Critical Thinking Club
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Critical Thinking Club, Location: Date: May 5 Time: 10:00 a.m. to Noon Presenter: Scott Forschler Topic: “Morality De-Mystified” |
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Values, and moral values in particular, seem to some to be
“unnatural,” and unreconcilable with a naturalistic,
scientific worldview. But this is not
so. They are created by our animal
brains using two fascinating capacities:
representation, and recursion.
Come hear one philosopher’s view on the origin and justification of
moral values, and de-mystify your view of moral reality.
Scott Forschler has a PhD in
philosophy from the University of Minnesota; his research area is the
foundations of ethics. He has published
several articles on ethical theory and presented papers at national and
international conferences. He currently
teaches at St. Cloud Technical and Community College.
Breakfast Buffet $10.00 Coffee only $3.00. We need to
plan for the room setup and meal, so if you are going to attend, please RSVP on
Meetup.
June Jo Marsicano, “Patriarchy
of Monotheist Religions”
July Kevin Hawkins, “Conspiracy Theories, and the People
Who Love Them”
August Paul Scroeder, “The Abortion
Consensus”
September Gwen Willem, topic TBA
October Kathy Bonnifield,
“Voter Photo ID: Fraud Catcher or Vote
Snatcher?”
November Political Panel
December Cynthia Schield, “The True Story of
Christmas”
Stillwater Critical Thinking Club
Location: Family Means
Bldg,1875 Northwestern Ave., Stillwater
Date: Monday, May 14
Time: 7:00pm
Presenter: John Baird
Topic: “Government Services: a Luxury or a Necessity?”
We
are living in a nation with public services we either can't afford or don't
want to pay for; a nation in which many live from pay check to pay check. Surveys demonstrate a public unwillingness to
pay more in taxes for services. Yet,
government services are a necessity for the survival of many citizens. What
does the continuous chipping away of a governmental safety net for the less fortunate
illustrate about the morality of our political policy makers? How can we continue to pay for the
entitlements and also defense, the major federal expenditures, when it is not
possible to raise taxes?
John Baird is a life-long Minnesota
resident except for about five years when he was in the military and at
college. John's working years were a salesman for a plastic custom molding
company. In 1979 he left the plastics business, operated a farm and sold
agricultural products till 1998 when he retired. His astute observations
weighing pros and cons have proven insightful.
Critical Thinking Club, West Metro
Location: Ridge
Pointe Apartments
12600 Marion Lane W, Minnetonka, MN 55305
Date: Saturday, May 26
Time: 10:00 a.m. to Noon
Presenter: Jerry Smith
Topic: “Critical Thinking:
An Introduction”
“Critical thinking:” Few terms are as
widely used or as poorly understood. What
is critical thinking? How is it related
to creative thinking? To
problem solving and decision making?
Can critical thinking be reduced to certain mental habits or to stages
of mental development.
Is intuition a reliable guide to action or must we rely on logical
analysis? These and other questions will
be addressed during this interactive session.
Jerry Smith is a professor of management at the
University of Northern Iowa, where he teaches a course on decision making,
problem solving, and critical thinking.
Jerry has published in the academic literatures on these topics. In the past, he's made presentations on
critical thinking and related topics at meetings of the Humanists of Minnesota
and Critical Thinking Clubs.