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Added by: Berta GrimauPublisher's note: We are frequently confronted with arguments. Arguments are attempts to persuade us - to influence our beliefs and actions - by giving us reasons to believe this or that. Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide will equip students with the concepts and techniques used in the identification, analysis and assessment of arguments. Through precise and accessible discussion, this book provides the tools to become a successful critical thinker, one who can act and believe in accordance with good reasons, and who can articulate and make explicit those reasons. Key topics discussed include:
- Core concepts in argumentation.
- How language can serve to obscure or conceal the real content of arguments; how to distinguish argumentation from rhetoric.
- How to avoid common confusions surrounding words such as 'truth', 'knowledge' and 'opinion'.
- How to identify and evaluate the most common types of argument.
- How to distinguish good reasoning from bad in terms of deductive validly and induction.
Comment: Appropriate for complete beginners to logic and philosophy. Adequate for an introduction to critical thinking. It doesn't presuppose any previous knowledge of logic. Moreover, there is an interactive website for the book which provides resources for both instructors and students including new examples and case studies, flashcards, sample questions, practice questions and answers, student activities and a test bank of questions for use in the classroom.
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Added by: Viviane FairbankAbstract:
"It must be the desire of every reasonable person to know how to justify a contention which is of sufficient importance to be seriously questioned. The explicit formulation of the principles of sound reasoning is the concern of Logic". This book discusses the habit of sound reasoning which is acquired by consciously attending to the logical principles of sound reasoning, in order to apply them to test the soundness of arguments. It isn’t an introduction to logic but it encourages the practice of logic, of deciding whether reasons in argument are sound or unsound. Stress is laid upon the importance of considering language, which is a key instrument of our thinking and is imperfect.Comment: This is a short introduction to critical thinking, with some (light) discussion of formal logic and linguistic and epistemological considerations. It is notable in that Stebbing uses a number of applied examples and provides a unified discussion of practical and theoretical reasoning. It could easily be incorporated into a syllabus on critical thinking, introductory epistemology, or (in)formal reasoning.
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Added by: Franci MangravitiAbstract:
The chapter portrays how contextual examples are relevant to methods of teaching that empower understanding. Focusing on argument from Vine Deloria, jr’s Red Earth, White Lies, Native students inspire one another to learn critical thinking skills, as they discover ways to determine whether Deloria’s concerns with the logic of Western thought are shown to be justified. In the context of teaching about a particular critical thinking fallacy, students grasp the application of logical skills in their own meaningful
cultural context. The point driven home is that the meaningful and culturally relevant contextual content of examples used to teach critical thinking can excite and inspire Native students to learn. Thus philosophers can reinforce the acquisition of critical thinking skills for Native students by using meaningful, familiar content to reinforce understanding and praxis, for the recognition of cognitively false conclusions. This chapter implies an ethical maxim: using examples only from Western thought to teach critical thinking skills may prejudice students of other traditions in their acquisition of these skills.Comment: A natural pick for a course on teaching philosophy, or that involves a discussion of epistemic injustice in philosophy education.