The Power of Critical Thinking Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims

by Vaughn, Lewis

• ISBN13: 9780195161427
• ISBN10: 0195161424
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Enhanced by many innovative exercises, examples, and pedagogical features, The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims provides a clear-cut introduction to the subject. Author Lewis Vaughn explores the essentials of critical reasoning, argumentation, logic, and argumentative essay writing while also incorporating material on important topics that most other texts leave out. Offering comprehensive treatments of core topics, The Power of Critical Thinking includes an introduction to claims and arguments (Chapter 3); discussions of propositional and categorical logic (Chapters 6 and 7); and full coverage of the basics of inductive reasoning, including Mill's methods, enumerative and analogical induction, causal arguments, and opinion polls (Chapter 8). Building on this solid foundation, the book also delves into areas neglected by other texts, adding extensive material on "inference to the best explanation" and on scientific reasoning; a thorough look at the evaluation of evidence and credibility; and a chapter on the psychological and social factors that can impede critical thinking. Additional notable elements are a chapter on moral reasoning, advice on how to evaluate Internet sources, and guidelines for evaluating occult, paranormal, or supernatural claims. Designed to help students move from passive to active learning, The Power of Critical Thinking contains many helpful pedagogical features including: * Hundreds of diverse exercises, examples, and illustrations drawn from a broad spectrum of sources * Progressive, stand-alone writing modules that encourage students to develop effective writing skills * Numerous informative and provocative text boxes in three types: Review Notes, Highlights of Previous Chapters, and Further Thought * Opening "reminder" sections (brief sketches of preceding chapters) and end-of-chapter summaries * Step-by-step guidelines for evaluating claims, arguments, and explanations * A glossary of important terms * A companion website at www.oup.com/us/criticalthinking that includes a student study guide with notes, quizzes, additional exercises, and other materials * A printed Instructor's Manual with Test Bank and a Computerized Test Bank Written in a student-friendly style and enhanced by humor where appropriate, this unique text makes critical thinking engaging and applicable to students' lives without oversimplifying the material or avoiding difficult issues. Featuring a modular structure that allows instructors to teach the chapters in almost any order, it is an ideal text for courses in critical thinking, introduction to logic, informal logic, argumentative writing, and introduction to argumentation.

Author Biography

Lewis Vaughn is a coauthor of Doing Philosophy: An Introduction Through Thought Experiments; How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age; and The Case for Humanism: An Introduction. He is the former editor of Free Inquiry magazine and the former executive editor of the philosophy journal Philo.

