Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric The Use of Reason in Everyday Life

by Kahane, Howard; Cavender, Nancy M.

• ISBN13: 9780534626044
• ISBN10: 0534626041
• Edition: 10th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-02
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

This classic text, first published in 1971, has introduced tens of thousands of students to sound reasoning using a wealth of current, relevant, and stimulating examples all put together and explained in Howard Kahane's uniquely witty and invigorating writing style. Long the choice of instructors who want to "keep students interested", LOGIC AND CONTEMPORARY RHETORIC combines examples from TV, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, and, in typical Kahanian fashion, our nation¹s political dialogue. The text not only brings the concepts alive for students, but puts critical thinking skills into a context that students will retain and use throughout their lives. This is a book you can actually count on students to read.

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Good and Bad Reasoning	1	(30)
Reasoning and Arguments	2	(2)
Exposition and Argument	4	(2)
Cogent Reasoning	6	(3)
Two Basic Kinds of Valid Arguments	9	(3)
Some Wrong Ideas about Cogent Reasoning	12	(2)
Background Beliefs	14	(1)
Kinds of Background Beliefs	15	(1)
Worldviews or Philosophies	16	(1)
Insufficiently Grounded Beliefs	17	(5)
Two Vital Kinds of Background Beliefs	22	(1)
Science to the Rescue	23	(8)
Summary of Chapter 1	27	(4)
More on Deduction and Induction	31	(16)
Deductive Validity	31	(3)
Deductive Invalidity	34	(1)
Syllogisms	35	(2)
Indirect Proofs	37	(1)
Tautologies, Contradictions, and Contingent Statements	37	(1)
Inductive Validity (Correctness) and Invalidity (Incorrectness)	38	(4)
A Misconception about Deduction and Induction	42	(1)
Reasoning Cogently versus Being Right in Fact	43	(4)
Summary of Chapter 2	43	(4)
Fallacious Reasoning---1	47	(26)
Appeal to Authority	48	(4)
Inconsistency	52	(6)
Straw Man	58	(1)
False Dilemma and the Either-Or Fallacy	58	(1)
Begging the Question	59	(2)
Questionable Premise---Questionable Statement	61	(1)
Suppressed (Overlooked) Evidence	62	(2)
Tokenism	64	(9)
Summary of Chapter 3	65	(8)
Fallacious Reasoning---2	73	(18)
Ad Hominem Argument	73	(2)
Two Wrongs Make a Right	75	(3)
Irrelevant Reason (Non Sequitur)	78	(2)
Equivocation	80	(2)
Appeal to Ignorance	82	(2)
Composition and Division	84	(1)
Slippery Slope	84	(7)
Summary of Chapter 4	85	(6)
Fallacious Reasoning---3	91	(28)
Hasty Conclusion	91	(1)
Small Sample	92	(1)
Unrepresentative Sample	92	(1)
Questionable Cause	93	(3)
Questionable Analogy	96	(2)
Questionable Statistics	98	(2)
Questionable Uses of Good Statistics	100	(2)
Polls: An Important Special Case	102	(3)
False Charge of Fallacy	105	(14)
Summary of Chapter 5	107	(12)
Psychological Impediments to Cogent Reasoning: Shooting Ourselves in the Foot	119	(26)
Loyalty, Provincialism, and the Herd Instinct	120	(2)
Prejudice, Stereotypes, Scapegoats, and Partisan Mind Sets	122	(2)
Superstitious Beliefs	124	(1)
Wishful Thinking and Self-Deception	125	(2)
Rationalization and Procrastination	127	(4)
Other Defense Mechanisms	131	(1)
The Benefits of Self-Deception, Wishful Thinking, and Denial	132	(2)
The Pull of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal	134	(3)
Lack of a Good Sense of Proportion	137	(8)
Summary of Chapter 6	139	(6)
Language	145	(28)
Cognitive and Emotive Meanings	145	(1)
Emotive Meanings and Persuasive Uses of Language	146	(6)
Other Common Rhetorical Devices	152	(6)
Language Manipulators	158	(4)
Language Revision	162	(11)
Summary of Chapter 7	167	(6)
Evaluating Extended Arguments	173	(30)
The Basic Tasks of Essay Evaluation	174	(7)
The Margin Note and Summary Method	181	(5)
Extended Evaluation of an Argument	186	(5)
Dealing with Value Claims	191	(5)
Evaluating Ironic Works	196	(7)
Summary of Chapter 8	200	(3)
Writing Cogent (and Persuasive) Essays	203	(26)
The Writing Process	203	(1)
Preparing to Write	204	(1)
Writing the Essay	205	(4)
Supporting Reasons Effectively	209	(20)
Summary of Chapter 9	226	(3)
Advertising: Selling the Product	229	(34)
Promise and Identification Advertisements	230	(2)
Things to Watch Out for in Advertisements	232	(10)
The Upside of Ads	242	(1)
Trends in Marketing	242	(5)
Political Advertising	247	(16)
Summary of Chapter 10	258	(5)
Managing the News	263	(50)
The Media and the Power of Money	264	(13)
News-Gathering Methods Are Designed to Save Money	277	(2)
Misdirection and Lack of Proportion	279	(1)
News Reporting: Theory and Practice	280	(8)
Devices Used to Slant the News	288	(7)
Television, Film, and Electronic Information Sources	295	(4)
The Non-Mass Media to the Rescue	299	(2)
Recent Developments	301	(12)
Summary of Chapter 11	306	(7)
Textbooks: Managing Worldviews	313	(38)
High School History Textbooks	314	(6)
A Typical High School History Textbook	320	(3)
Social Studies (Civics) Textbooks Minimize the Great Gulf between Theory and Practice	323	(3)
Textbooks and Indoctrination	326	(2)
Textbooks and Politics	328	(5)
Censorship	333	(9)
Textbooks Fail to Give Students Genuine Understanding	342	(1)
Postscript on College Texts	343	(8)
Summary of Chapter 12	345	(6)
Appendix More on Cogent Reasoning	351	(9)
1 More on Cause and Effect	351	(1)
2 Scientific Method	352	(3)
3 Calculating Probabilities and Fair Odds	355	(5)
Answers to Starred Exercise Items	360	(7)
Bibliography	367	(10)
Glossary	377	(4)
Indexes	381