I’d like to make this thread in dedication to critical thinking.
Through the years, I’ve learned to appreciate critical thinking.
What is the best way to promote philosophic thought to the public, in order to create a more sane and rational society?
How do we convey the power and brilliance of philosophic thought to people in a way that is relatable?
Teach critical thinking to teenagers in school. Modern day scenarios, only optional suggested classical philosophy background. Don’t even call it “critical thinking” call it “life strategies” or “counter-scam class” or something. Simple as that.
The best way to relate to the youth, in my opinion, is through music and art. With the technology we have available in the present age, we can create high definition advertisements which promote philosophy.
naw erik we can’t do that. art markets have been completely hijacked and dominated by culturally hegemonic forces that control and prevent any possibility of art being able to enlighten anyone. the system’s genius is that it not only manufactures the false impression among consumers that media involves free expression of ideas (and therefore clear of ideological bias and constraint), but it also generates, then contains, then governs, the mediums through which consumers believe they are able to rebel against what they now sense is a contrived effort to control them. in other words, the market steers the herd, reveals its nefarious intention to control, and then invents/controls the ways through which we believe we are rebelling against it. for example, look at the spirit of nonconformity that arose during the punk-music era. every misfit and his brother claimed to be an anarchist against the state… but what did they do? not a gotdamn thing. why? because that nonconformity was sold to them by the very thing they wanted to rebel against. none of it was real. it was a commodification of a manufactured consent devised by a system that turns anything threatening to it into another profitable commodity. and that’s the brilliance of the capitalist system; if there is going to be a ideological danger to it, it will create it, itself, so that it can maintain control over it while it circulates through consumer culture. ergo; you wanna be a subversive who fights against the system for the freedom of expression, no problem. here, buy this, and you can be that rebel you always wanted to be.
'fraid we caint enlighten the youf through music and art, man. today’s art is one of the strongest weapons the status-quo has against the troof. it even commodifies ideologically opposed progressive ideas to the point of sickening absurdity, making an impotent caricature out of everything it touches. notice how anything liberal in the media becomes an over-exaggerated joke? look at racism and homophobia. at one time these things might have been matters of serious concern… but once it reaches any media, it becomes ridiculous hyperbole. the anatagonistic powers of capitalist modes of production and its hegemonic control/regulation of the simulacrum guarantees that anything threatening to its order will be turned into an embarrassing joke… and still be able to sell. to defuse an enemy of its power and then resurrect it to do your bidding. pure genius.
According to the definition forcritical thinking in Wikipedia, it revolves mostly about establishing the ontology of terms, possibly by Socratic questioning. However, ontology is just part of the story concerning rationality. The second half is about investigating the justification for knowledge beliefs, i.e. epistemology.
In fact, ontology alone does not produce any knowledge in epistemic terms. Ontology merely creates a framework in which knowledge can arise. We first need to agree on what exactly we are talking about (“ontology”) before we can seek to justify beliefs about these things (“epistemology”).
Therefore, ontology alone, i.e. “critical thinking”, is merely a starting point. It is insufficient to make a conversation more rational.