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Reading 1: “Philosophy Is Murder: A Nebuchadnezzar Hulk Mystery”
Professor William Lancaster, chairman of the philosophy department at Fountain College, is shot to death in his study at his home. He had separate appointments with four other professors—Bergmann, Lord, Trilling, and Stout. One of those professors was to be fired and is presumably the murderer. The detective, Nebuchadnezzar Hulk, comes across a logical puzzle on the deceased’s desk pad that indicates who is the murderer. The reader is challenged to solve the puzzle before Hulk reveals the solution.
Reading 2: “Another Pilgrim’s Progress”
Pilgrim convinces her brother, Caution, to leave the devastated town of Status Quo to try to find the Heavenly City, even though Caution doubts such a city exists. Along the way they meet characters and situations that represent logical fallacies, such as Pop, who does his thinking by “following the crowd”; Circles, the beggar, who uses circular arguments that “beg the question”; an authority who’s anything but; Hasty, who jumps too quickly to conclusions; and Faith, who has confident beliefs that seem to be immune to any possible counterevidence.