What is the relationship between democracy and critical thinking? What must a citizen in a democracy know to make the word democracy meaningful? In A Short Course in Intellectual Self-Defense, historian and educator Normand Baillargeon provides readers with the tools to see through the spin and jargon of everyday politics and news reporting in order to decide for themselves what is at stake and how to ask the necessary questions to protect themselves from the manipulations of the government and the media. Whether the issue be the call to what weāre told will be a bloodless war, the "debate" around Intelligent Design, or the meaning of a military expenditure, Baillargeon teaches readers to evaluate information and sort fact from official and media spin.
What People Are Saying
āThis book provides an amiable and effective guide through some of the pitfalls and mysteries of language, of logicāand of magic! Readers are sure to discover that its lucid analyses and discussions assist them considerably in avoiding or in overcoming the many obstacles that commonly stand in the way of clear thought and expression.ā āHarry Frankfurt, author of On Bullshit