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- May 3, 2022
- 7 min
Musk, Twitter, and the "Town Square"
If you’re a fan of honest discourse, the announcement that eccentric electric-car-and-rocket magnate Elon Musk was buying Twitter was...
- Apr 20, 2022
- 10 min
Is College Worth It?
Time for another LogicChecker, this one based on an editorial that appeared in the New York Times a couple of weeks back, one that...
- Mar 21, 2022
- 4 min
Disinformation
Like many people trying to popularize critical-thinking and media-literacy methodologies, one of my goals with LogicCheck and other...
- Feb 28, 2022
- 13 min
Examining Priors
At the risk of coming off as heartless in the face of this week’s horrific events in Ukraine, I’d like to perform a little Logic Checking...
- Jan 14, 2022
- 8 min
Arguing Over the Filibuster
Time for a good-ol’ LogicChecker which takes a look at the reasoning behind a political argument, in this case an editorial that appeared...
- Jan 10, 2022
- 6 min
A Million-in-One Shot
This Sunday’s edition of my local paper, The Boston Globe, included a couple of op-eds worth analyzing, starting with this piece...
- Dec 9, 2021
- 3 min
Christmas Cartoons
This special holiday episode of LogicCheck is dedicated to an evergreen in political cartooning: the use of Christmas-related images to...
- Jun 1, 2021
- 4 min
How to Think About the Lab-Leak Hypothesis
Over the last month, an idea once condemned as a conspiracy theory and banned from social media and polite conversation – the so-called...
- Apr 27, 2021
- 4 min
LogicChecking Johnson and Johnson
It’s been a while since I provided you a LogicChecker that looks at the arguments behind important news events, which is why I’d like to...
- Feb 18, 2021
- 7 min
"Regardless of Intent"
I wanted to use this week’s LogicChecker to introduce a set of techniques that can increase the power of an argument through strategic...
- Feb 4, 2021
- 7 min
At the Stroke of a Pen
Keeping with the theme of showcasing examples of high-quality arguments, I’d like to pick one today that illustrates multiple attributes...
- Jan 19, 2021
- 9 min
The Good Argument
A new colleague I met at last week’s American Philosophical Association (APA) conference in cyberspace recommended that I share an...
- Sep 3, 2020
- 7 min
A Complex Argument for Opening Schools
How well does New York Times columnist @NickKristof make his case for school reopening?
- May 28, 2020
- 3 min
Who Should Return to Campus?
What would it look like if colleges and universities used logic checking to determine whether and how to reopen?
- May 16, 2020
- 6 min
Too Much Logos
A reasonable argument can fail to persuade due to too much reliance on logos (logic)
- May 7, 2020
- 6 min
Unlocking Our Lives
Here's a real argument, rather than a fight, over how to best manage the reopening of society.
- Apr 16, 2020
- 4 min
Arguing to End Presidential Briefing Coverage
Is there a strong argument for ending press coverage of President Trump's daily Covid briefings?
- Apr 10, 2020
- 3 min
Bernie Sanders – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
What does Bernie Sanders' farewell address teach us about forensic, demonstrative and deliberative argumentation?
- Apr 1, 2020
- 3 min
Whom to Blame
Who can we blame for the severity of the Conoravirus in the US?
- Mar 19, 2020
- 6 min
Firing the Audience
Can a Toulmin diagram help us determine if audiences should be banned from debates in the future?