Philosophy

Some scholars argue that "for our democracy to thrive citizens must think critically." What is your understanding of this statement and do you agree' To think critically is to analyze and evaluate a form of literature, a situation, a process or idea. In more plain text to ponder the who’s, the what’s, the when’s a the where’s but also follow through with the results. In a democracy all citizens should get together and come to a conclusion, in this case a law, together through critical thinking as what steps should be taken to further the advancement of their state. If citizens did their duty then the democracy should thrive. It seems logical that if citizens think critically then a democracy should thrive and therefore I agree with the statement. Provide two examples as to how citizens can think critically in our political process. Elections of any type and scale are a perfect example of when citizens can think critically because when we decide on a certain legislation or a leader of any position we have to analyze their history as servants of the community and evaluate what they have to bring to the table and what they are offering to bring to the table. Another example would be when we decide to act and do more than just vote when we engage in political movements to help a cause that we might think is worthy of our time and effort. Provide two examples in which you made decisions thinking critically within the last year. Earlier in the year I allowed my mother to move in with me and my husband because she needed time to reevaluate her and my father’s relationship. I thought that it was the best choice because she was not financially stable and I had room for her to be comfortable. I also thought I could put in my perspective and see her view and try to understand where the relationship had gone wrong. My father is not perfect and neither is my mother, everyone is not perfect but your try to understand and with the statistics saying that one in two marriages end in divorce I wanted to observe and try not to commit certain mistakes. Since she was living with my siblings could spend the weekend and visit whenever they felt they needed too and their visit would not be an inconvenience to anyone. Then my mother left my house to start a new life with another person. The second decision I made last year towards the end, I decided to move in with my dad because since my parents had divorced the previous year he was not financially stable enough to live in a house we had resided for 19 years. I had been married three years prior to moving in with my dad and I and my husband have been used to living on our own but then my husband’s work closed and he was left without a job. This furthered our decision to move so we could help each other out. Now, provide an example in which you made a significant decision and didn't think critically. Be specific and provide details as to what were/was the determining factor/s that eventually led you to make that decision/s. The dumbest decision me and my husband have ever made was to but stolen merchandise from someone we had never meet prior and did not meet. We basically got scammed and believed someone who was full of lies. My brother got a text from an unknown number saying he was selling apple lab tops and cannon cameras and other expensive appliances for very low prices. We called him interested in a camera and he said we could pick up the camera the next day if we wired the money within an hour. He gave us an address and we googled it and it was not fake. The as we kept talking to him he started saying that he really needed to get rid of other merchandise and we bargained. We were supposed to send him 450 dollars and go pick up the merchandise the same day. I was so excited because now I could take pictures of my children. We send him the money and tried to contact him thirty minutes later and he never picked up again. We were so disappointed in ourselves because he lied and the lie was too good to be true but we were so full of materialist ideals that we oversaw all these important factors. Questions for part 2 After you're done with part one above, read part two and apply the principles discussed in part one and answer the questions below Identify three deceptive arguments being used by either activist and explain why they are deceptive' 1. 2. 3. Identify specific examples where these activists attack themselves rather than their ideas. Why do you think they do this' Identify three specific examples where these activists use gross generalization intentionally to advance arguments' Define in your own words ethnocentrism and stereotyping and then identify examples where writers of these essays use them. Questions for part 3 This part is about the tensions between African Americans and Latinos in our communities. Carefully read the set of articles on this issue and answer the following questions: What do you think is the source of the tensions between these two groups' Identify three arguments being presented in this part of the reading and explain why you believe or view them as deceptive