BHU1101: CRITICAL THINKING AND LOGIC

CAT 1 AND 2
NAME: MUGO DUNCAN WAWERU REG NO: BEDA/2020/67026

INSTRUCTIONS: ANSWER BOTH QUESTIONS

QUESTION 0NE (20 marks)

Discuss the point of convergence and divergence between
i. Philosophy and Science
point of convergence and divergence between Philosophy and Science
as a whole science and philosophy are equal partners assisting creative thought in attaining the
truth. Philosophy came before science and became the basis of science. Science was initially
called natural philosophy. Nevertheless, they have been learning from each other. It is from
philosophy where all sciences draw their world view and methodological principles.
Both studies have many branches and make use of reasoning, questioning and analysis. They go
different ways at the point in the way they treat and work with knowledge. Science is concerned
with natural phenomena while philosophy attempts to understand issues e.g. Man, evolution, and
the relationship existing between man and evolution. science explain basis on observations
conducted while philosophy base explanation through arguments of principles. Philosophy
involves both subjective and objective questions while science involves only objective questions.
This means that there are some questions which can be answered by a philosopher but can’t be
answered by a scientist e.g. does God exist? Is there a parallel universe?
Though philosophers and scientist seek different knowledge on issues, they are alike since they
are both motivated by the passion of having and understanding knowledge

ii. Philosophy and Religion

point of convergence and divergence between Philosophy and religion
both religion and philosophy tend to be very much alike in situations where they have to address:
What is good? What does it mean to live a good life? Why are we here and what should we be
doing? How should we treat each other? What is really most important in life? A good example
can be drawn from the thought of clement (150? -215?) and Origen (c.185-c.250). they are
known as the Christian Platonist of Alexandria since their school was located in the ancient
center of Hellenistic culture. They engaged in interpreting the basic beliefs of Christianity
concerning God, man and the world in terms of the Neoplatonism philosophy.
Religion and philosophy part ways in the sense that philosophy is critical, it critically scrutinize
any known assumptions and sought knowledge for the pure pleasure of understanding and
possessing it.on the other hand, religion is dogmatic, it is based on faith and it seeks knowledge
to fulfill man happiness or destiny on the context of a certain religion(depending with religion
that an individual or group is associated).
Religionists claim that, they had a revelation, they strongly rely on faith. in fact, I can say they
follow it blindly but philosophers like Hegel and Russell, they had to base their work on
philosophical arguments. Unnatural things tend to be defined as miracles in religion e.g. the birth
of Jesus Christ by virgin Mary. In philosophy, miracles aren’t a common feature because issues
are critically analyzed.
despite religion and philosophy being distinct, it does not mean that they are entirely separate
because they both address many of the same issues.

QUESTION TWO (10 marks)

In your capacity as a student and a teacher, identify and demonstrate the various ways you will
apply the knowledge gained in Logic.
 Helps one to be inquisitive-one is able to set aside assumptions, becomes curious and
doesn’t accept something just because it “feels alright”. e.g. you have taught your
students about qualities of a good leader.it will be very wrong for you to assume that they
have all understood. You can give out an assessment to evaluate each student’s
understanding. Where students fail to meet a given threshold, a teacher can find other
ways to reinforce understanding.
 Helps one to seek a problem-one does not to look for a solution to a problem only but
also for answers to questions that may arise from the solution. E.g. Student have been
performing badly. You decide to introduce a mandatory tuition which is charged
ksh.1000 every month. Maybe the tuition will be the answer, to help the students
improve. You should ask how many will pay? How many will attend the tuition? What
happens to those who don’t attend?
 Helps one enjoy challenges-most people don’t like to have challenges, they are often at
their comfort zone. Challenges help sharpen our intellect. They should not be seen as a
bad thing but as a learning process. E.g. you happen to teach a class of 70 students and
maybe only a quarter of them, understand what you are teaching. This may be
challenging but one should be glad that the quarter understands. For the remaining three
quarter, a teacher will try to engage them more and also move at their own pace to
achieve the desired outcome.
 Helps one to be open minded-one is open and receptive to all ideas irrespective of their
shortcomings.one can be able to reserve judgement on an idea until he has examined the
claims, logic, reason and evidence used e.g. A teacher may ask students to outline fish
 that they know. Student AZ, may state that a whale is a fish yet it is known that it is a
mammal. A teacher should want to know why student AZ thinks that a whale is a fish.
After listening to the student, he should establish whether student AZ have valid or
falsified evidence. If evidence provided doesn’t substantiate, he can familiarize him with
the correct arguments.

 helps one to be confident in reasoning-a teacher can be able to formulate stronger and
cohesive arguments. This confidence makes a teacher efficient and effective in
communicating on issues. E.g. students have been neglecting their cleaning duties at
school. A teacher may call the students, talk to them from a parental perspective, make
them know the benefits of having a clean school.
 Helps one to pronounce judgement before examining an issue-a teacher will not be quick
to jump to conclusions. e.g student BD usually doesn’t do homework that he is given. A
teacher should not punish the student always and say that he is undermining him and
that’s why he doesn’t do the homework. Logic helps the teacher call the learner, identify
the reason for failing to do homework. To the dismay of the teacher, he may realize that
student BD had been doing the homework but in other books.
 Helps a teacher develop truth seeking ethos-being wise doesn’t mean that you can’t be
wrong at times. This discipline equips one with the passion to seek truth.
STRICTLY NOTE THE FOLLOWING
1. This work aims to test your understanding of the subject matter, hence your ideas and
input is core.
2. Copying and pasting material from any source (plagiarism) is an academic
offence/malpractice and is punishable
3. Datelines are part and parcel of examination and therefore should be observed.
4. Give proper reference of any work cited
5. Observe proper formatting of term paper