en-US Wed, 02 Aug 2023 15:25:20 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 721564
Logic is synonymous with reason, judgment, sense, wisdom, and sanity. Being logical is the ability to create concise and reasoned arguments—arguments that build from given premises, using evidence, to a genuine conclusion. But mastering logical thinking also requires studying and understanding illogical thinking, both to sharpen one’s own skills and to protect against incoherent, or deliberately misleading, reasoning.

Elegant, pithy, and precise,Ìý Being Logical Ìýbreaks logic down to its essentials through clear analysis, accessible examples, and focused insights. D. Q. McInerney covers the sources of illogical thinking, from naïve optimism to narrow-mindedness, before dissecting the various tactics—red herrings, diversions, and simplistic reasoning—the illogical use in place of effective reasoning.

An indispensable guide to using logic to advantage in everyday life, this is a concise, crisply readable book. Written explicitly for the layperson, McInerny’sÌý Being Logical Ìýpromises to take its place beside Strunk and White’sÌý The Elements of Style Ìýas a classic of lucid, invaluable advice.

Praise for Being Logical

“Highly readable . . . D. Q. McInerny offers an introduction to symbolic logic in plain English, so you can finally be clear on what is deductive reasoning and what is inductive. And you’ll see how deductive arguments are constructed.� � Detroit Free Press

“McInerny’s explanatory outline of sound thinking will be eminently beneficial to expository writers, debaters, and public speakers.� � Booklist

“Given the shortage of logical thinking,
And the fact that mankind is adrift, if not sinking,
It is vital that all of us learn to think straight.
And this small book by D.Q. McInerny is great.
It follows therefore since we so badly need it,
Everybody should not only but it, but read it.�
—Charles Osgood]]> 160 D.Q. McInerny 0812971159 Josh 4 3.72 2004
author: D.Q. McInerny
name: Josh
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2008/12/01
date added: 2023/08/02
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]]> 27309 The Battle for God. Writing with the broad perspective and deep understanding of human spirituality that won huge audiences for A History of God, Armstrong illuminates the spread of militant piety as a phenomenon peculiar to our moment in history.

Contrary to popular belief, fundamentalism is not a throwback to some ancient form of religion but rather a response to the spiritual crisis of the modern world. As Armstrong argues, the collapse of a piety rooted in myth and cult during the Renaissance forced people of faith to grasp for new ways of being religious--and fundamentalism was born. Armstrong focuses here on three fundamentalist movements: Protestant fundamentalism in America, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, and Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt and Iran--exploring how each has developed its own unique way of combating the assaults of modernity.

Blending history, sociology, and spirituality, The Battle for God is a compelling and compassionate study of a radical form of religious expression that is critically shaping the course of world history.]]> 480 Karen Armstrong 0345391691 Josh 0 currently-reading 3.94 2000
author: Karen Armstrong
name: Josh
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2009/05/06
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]]> 929782 Martin Eden is the most vital and original character Jack London ever created. Set in San Francisco, this is the story of Martin Eden, an impoverished seaman who pursues, obsessively and aggressively, dreams of education and literary fame. London, dissatisfied with the rewards of his own success, intended Martin Eden as an attack on individualism and a criticism of ambition; however, much of its status as a classic has been conferred by admirers of its ambitious protagonist.

Andrew Sinclair's wide-ranging introduction discusses the conflict between London's support of socialism and his powerful self-will. Sinclair also explores the parallels and divergences between the life of Martin Eden and that of his creator, focusing on London's mental depressions and how they affected his depiction of Eden.]]> 480 Jack London Josh 5 4.47 1909
author: Jack London
name: Josh
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1909
rating: 5
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]]> 33514 105 William Strunk Jr. Josh 5 4.15 1918
author: William Strunk Jr.
name: Josh
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1918
rating: 5
read at: 2009/02/01
date added: 2009/03/27
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]]> 454603 310 Douglas N. Walton 0521379253 Josh 0 currently-reading 4.09 1989
author: Douglas N. Walton
name: Josh
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at: 2008/12/14
date added: 2009/03/27
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]]> 6163873 88 Anthony Weston 0872209547 Josh 3 3.79 1986
author: Anthony Weston
name: Josh
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2009/03/20
date added: 2009/03/27
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]]> 1976714

The prophets: suffering is a punishment for sin
The book of Job, which offers two different answers: suffering is a test, and you will be rewarded later for passing it; and suffering is beyond comprehension, since we are just human beings and God, after all, is God

Ecclesiastes: suffering is the nature of things, so just accept it
All apocalyptic texts in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament: God will eventually make right all that is wrong with the world
For renowned Bible scholar Bart Ehrman, the question of why there is so much suffering in the world is more than a haunting thought. Ehrman's inability to reconcile the claims of faith with the facts of real life led the former pastor of the Princeton Baptist Church to reject Christianity.

