Questions for Group Discussion Chapter One Questions for Group Discussion

Chapter One -Consider…which is more effective, the use of pure logic or an appeal to the emotions? -Aristotle said that “emotion trumps logic”. -How can this be? Can you think of examples to illustrate this point? Is it just common sense?

Chapter One Explain what this means— The preeminent place given argument in Western educational traditions is grounded in a vision of argument not as an unpleasant consequence of human interaction but as the very foundation of human knowledge.

Chapter One Do you agree or disagree? Discuss— Humans’ knowledge of the world around them is the product of their interpretation of their experience. A significant difference between humans and other creatures is the ability to interpret our experiences in a variety of ways. For humans, experience is not fixed but is the product of the choices we make.

Chapter One Discuss. Do you agree or disagree? Because they attempt to assign meaning to the world around them, humans are largely removed from instinctive ways of knowing.

Chapter One Discuss. Do you agree or disagree? …the freedom to construct the meaning of our world also means that there is not one, correct, absolute interpretation of that world.

Chapter One Explain what the significance of this quote. …our collective understanding is created through the communication we share.