How (Not) To Think Like Sherlock Holmes
Mon 2 Jun 2025, 1:00 pm - Mon 30 Jun 2025, 3:00 pm
£75.00
Come and discover the reasoning skills of the (so-called) Master of Deduction. Just how does Sherlock Holmes come to his conclusions? How does he convince Scotland Yard that he is right? And is it wise of him to forget that the earth goes around the sun?
An exploration of critical thinking and epistemology through the magnifying lens of the great detective, intended to have you musing and amused.
Week One: Master of Deduction?: Are Holmes’s arguments deductive? Deductive validity, inductive force, and alternative explanations.
Week Two: Why Believe Holmes? An examination of epistemic privilege, and what it means to argue well.
Week Three: Eliminating the Impossible: Can we? And if we do, is whatever remains (however improbable) necessarily the truth?
Week Four: The Solitary Genius: How the world’s only consulting detective thinks for (and by) himself; and why he shouldn’t.
Week Five: Stocking the Brain-Attic: On wilful ignorance, and not knowing what you don’t know.
Event Information
Price: £75.00
Course Weeks: 5
Room: Brunt
Campaign: Spring term 2025
Customer Information: Please bring a pen/notebook, or device.
Your Tutor
Name: Lisa McNulty
Bio: Dr. Lisa McNulty has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Kent and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton. Lisa taught philosophy at universities, primary and secondary schools, and even in corporate settings, where she has run workshops on logic and on communication. Lisa brings her expertise in epistemology (theory of knowledge) and philosophy of education to her role as Head of Learning at the consultancy firm Hedwyn, where she designs professional development courses.
Lisa believes in philosophy as a tool to gain a fresh perspective on virtually any other subject and loves collaborations and crossovers.
Expect “Philosophy of…” many different things!
https://hedwyn.com/#about-us
https://www.lisamcnulty.co.uk/
Department: Humanities