In God's Problem, Ehrman discusses his personal anguish upon discovering the Bible's contradictory explanations for suffering and invites all people of faith—or no faith—to confront their deepest questions about how God engages the world and each of us.]]> 304 Bart D. Ehrman 0061173975 Josh 4 3.93 2008
author: Bart D. Ehrman
name: Josh
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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]]> 117047 ***30th Anniversary Edition***

Cover note: Each copy of the anniversary edition of The Blind Watchmaker features a unique biomorph. No two covers are exactly alike.

Acclaimed as the most influential work on evolution written in the last hundred years, The Blind Watchmaker offers an inspiring and accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. A brilliant and controversial book which demonstrates that evolution by natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind yet essentially non-random process discovered by Darwin - is the only answer to the biggest question of all: why do we exist?]]> 466 Richard Dawkins 0141026162 Josh 5 4.09 1986
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Josh
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1986
rating: 5
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]]> 210355 How do we raise good children? How do we make good citizens? In defiant yet acute fashion, Stephen Law urges us to re-evaluate the liberal tradition of thinking about morality. Tackling authoritarian rhetoric head-on, he argues that children should learn about right and wrong, and respect for others, but that their education should be grounded in the hard-won values of the Enlightenment. Taking on neo-conservatives and religious and media commentators, The War for Children‘s Minds is a candid and controversial call for a liberal, philosophically informed approach to raising children.
A staunch defence of the humane, liberal life, The War for Children‘s Minds is a much-needed guide to an urgent moral conundrum.]]> 208 Stephen Law 0415378559 Josh 0 currently-reading 3.85 2006
author: Stephen Law
name: Josh
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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]]> 4005310 Why evolution is more than just a theory: it is a fact.

In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design," there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned—the "evidence," the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection. Even Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, while extolling the beauty of evolution and examining case studies, have not focused on the evidence itself. Yet the proof is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from many different fields of science. Scientists are observing species splitting into two and are finding more and more fossils capturing change in the past—dinosaurs that have sprouted feathers, fish that have grown limbs.

Why Evolution Is True weaves together the many threads of modern work in genetics, paleontology, geology, molecular biology, and anatomy that demonstrate the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin. In crisp, lucid prose accessible to a wide audience, Why Evolution Is True dispels common misunderstandings and fears about evolution and clearly confirms that this amazing process of change has been firmly established as a scientific truth.]]> 282 Jerry A. Coyne 0670020532 Josh 0 currently-reading 4.18 2008
author: Jerry A. Coyne
name: Josh
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> 51299 The End of Faith, Sam Harris received thousands of letters from Christians excoriating him for not believing in God. Letter to A Christian Nation is his reply. Using rational argument, Harris offers a measured refutation of the beliefs that form the core of fundamentalist Christianity. In the course of his argument, he addresses current topics ranging from intelligent design and stem-cell research to the connections between religion and violence. In Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris boldly challenges the influence that faith has on public life in our nation.]]> 96 Sam Harris 0307265773 Josh 5 3.98 2006
author: Sam Harris
name: Josh
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2009/03/04
date added: 2009/03/27
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]]> 2344662 144 John F. Haught 066423304X Josh 1 3.12 2007
author: John F. Haught
name: Josh
average rating: 3.12
book published: 2007
rating: 1
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]]> 128029
With the passing of time comes Taliban rule over Afghanistan, the streets of Kabul loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs, life a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, the women's endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings. Yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways, lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end it is love that triumphs over death and destruction.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a portrait of a wounded country and a story of family and friendship, of an unforgiving time, an unlikely bond, and an indestructible love.]]> 372 Khaled Hosseini 1594489505 Josh 3 4.44 2007
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Josh
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2007
rating: 3
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date added: 2009/03/27
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]]> 14743
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament, to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion, and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence.

The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster.]]> 374 Richard Dawkins 0618680004 Josh 5 3.89 2006
author: Richard Dawkins
name: Josh
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 5
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]]> 34002 The Origin of Species is also that most unusual phenomenon, an altogether readable discussion of a scientific subject. On its appearance in 1859 it was immediately recognized by enthusiasts and detractors alike as a work of the greatest importance: its revolutionary theory of evolution by means of natural selection provoked a furious reaction that continues to this day.

The Origin of Species is here published together with Darwin’s earlier Voyage of the ‘Beagle.� This 1839 account of the journeys to South America and the Pacific islands that first put Darwin on the track of his remarkable theories derives an added charm from his vivid description of his travels in exotic places and his eye for the piquant detail.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
Ìý

]]> 1024 Charles Darwin 1400041279 Josh 5 4.15 1859
author: Charles Darwin
name: Josh
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1859
rating: 5
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date added: 2009/03/27
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]]>