Posted by
Duck Archer on Sunday, September 14, 2008 8:17:28 PM
All things that are knowable, are in one of six categories:
1. Evidence: a fact pertaining to the problem
2. Argument: reasoning assessing how evidence relates to the problem
3. Hypothesis: a possible solution to the problem, built on evidence linked together with argument
4. Fact: any bit of data, not necessarily relating to the problem
5. Opinion: reasoning that is not necessarily related to the problem, and may not even be based in facts
6. Viewpoint: a conclusion on ‘how things are’ that doesn’t necessarily take into account even most evidence
When considering a difficult problem, sorting what one ‘knows’ into the six categories can help to clarify the problem, and thus to reveal a solution. Logic is a powerful analytic tool.
Now, this short expose does not address how the ingredients are used. Things like ‘evidence credibility’ and ‘force of argument’ are part of another aspect of logical thinking.