Sublime

decide whom to accept as experts.

real and bogus arguments

Ockham wrote that “a plurality is not to be posited without necessity”—essentially that we should prefer the simplest explanation with the fewest moving parts.2,3 They are easier to falsify, easier to understand, and generally more likely to be correct.

the conclusion is supposed to be supported (probabilistically) because it provides the best explanation for the facts cited in the premises.

one of my purposes is to develop and propose a new strand of ethical thought, one we could label “Neo-Socratic,” in that it is, first, based on the thought of Socrates; but, second, extrapolates and generalizes that thought into a method of continued relevance for the living of one’s life; and third, differs not only in what it prescribes but in it

The Principle of Charity will keep us focused on the issues most relevant to making our case. But effective arguments also require appeal to relevant evidence (facts and principles supporting or opposing a position).

logicality

If there is any value in the arcane reconstructions of the ancient school for the modern thinker intrigued by Stoicism, it lies in this grand, integrative vision of a good human life, guided by the relentless and unsentimental use of reason in a quest for the best available understanding of the orderly world around us.