Francis Bacon

1. Idols of the Tribe - This idol explains that everyone has their own interpretations, so each individual's understanding/comprehension is subconciously intertwined with their own nature, all of which distorts the actual information supposed to be learned.

2. Idols of the Cave - This idol is almost a continuation of the last, as it states that individual biases are created through education.

3. Idols of the Marketplace - This idol explains that because words are imposed according to the level of comprehension the reader has, both the unfit choice of words and the false definitions of them overrule the true message of the writer.

4. Idols of the Theatre - This idol explains several erroneous systems that only promote ideas that better themselves. This is why the Christian West ended up giving reverence to only four or five Greek scholars, ignoring the rest of the world.

Sister Maria Celeste

Galileo's daughter played a vital role in the production of his writing. She acted as a brilliant editor for his manuscripts even though she had not had any sort of proper education. She took care of him, doing his laundry, cooking for him, as well as providing medicine for all his ailments. In the convent, she worked in the apothecary, not only making medicines, but also experimenting to find treatments that could benefit everyone. During the breakout of the bubonic plague, Maria sent Galileo a homemade medicine for immunity. Not long after, when Galileo was about to have his trial, Maria gave him smart advice that may have saved his life: be smart, say what they want to hear - just do what you can to avoid being killed.
Sister Maria Celeste took care of Galileo better than any mother or wife. Although she had seen more than her share of hardships at the convent, she remained the picturesque daughter - Galileo's secret weapon.

the Fourth Way: Argument from Degrees and Perfection

St. Thomas' fourth way states that for any given quality there must be a perfect standard by which all qualities are measured, and these perfections are contained in God.
Alright, so first of all I strongly disagree with this argument because I do not believe that there MUST always be a perfect standard. For example, I do not believe that there is a standard of perfection for beauty. I believe beauty is completely a matter of opinion. Although this opinion may be influenced by models, fashion magazines, etc. it still remains up to the viewer to decide whether or not something is beautiful. Also, even though this sounds really cheesy, I truly believe that beauty comes from the inside. You may be naturally pretty, but if you are depressed you can make yourself look terrible. To me (honestly, I know it's cheesy), all the people I love are beautiful. To me, if you have a great personality, you are beautiful, and I think that's how it is with most people.

Ad Hominem

In Adolf Hitler's book, One Nation and Race, he states, "There are some truths, which are so obvious that for this very reason they are not seen or at least not recognized by ordinary people." This is clearly an ad hominem because Hitler may as well be saying that most people are so stupid, they cannot see the truths that are staring them in the face, as he then goes on to say how he, however has seen this truth. So what then? What makes him so unlike the rest of us that he can see the truth? He is clearly putting himself above everyone else as the one who has "seen the truth" therefore, we must follow him. Yeah, right. On the other hand, what what makes us so stupid? Why does Hitler even bother mentioning that he, unlike most, has "seen the truth"? So that when we finish his stupid book and don't understand a thing, we can turn to this line and go "oh, well I guess it must be because I'm just not seeing the truth...I should follow Hitler anway because he said he has seen it..maybe he can show me the way..."
In conclusion, this line in One Nation and Race, is nothing but an ad hominem fallacy, as it insults everyone in order to make Hitler look good.

Intelligent Design Vs. Evolution

I don't really believe in either Creationism or Evolution. I believe that in the beginning of time, God created Earth and everything in it. However, I also believe that from this point forward evolution has taken place, to some extent. There have been so many studies proven to show that evolution has taken place, that I feel it is almost silly to not believe in it (at least to some point). I realize that evolution can be proven as nothing more than a theory, which, in my opinion it is - not everything I believe seems true to everyone else, and many things I believe can be easily disproven. However, to fully believe in Creationism, you have to have a lot of faith, which I do not. I do believe that God, or some kind of thing, greater than all of us, exists. However, espesially nowadays, I have been leaning more toward the idea of rebirth than Heaven (even though I am supposed to be Jewish/Christian ...).
I guess what I am trying to say is that there are parts of both Creationism and Evolution that I agree with; as there are parts of different religions that I agree with. I wish, in the future, that I can find some sort of religion where my views completely fit. I love the idea of a religious community, and although I have been to temple many times (a Hebrew school for a few years) I never agreed with certain aspects of Judaism (which I won't even get into...).
In conclusion, I think I should make my own religion, where you can believe in either Intelligent Design or Evolution because the most important thing is to spread peace love, and comfort to one another... Hippieism. :D

Modus Tollen

Modus tollens are centered around the formula not unlike that of the modus pollen:
If p, then q
not q
Therefore, not p
In other words, if the premise "p" is true, then the premise "q" is also true. However, if "q" is false, then "p" must be false.

For example,
If Emily is buff she will make the football team.
Emily is not buff.
Therefore, she will not make the football team.

We can prove that this statement follows the formula because If "Emily is buff"(p) she will make the football team(q). Emily is not buff(q). Therefore, she will not make the football team(p).

Modus Ponen

Modus ponens are centered around one formula:
If p then q
p
Therefore q

For example,
If Emily is buff, she will get onto the football team.
Emily is buff.
Therefore, she will get onto the football team.

In this example, "If Emily is buff" is p, and "will get onto the football team" is q. Therefore, if we are following the formula, we will restate p in the next line ("Emily is buff"), and then state "Therefore q" in the last line ("Therefore, she will get onto the football team.").

Syllogism

Alright. So, today we learned about syllogisms, the most fantastic things in the whole nutting world.
A syllogism is a bringing together of two statements to arrive at a conclusion. Syllogisms must have 3 parts - a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. Or, as Aristotle explained it - each of the premises is in the form "Some/All A belongs to B," where "Some/All A" is one term and "belong to B" is another. For example: All core teachers can fly(major premise). Mr. Basinger is a core teacher (minor premise). Mr. Basinger can fly (conclusion). Each premise contains two parts, noted by the formula for syllogisms: A=B B=C C=A. In the major premise (All core teachers can fly.), "All core teachers" is B, and "can fly" is part A. In the minor statement (Mr. Basinger is a core teacher.) "Mr. Basinger is C, and "is a core teacher" is (as it was in the major premise) B. Therefore, in the conclusion when we state, "Mr. Basinger can fly," we are fulfilling the formula (C=A) - Mr. Basinger (C) can fly (A).