The main topic of this section was reason. The human ability to reason is one of the things that sets us apart from other forms of life (plants, animals, etc.). Reasoning is the power to think in such a way that we proceed from what we know to what we do not yet know. For example, if I see my mom’s car in the driveway and I know she was driving it earlier that day, then I could conclude that she is now home. I have no evidence whatsoever that she is home, but by piecing together certain information, I can conclude that she is.

There are two types of reasoning: deduction and induction. Deduction is the power to draw new facts from statements, which we already know to be true. The example given above is the process of deduction. Induction is making universal generalizations about something based on a limited number of experiences of the thing. An example of this is saying that no dogs are pink. There is no way that I can see first hand that every dog in the world is not pink, but through my own limited experience of dogs and other knowledge from authority I have gained in science classes, I can induce that dogs are not pink.

Critical thinking is necessary especially in our world today because of all the twists and biases put on the many complex issues presented to us. There are five steps to critical thinking; the first is knowing the facts. You have to know what you are talking about in order to argue for one side or the other. Knowing the facts is also essential to the development of our conscience, which is primary to everything. The Catholic Church teaches that a person must follow his or her conscience in all cases no matter what. But we have a duty to make sure that our consciences’ are not in error. We can develop our consciences by knowing the facts.

The second step is to remember the principle of contradiction, which states that something cannot be and not be at the same time. The arch cant exist and not exist at the same time, a car can’t be moving and stopped at the same time, Jesus can’t have risen form the dead and no at the same time. It is just not possible. You have to keep this in mind when thinking about something to make sure you don’t contradict yourself.

Next, you have to define your terms. The validity and strength of your argument depends on how well one defines his terms. An excellent example of the necessity of this step is in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. In the play, a character named Dogberry uses words that make absolutely no sense because he does not know the real meaning of them, and they make him sound absolutely ridiculous. Without knowing what our terms mean, we can not truly support one side or the other effectively.

The fourth step is to be intellectually humble. This means to realize that we never can know everything. There will always be more to learn. No one disrespects a humble man who admits he made a mistake because that possibility is always there.

The fifth and final step is to look for different perspectives. Its is in human nature to see the negative side of things, but if we open our minds a little, we can see that most things have a positive side as well.

Two more key ideas in this section were what theology and what philosophy are. Theology is the exploration and examination of one’s faith using reason. St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the church’s greatest theologians, described theology as faith seeking understanding. Philosophy, which literally means, "love of wisdom," is trying to rationally explain one’s experience using reason in order to discover truths or insights. Theology and Philosophy differ in that theology is guided by doctrines of faith that philosophy does not necessarily recognize as truth.

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The thinker is almost a universal symbol of philosophy, which involves deep thought about our existence and our experiences. It helps remind me of the deep questons of life and how i want to live my life.

How do I decide what authority I can take information from? How can I tell how biased they are and how that will affect the information they reveal to me?

To help myself be a better person, I will keep in mind the common thinking errors to help correct my own way of thinking and do the same thing with the five steps to critical thinking.