How to be Critically Open-Minded — A Psychological and Historical Analysis

246 Pages·2014·1.284 MB·English

by  John Lambie (auth.)

How to be Critically Open-Minded – A Psychological
and Historical Analysis
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How to be Critically
Open-Minded –
A Psychological and
Historical Analysis
John Lambie
DepartmentofPsychology,AngliaRuskinUniversity,Cambridge,UK
©JohnLambie2014
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Contents
ListofFiguresandTables ix
Preface x
Acknowledgements xiii
1 HowIsHumanProgressPossible? 1
Part I CriticalOpen-Mindedness:WhatIsIt?
2 IntroducingCriticalOpen-Mindedness 13
3 CaseStudy1:OpenandClosedMinds–ErasmusVersus
Luther 29
4 PreviousApproachestoOpen-Mindedness:FromSocrates
tothePresent 40
5 SummaryoftheNewModelofCriticalOpen-Mindedness 60
Part II CriticalOpen-Mindedness:WhatIsIt
GoodFor?
6 EffectsofOpen-MindednessonDecisionMaking,
Morality,andWell-Being 77
7 CaseStudyII:Morality–TheLevellersandReligious
Toleration 92
8 CaseStudyIII:Science–GalileoandCriticalPerspective
Shifting 117
Part III CriticalOpen-Mindedness:
WhatUnderpinsIt?
9 HistoryofOpenandClosedSocieties 131
10 PsychologicalandBiologicalRootsofOpen-Mindedness 161
11 CaseStudyIV:SoundSelf-Awareness–JosephStalinversus
JaneAusten 176
vii
viii Contents
Part IV ImplicationsandConclusions
12 DefendingandCultivatingCriticalOpen-Mindedness 185
13 Open-Mindedness,Science,andReligion 198
14 SummaryandConclusion 207
Notes 209
References 223
Index 234
Figures and Tables
Figures
1.1 Theincreasinglyhigh,straightforeheadduringhuman
evolutionsuggestsanexpansionoftheprefrontalcortex 5
1.2 The32,000-year-oldLionManStatueof
Hohlenstein-Stadel(photo:J.Duckeck,Wikimedia
Commons) 7
2.1 Thedifferencebetween“basic”open-mindednessand
closed-mindedness 14
2.2 Criticalopen-mindednessdistinguishedfrombothbasic
open-mindednessandclosed-mindedness(POV=point
ofview) 18
5.1 Thekeyingredientsofcriticalopen-mindednessand
dogmaticclosed-mindedness 61
5.2 Fourmodesofopen-andclosed-mindedness 64
Tables
5.1 Summaryofattitudestopointsofviewaccordingto
criticalopen-mindednessanddogmatic
closed-mindedness 66
6.1 TenAmericanpoliticalcrises,theiroutcomes,andthe
integrativecomplexityscoreofthepresidentconcerned 84
9.1 Brown’s(1988)listofopenandclosedsocietiestillthe
endoftheMiddleAges(withveryapproximatedatesin
parentheses) 133
9.2 CalvinismandArminianismcontrasted 145
9.3 Elevencountriescomparedoneightputative“Open
Society”indicators(2004–2013) 157
ix