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The Majesty of Reason: A Short Guide to Critical Thinking in Philosophy
How do we think critically about issues in philosophy, science, and religion? How do we discover treasure of truth that can serve others? And how do we relay our insights in a productive, fruitful way?
It is precisely these questions that The Majesty of Reason: A Short Guide to Critical Thinking in Philosophy addresses. The first step equips you with the intellectual virtues and conversational virtues necessary for critical thinking.
The second step on our journey equips you with a variety of methods and tools for critical thinking and philosophical reasoning. Through tangible suggestions, lively and engaging examples, and a bit of technical jargon, you'll come away a better thinker and – ideally – a better human being.
Critical thinking, like mastering a musical instrument, requires practice. That's why the next three steps on our journey will apply the methods and tools previously explored to central issues in philosophy of science and philosophy mind: scientism, laws of nature, and the nature of the mind.
With a depth of insight, a breadth of coverage, and a touch of humor, this book will engage both beginner and advanced readers in the field of philosophy. This book is the beginning of your journey of discovery. The treasure of truth awaits.
It is precisely these questions that The Majesty of Reason: A Short Guide to Critical Thinking in Philosophy addresses. The first step equips you with the intellectual virtues and conversational virtues necessary for critical thinking.
The second step on our journey equips you with a variety of methods and tools for critical thinking and philosophical reasoning. Through tangible suggestions, lively and engaging examples, and a bit of technical jargon, you'll come away a better thinker and – ideally – a better human being.
Critical thinking, like mastering a musical instrument, requires practice. That's why the next three steps on our journey will apply the methods and tools previously explored to central issues in philosophy of science and philosophy mind: scientism, laws of nature, and the nature of the mind.
With a depth of insight, a breadth of coverage, and a touch of humor, this book will engage both beginner and advanced readers in the field of philosophy. This book is the beginning of your journey of discovery. The treasure of truth awaits.
- GenresPhilosophyLogic
220 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
46 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 18, 2021
This is a really good book covering loads of topics from biases, critical thinking, logic, Bayes theorem through to philosophy of science and mind. I really enjoyed it and learnt quite a few things as I went through. I enjoyed Joe's attitude and advice toward avoiding tribalism and cultivating intellectual virtues.
My only criticisms of the book would be (1) too much Bayes applies to every problem and (2) the topics are all relatively interwoven with each other so rather than it being a complete introduction to each topic it assumes a tiny amount of background in each so you have the context to make sense of what's being discussed (which could be a little off putting to the complete beginner). Over all I would really recommend this if you're interested in critical thinking.
What makes this even more impressive is that it's Joe's first book and he is so young! I certainly look forward to his future publications...
My only criticisms of the book would be (1) too much Bayes applies to every problem and (2) the topics are all relatively interwoven with each other so rather than it being a complete introduction to each topic it assumes a tiny amount of background in each so you have the context to make sense of what's being discussed (which could be a little off putting to the complete beginner). Over all I would really recommend this if you're interested in critical thinking.
What makes this even more impressive is that it's Joe's first book and he is so young! I certainly look forward to his future publications...
November 11, 2021
What started out as fairly exciting and useful, turned into an excuse to go on overly elongated rants on specific tops for which Joe has lots of opinions. I don't disagree with many of his positions, and actually find most of them well-thought-out and original, but it's didn't seem to fit well with his stated goals of the book, and likely would turn off most readers who pick it up.
April 17, 2020
Schmid is clearly astute in his ability to turn complex philosophical issues into manageable, digestible portions. The greatness of this book lies within the author's ability to consistently turn the inaccessible into the accessible, all while ingraining invaluable philosophical methods, tools, and strategies in the reader's mind. I have definitely walked away more confident and curious in all matters philosophical. Great read!
September 13, 2020
Just finished Joe's masterpiece on critical thinking. A substantial review is coming within the next few days.
January 22, 2025
A good read for those who are inquisitive!
April 26, 2023
First, to get the superficial business out of the way. The cover art picture of the book is printed at a very poor resolution leading to an unappealing viewing at close ranges for the reader in addition to the text inside being too large in my opinion with a rather ugly looking font. Even worse, the contrasting font for bullet points and formulas is extremely poorly visible in the book (some of the formulas I actually resorted to coloring in myself with a pen for enhanced readability). However, as I remarked this is meant more as a superficial remark and given the low price point of the book this lends itself more as a minor irritability from the readers point of view. It could also be the fault as this is a self-published book on the part of amazon.
