Critical Thinking : A Student's Introduction

by Bassham, Gregory; Irwin, William; Nardone, Henry; Wallace, James M.

• ISBN13: 9780073407340
• ISBN10: 0073407348
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-05-23
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Summary

Through the use of humor, fun exercises, and a plethora of innovative and interesting selections from writers such as Dave Barry, Al Franken, J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as from the film The Matrix, this text hones students' critical thinking skills. Students will find this text enjoyable and memorable; instructors will find it and its accompanying supplements effective and easy to use.

Author Biography

Gregory Bassham is Director of the Center for Ethics and Public Life and Chair of the Philosophy Department at King’s College (Pa.). He is the co-editor of The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy (Open Court, 2003), author of Original Intent and the Constitution: A Philosophical Study (Rowman & Littlefield, 1992), and co-editor of Powerweb: Critical Thinking (McGraw-Hill, 2003-2004).William Irwin is Associate Professor of Philosophy at King's College and Series Editor of Open Court's Popular Culture and Philosophy. Co-editor of The Simpsons and Philosophy (Open Court, 2001), his most recent book, The Matrix and Philosophy, was a New York Times Bestseller.Henry Nardone is Professor of Philosophy at King's College. His publications include scholarly articles on critical thinking and aesthetics.James M. Wallace is Professor of English at King's College. Author of Parallel Lives: A Novel Way to Learn Thinking and Writing (1999), Jim's essay, "A (Karl Not Groucho) Marxist in Springfield," appeared in The Simpsons and Philosophy (Open Court, 2001).

Table of Contents

Introduction to Critical Thinking

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical Thinking

Standards The Benefits of Critical Thinking

Barriers to Critical Thinking

Characteristics of a Critical Thinker

Recognizing Arguments

What Is an Argument?

Identifying Premises and Conclusions What Is Not an Argument?

Basic Logical Concepts Deduction and Induction

How Can We Tell Whether an Argument is Deductive or Inductive?

Common Patterns of Deductive

Reasoning Common Patterns of Inductive Reasoning

Deductive Validity

Inductive Strength

Language Finding the Right Words: The Need for Precision The Importance of Precise Definitions Emotive Language: Slanting the Truth Euphemisms and Political Correctness

Logical Fallacies-1

The Concept of Relevance Fallacies of Relevance

Logical Fallacies-2

Fallacies of Insufficient Evidence

Analyzing Arguments

Diagramming Short Arguments

Summarizing Longer Arguments

Evaluating Arguments

When Is an Argument a Good One?

When Is It Reasonable to Accept a Premise?

Appendix: Sample Critical Essay

A Little Categorical Logic Categorical Statements

Translating into Standard Categorical

Form Categorical Syllogisms

A Little Propositional Logic Conjunction

Conjunction and Validity Negation

Deeper Analysis of Negation and Conjunction

Disjunction Conditional Statements

Inductive Reasoning

Introduction to Induction Inductive

Generalizations Statistical Arguments

Induction and Analogy Induction and Causal

Arguments A Few Words about Probability

Finding, Evaluating, and Using Sources Finding Sources

Evaluating Sources Taking Notes Using Sources

Writing Argumentative Essays Writing a Successful Argument

Before you Write Writing the First Draft After the First Draft

Thinking Critically about the Media

The Mass Media

The News Media Getting Us to Pay Attention: What Really

Drives the Media Keeping Our Interest: The News as Entertainment Media Literacy Advertising

Science and Pseudoscience

The Basic Pattern of Scientific Reasoning

The Limitations of Science How to Distinguish Science from Pseudoscience

Two Case Studies in Pseudoscience and the Paranormal

Notes

Answers to Selected Exercises

Credits Glossary

Index

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