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Articles

A Very Short History of Critical Thinking

Luc de Brabandere summarises a long history through key figures of thought.

In Greece in the fifth century BC, some public speakers who were certainly cultured but who were also unscrupulous, made the most of their oratorical talents by turning them into a particularly lucrative profession. Armed with misleading arguments and fallacious reasoning, they were called Sophists. They were so good at arguing any case they were able to simultaneously demonstrate something and its opposite. To be a sophist is to argue in a way that appears to be valid, but where the argument has been deliberately manipulated to distract or mislead the listener. Sophism is not a way of thinking; it’s a way of arguing designed to dazzle and trick an opponent; or if they should suspect foul play, to cause them logical embarrassment.

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