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
1 Basics
1 The Power of Critical Thinking	3	(29)
Why It Matters	5	(3)
How It Works	8	(9)
Claims and Reasons	8	(1)
Reasons and Arguments	9	(5)
Arguments in the Rough	14	(3)
Summary	17	(2)
Exercises	19	(6)
Field Problem	25	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	25	(3)
Critical Thinking and Writing: Module 1	28	(3)
Writing Assignments	31	(1)
2 The "Environment" of Critical Thinking	32	(30)
Perils of a Haunted Mind	34	(10)
The Almighty Self	34	(6)
The Power of the Group	40	(4)
Perils of a Haunted Worldview	44	(4)
Subjective Relativism	44	(2)
Social Relativism	46	(1)
Skepticism	47	(1)
Summary	48	(1)
Exercises	49	(6)
Field Problems	55	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	55	(1)
Integrative Exercises	56	(3)
Critical Thinking and Writing: Module 2	59	(2)
Writing Assignments	61	(1)
3 Making Sense of Arguments	62	(53)
Argument Basics	62	(5)
Judging Arguments	67	(8)
Finding Missing Parts	75	(5)
Argument Patterns	80	(7)
Diagramming Arguments	87	(10)
Assessing Long Arguments	97	(5)
Summary	102	(1)
Field Problems	103	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	103	(2)
Integrative Exercises	105	(3)
Critical Thinking and Writing: Module 3	108	(3)
Writing Assignments	111	(4)
2 Reasons
4 Reasons for Belief and Doubt	115	(40)
When Claims Conflict	117	(3)
Experts and Evidence	120	(6)
Personal Experience	126	(6)
Impairment	127	(2)
Expectation	129	(1)
Innumeracy	130	(2)
Fooling Ourselves	132	(4)
Resisting Contrary Evidence	132	(1)
Looking for Confirming Evidence	133	(1)
Preferring Available Evidence	134	(2)
Claims in the News	136	(6)
Inside the News	137	(3)
Sorting Out the News	140	(2)
Summary	142	(1)
Exercises	143	(3)
Field Problems	146	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	146	(2)
Integrative Exercises	148	(2)
Critical Thinking and Writing: Module 4	150	(4)
Writing Assignments	154	(1)
5 Faulty Reasoning	155	(32)
Irrelevant Premises	156	(13)
Genetic Fallacy	156	(1)
Composition	156	(1)
Division	157	(1)
Appeal to the Person	158	(3)
Equivocation	161	(1)
Appeal to Popularity	161	(1)
Appeal to Tradition	162	(1)
Appeal to Ignorance	162	(3)
Appeal to Emotion	165	(1)
Red Herring	166	(1)
Straw Man	167	(2)
Unacceptable Premises	169	(6)
Begging the Question	169	(1)
False Dilemma	170	(2)
Slippery Slope	172	(1)
Hasty Generalization	173	(1)
Faulty Analogy	174	(1)
Summary	175	(1)
Exercises	176	(4)
Field Problems	180	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	180	(1)
Integrative Exercises	181	(2)
Writing Assignments	183	(4)
3 Arguments
6 Deductive Reasoning: Propositional Logic	187	(32)
Connectives and Truth Values	188	(12)
Conjunction	191	(1)
Disjunction	192	(2)
Negation	194	(1)
Conditional	195	(5)
Checking for Validity	200	(14)
Simple Arguments	200	(4)
Tricky Arguments	204	(3)
Streamlined Evaluation	207	(7)
Summary	214	(1)
Field Problems	214	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	215	(1)
Integrative Exercises	216	(2)
Writing Assignments	218	(1)
7 Deductive Reasoning: Categorical Logic	219	(31)
Statements and Classes	220	(3)
Translations and Standard Form	223	(7)
Terms	224	(4)
Quantifiers	228	(2)
Diagramming Categorical Statements	230	(5)
Sizing Up Categorical Syllogisms	235	(9)
Summary	244	(1)
Field Problems	245	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	245	(1)
Integrative Exercises	246	(3)
Writing Assignments	249	(1)
8 Inductive Reasoning	250	(53)
Enumerative Induction	251	(15)
Sample Size	253	(2)
Representativeness	255	(1)
Opinion Polls	256	(10)
Analogical Induction	266	(9)
Causal Arguments	275	(18)
Testing for Causes	276	(5)
Causal Confusions	281	(6)
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions	287	(6)
Summary	293	(1)
Field Problems	294	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	295	(2)
Integrative Exercises	297	(3)
Writing Assignments	300	(3)
4 Explanations
9 Inference to the Best Explanation	303	(96)
Explanations and Inference	304	(11)
Theories and Consistency	315	(1)
Theories and Criteria	316	(14)
Testability	318	(2)
Fruitfulness	320	(2)
Scope	322	(1)
Simplicity	323	(2)
Conservatism	325	(5)
Telling Good Theories from Bad	330	(12)
A Doomed Flight	333	(3)
An Amazing Cure	336	(6)
Summary	342	(1)
Field Problems	342	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	343	(1)
Integrative Exercises	344	(2)
Writing Assignments	346	(1)
10 Judging Scientific Theories	347	(52)
Science and Not Science	347	(4)
The Scientific Method	351	(3)
Testing Scientific Theories	354	(2)
Judging Scientific Theories	356	(13)
Copernicus Versus Ptolemy	357	(2)
Evolution Versus Creationism	359	(10)
Science and Weird Theories	369	(1)
Making Weird Mistakes	370	(3)
Leaping to the Weirdest Theory	371	(1)
Mixing What Seems with What Is	372	(1)
Misunderstanding the Possibilities	372	(1)
Judging Weird Theories	373	(20)
Crop Circles	374	(9)
Talking with the Dead	383	(10)
Summary	393	(1)
Field Problems	393	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	394	(1)
Integrative Exercises	395	(2)
Writing Assignments	397	(2)
11 Judging Moral Arguments and Theories	399	(24)
Moral Arguments	400	(6)
Moral Theories	406	(6)
A Coherent Worldview	412	(2)
Summary	414	(1)
Exercises	415	(4)
Field Problems	419	(1)
Self-Assessment Quiz	419	(1)
Integrative Exercises	420	(2)
Writing Assignments	422	(1)
Appendix A: Essays for Evaluation	423	(32)
1. "Death Penalty Discriminates Against Black Crime Victims"	423	(1)
2. "Marine Parks"	424	(2)
3. "The Wrong Ruling on Vouchers"	426	(1)
4. "The Kalam Cosmological Argument"	427	(3)
5. "The Naturalist and the Supernaturalist"	430	(5)
6. "Misleading the Patient for Fun and Profit"	435	(3)
7. "Tight Limits on Stem Cells Betray Research Potential"	438	(2)
8. "The Cohabitation Epidemic"	440	(2)
9. "UFO Abductions"	442	(9)
10. "Amityville: The Horror of It All"	451	(4)
Appendix B: Answers to Exercises	455	(28)
Notes	483	(4)
Glossary	487	(7)
Credits	494	(3)
Index	497