Critical thinking and intellectual self-defense

Double objective: providing an introduction to epistemology and philosophy of science, as well as to the basic concepts and tools of critical thinking.

The aim is to start with epistemological questions - i.e. questions about the nature and justification of our beliefs and knowledge - and deduce tools for developing critical thinking in everyday life.

Numerous stimulating examples will illustrate all the concepts presented: phenomena so-called "paranormal", cases of pseudoscience, examples drawn from scientific controversies, etc.

Session 1
- Epistemology ? Critical thinking ? Scientific skepticism ?
- How our individual perceptions work, their limits and biases (cognitive, social, cultural).

Session 2
- Science? Pseudo-science?
- Epistemological precautions: the theoretical burden of observation.
- Empirical methods: experiments and experimental protocols.

Session 3
- Empirical methods: observations and statistics.
- Chance, coincidence and misinterpretation.

Session 4
- Epistemological criteria: refutability, theoretical underdetermination, parsimony.

Session 5
The last session is devoted to a presentation by the participants (~5/10min per person), in which they apply the tools and concepts presented during the training to an example of their choice: dissecting a flawed protocol, a manipulation of figures/statistics/graphs, criticizing a pseudo-science, and so on.

None

Acquiring practical methods and tools to make a rational judgement about the validity of a piece of information coming from science, controversial theories, medias, etc.

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