then goes on to warn against scientific "theories" as if they were unsupported guesses, calling them "repetition propaganda" just because every scientist you ask will agree about them. In science, in order to be classified as a theory, an idea must be supported by 100% of the available evidence. It is not the same as the common definition of the word, which the authors attempt to apply, sneakily, to the theories of scientists.
With a few pages torn out, it might just make a relatively good textbook, but why take the trouble? Critical thinking does not deserve to be mixed with dogma. Find a real logic book.
Editorial Review:
What is a fallacy? A fallacy is an error in logic a place where someone has made a mistake in his thinking. A cloud is 90% water. A watermelon is 90% water. Therefore, since a plane can fly through a cloud, a plane can fly through a watermelon.
This book meets the needs of parents who want a do-able text for introducing logic and critical thinking to their children.
-Fun to use -- not dry like a math textbook.
-Self-teaching -- not intimidating, starts students with skills they can use right away.
-Each lesson has exercises for students, with an answer key at the back.
-Covers logical fallacies and propaganda techniques.
-Geared for ages twelve and older.
-Includes cartoons to illustrate the logical fallacies discussed, including Peanuts, Dilbert, Calvin and Hobbes.
