Introduction
When we think about our majors, most of us would choose pre-medicine, pre-law, business, economics, or some other science courses of the vocational type that may provide students with a more or less definite and bright future. After graduation, the vast majority of students can easily find a good job or get some funds to start researches in the chosen spheres of medicine or technology. However, there are the classes like philosophy, anthropology, or the ones from the humanity field during which students try to gain several practical skills and knowledge which could hardly be used to build a good career. Tutors make their students study the courses which are defined as “unpractical”, and not all students are confident of the necessity to pay their attention to such sciences. This is why it is crucially important to find several powerful reasons to promote students learning the “unpractical” courses and prove the worth of information offered.
Main body
The analysis of moral issues in philosophy helps to understand the idea of critical reasoning and the set of skills that can be utilized in various fields and bring benefits for students during the decades. Students have to face numerous controversies and challenges to prove their abilities. Let’s define all these problems as “it” and make use of reasoning rules to make the final decision and understand what has to be done. It can provide us with a tool to analyze the problems in 360 degrees and predict possible consequences: from the beginning of recognizing the issues till the end of generalizing the decisions and values, the critically reasoning act performs the function of a bridge that connects the activities which “are” in progress and which “ought” to be done in respect to particular values.
At the beginning of the decision-making process, it is always easy for people to use a portion of common sense in the reasoning process. The assumptions that lead to different consequences seem to be the best form of common sense to rely on. For example, people decide whether euthanasia ought to be chosen. There are two different points, for and against euthanasia, that may be formulated. Those who fight against euthanasia presume that medicine is used to help people overcome death, and euthanasia violates the function of medicine as well as doctors’ duties. And those who support the idea of euthanasia claim that medicine is created to remove pain and provide patients with care, this is why euthanasia is used by doctors as the only possible treatment to help patients and deprive them of constant terrible pain that does not have time limitations. Therefore, euthanasia ought to be permissible. The different definition of medicine leads to different conclusions. If people believe that medicine aims at saving lives, it is easy to reach the agreement that euthanasia is morally wrong and should be forbidden. So, before the decision of what ought to be done is made, it is necessary to clarify the assumptions and make use of critical reasoning.
Some assumptions are the results of human common senses. Such a type of common sense may be cultivated using upbringing and varieties between cultures. Different context has to be taken into consideration during such a critical reasoning process, and identification of the issues from different cultural environments should help to reduce the gap between the opinions and generalize the agreement. For example, the attitude to sexual morality is different in China and America. In the United States, the idea of human rights and freedoms plays an important role, this is why Americans may demonstrate their preferences and interests in sex, homosexual communities, etc. The vast majority of Americans support an aggressive attitude of Lady Gaga on the stage and define her as the pioneer of anti-discrimination and feminist. In comparison to American ideas, Chinese people are deeply influenced by Confucianism under which the ideas of etiquette are integral. People are more conservative about sex as well as to other relative topics. If a child is in the room, parents should not kiss each other or demonstrate some kind of sexual attraction. Chinese people think that Lady Gaga shows a kind of “soaked in sexploitation” (Schumacher and Bookchin) and promotes inappropriate emotions among children. With the help of such a comparison of cultural background, it is evident that the gap that existed in critical reasoning is based on different upbringing as well as different cultural and ethical norms. From a purely moral perspective, it is hard to define what is right or wrong because each culture has its standpoint. It is wrong to wear too sexual clothes in public, still, it is right to respect the ideas of homosexual communities; it is wrong to kiss in public or child’s presence, still, it is obligatory to explain to children how it is necessary to demonstrate personal feelings. This is why to reduce the gap of has to be done and what has to be forbidden, it is better to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen activity and then to make a choice.
During the reasoning process, people like to choose something that is offered at the beginning and ignore other possible options to save time. People find it normal to “narrow down our field of possibilities and zero in on a single interpretation of a situation or person” (Brafman and Brafman 177). When we encounter a problem, it is easy for us to forbid the bad behavior as quickly as possible instead of considering other options to solve the problem, reduce the bad effect, and gain some benefits. To make a decision, it is necessary to evaluate the circumstances and weigh the possibilities. Then it is time to brainstorm all the options possible and consider each option’s consequence. Such a type of critical reasoning makes people regret less in case they choose the wrong option.
For example, the University should deprive students of the right to drink alcohol on campus during the parties as the result of such parties is usually the same: multiple hospitalizations, police problems, and personal discontents. The administrators of the University should consider whether there are some other options instead of forbidding the parties, and what may happen in case drinking beverages is prohibited on campus. Are there any other measures to be taken with the problem? The answer is definitely “yes”. Instead of making students give up drinking and promote passive parties, the University can let students reduce the norms of drinking that will be more effective as it arouses students’ initiative. Students are sensitive to the prices of alcoholic beverages; this is why the increases in prices of alcoholic beverages may prevent students from buying a lot of alcoholic drinks. In addition, we should consider the consequences of the prohibition of drinking beverages on campus. The prohibition reduces the possibility of alcohol use, still, it cannot change students’ desire to drink and get drunks. And this is a true problem that has to be solved. Lack of knowledge about alcohol impact, frequent abuses, and unpredictable situations are the results of students’ wrong behavior. The University should not ban alcoholic beverages on campus; still, it is possible to organize special lectures or meetings during which the theme of alcohol is discussed. In such a way, the gap of the problem is reduced considerably: teachers can share their experience and help students, students do not suffer from diminishing their rights, and the University faces fewer problems caused by inappropriate student behavior. A kind of agreement is achieved, and the purpose to decrease the gap is met.
Conclusion
In general, all the above-mentioned ideas and approaches seem to be good reasoning rules in critical thinking. Still, they are not the only ones in the chosen field. With the help of such simple rules, it is possible to understand that the gap between different opinions may be reduced, and the real problems and the necessity of ideal conditions may be evaluated together. Though it is not very easy for us to use all those rules to understand the moral issues and the world, it is still a good attempt to try and see the results. Critical reasoning may be used as a tool to solve problems as well as teaches students to succeed in some kind of inquiry. We should frequently ask ourselves whether what we are pursuing or what we regard as an ideal is actually ought to be as we thought. That attitude can lead us to a good life, and we can evaluate, change, and achieve the best results ever.
References
Brafman, Ori and Brafman, Rom. SWAY: The irresistible pull of irrational behavior. New York: The Doubleday Publishing Group, 2008. Print.
Schumacher, Jim and Bookchin, Debbie. “What’s next from Lady Gaga, a snuff film?”The Huffington Post. 2010. Web.