Now to get to business, the book covers the normally associated topics considered within critical thinking including a treatment of logical principles, common logical fallacies, common errors in reasoning as well as fallacies in explanation ... etc. Where the book really shines is in the sense that it gives ample examples of philosophical arguments with a special emphasis given to philosophy of religion as well as philosophy of science where I would say the first field along with metaphysics reflects the authors greatest both interest as well as expertise from what I can gather. This allows the reader to not just consider the structure of the argumentation, but rather also consider the positions themselves and perhaps encourage a deeper lust for researching the topics at hand.
Schmid obviously has a command of the material at hand along with an enthusiasm for the teaching of the material which is at times reflected in the writing which reads well throughout and is certainly not overly dense in terms of writing style. A rather large portion of the book is concerned with Bayes theorem which one could argue to be taken as an admission from the authors point of view as a stronger tool than it is, but again its a theorem that frequents a ton of academic papers in philosophy such that one could easily make a justification for the strong inclusion. I would have however liked an additional inclusion of the dangers of the overuse and more importantly misuse of the Bayes Theorem to have been included.
My greatest criticism is that I feel that the chapters could have been better organized in the sense that topics covered in the chapters could have been presented more orderly at the start of each chapter. A summary of the topics covered are briefly covered in the end of the chapter, but I would have also preferred here some short notes on the importance of the topics in question along with perhaps engaging the reader with some questions for the reader left unanswered. If not in the end of each chapter at the very least a longer exposition should have been given in the conclusion chapter of the book in my opinion.
However, taken as a whole the criticisms mentioned above constitute minor criticisms and I would certainly recommend this book to everyone. Considering the fact that its the authors first book gives further leeway. In addition to recommending the book the everyone I would even take it a step further and make a case for critical reasoning to be taught as a course at the high school level for all students as it is evermore pertinent in the landscape of "alternative facts" unfortunately that we find ourselves enveloped in.
Note: I don't like the star rating and as such I only rate books based upon one star or five stars corresponding to the in my opinion preferable rating system of thumbs up/down. This later rating system increases in my humble opinion the degree to which the reader is likely to engage with a review instead of merely glancing at the number of stars of a given book.)
Now to get to business, the book covers the normally associated topics considered within critical thinking including a treatment of logical principles, common logical fallacies, common errors in reasoning as well as fallacies in explanation ... etc. Where the book really shines is in the sense that it gives ample examples of philosophical arguments with a special emphasis given to philosophy of religion as well as philosophy of science where I would say the first field along with metaphysics reflects the authors greatest both interest as well as expertise from what I can gather. This allows the reader to not just consider the structure of the argumentation, but rather also consider the positions themselves and perhaps encourage a deeper lust for researching the topics at hand.
Schmid obviously has a command of the material at hand along with an enthusiasm for the teaching of the material which is at times reflected in the writing which reads well throughout and is certainly not overly dense in terms of writing style. A rather large portion of the book is concerned with Bayes theorem which one could argue to be taken as an admission from the authors point of view as a stronger tool than it is, but again its a theorem that frequents a ton of academic papers in philosophy such that one could easily make a justification for the strong inclusion. I would have however liked an additional inclusion of the dangers of the overuse and more importantly misuse of the Bayes Theorem to have been included.
My greatest criticism is that I feel that the chapters could have been better organized in the sense that topics covered in the chapters could have been presented more orderly at the start of each chapter. A summary of the topics covered are briefly covered in the end of the chapter, but I would have also preferred here some short notes on the importance of the topics in question along with perhaps engaging the reader with some questions for the reader left unanswered. If not in the end of each chapter at the very least a longer exposition should have been given in the conclusion chapter of the book in my opinion.
However, taken as a whole the criticisms mentioned above constitute minor criticisms and I would certainly recommend this book to everyone. Considering the fact that its the authors first book gives further leeway. In addition to recommending the book the everyone I would even take it a step further and make a case for critical reasoning to be taught as a course at the high school level for all students as it is evermore pertinent in the landscape of "alternative facts" unfortunately that we find ourselves enveloped in.
Note: I don't like the star rating and as such I only rate books based upon one star or five stars corresponding to the in my opinion preferable rating system of thumbs up/down. This later rating system increases in my humble opinion the degree to which the reader is likely to engage with a review instead of merely glancing at the number of stars of a given book.)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews