Critical thinking

Cover
Brief Contents
Contents
Preface
Changes to the 13th Edition
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Driving Blindfolded
	Beliefs and Claims
		Objective Claims and Subjective Judgments
		Fact and Opinion
		Relativism
		Moral Subjectivism
	Issues
	Arguments
	Cognitive Biases
	Truth and Knowledge
	What Critical Thinking Can and Can’t Do
	A Word About the Exercises
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 2: Two Kinds of Reasoning
	Arguments: General Features
		Conclusions Used as Premises
		Unstated Premises and Conclusions
	Two Kinds of Arguments
		Deductive Arguments
		Inductive Arguments
	Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
	Two Kinds of Deductive Arguments
	Four Kinds of Inductive Arguments
	Telling the Difference Between Deductive and Inductive Arguments
	Deduction, Induction, and Unstated Premises
	Balance of Considerations
	Not Premises, Conclusions, or Arguments
		Selfies (and Other Pictures)
		If . . . Then . . . Sentences
		Lists of Facts
		“A because B”
	Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
	Techniques for Understanding Arguments
		Clarifying an Argument’s Structure
		Distinguishing Arguments from Window Dressing
	Evaluating Arguments
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 3: Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Clear Writing
	Vagueness
	Ambiguity
		Semantic Ambiguity
		Grouping Ambiguity
		Syntactic Ambiguity
	Generality
	Defining Terms
		Purposes of Definitions
		Kinds of Definitions
		Tips on Definitions
	Writing Argumentative Essays
		Good Writing Practices
		Essay Types to Avoid
		Persuasive Writing
		Writing in a Diverse Society
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 4: Credibility
	The Believability of Claims
		Does the Claim Conflict with Personal Observation?
		Does the Claim Conflict with Our Background Information?
		Might the Claim Reinforce Our Biases?
	The Credibility of Sources
		Interested Parties
		Physical and Other Characteristics
		Expertise
	The News
		Mainstream News Media
	Advertising
		Three Kinds of Ads
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 5: Rhetoric, the Art of Persuasion
	Rhetorical Force
	Rhetorical Devices I
		Euphemisms and Dysphemisms
		Weaselers
		Downplayers
	Rhetorical Devices II
		Stereotypes
		Innuendo
		Loaded Questions
	Rhetorical Devices III
		Ridicule/Sarcasm
		Hyperbole
	Rhetorical Devices IV
		Rhetorical Definitions and Rhetorical Explanations
		Rhetorical Analogies and Misleading Comparisons
	Proof Surrogates and Repetition
		Proof Surrogates
		Repetition
	Persuasion Through Visual Imagery
	The Extreme Rhetoric of Demagoguery
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 6: Relevance (Red Herring) Fallacies
	Argumentum Ad Hominem
		Poisoning the Well
		Guilt by Association
		Genetic Fallacy
	Straw Man
	False Dilemma (Ignoring Other Alternatives)
		The Perfectionist Fallacy
		The Line-Drawing Fallacy
	Misplacing the Burden of Proof
	Begging the Question (Assuming What You Are Trying to Prove)
	Appeal to Emotion
		Argument from Outrage
		Scare Tactics
		Appeal to Pity
		Other Appeals to Emotion
	Irrelevant Conclusion
	Recap
	Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 7: Induction Fallacies
	Generalizations
		Generalizing from Too Few Cases (Hasty Generalization)
		Generalizing from Exceptional Cases
		Accident
	Weak Analogy
	Mistaken Appeal to Authority
	Mistaken Appeal to Popularity (Mistaken Appeal to Common Belief)
		Mistaken Appeal to Common Practice
		Bandwagon Fallacy
	Fallacies Related to Cause and Effect
		Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
		Cum Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
	Slippery Slope
	Untestable Explanation
	Line-Drawing Again
	Recap
	Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 8: Formal Fallacies and Fallacies of Language
	Three Formal Fallacies: Affirming the Consequent, Denying the Antecedent, and Undistributed Middle
		Affirming the Consequent
		Denying the Antecedent
		The Undistributed Middle
	The Fallacies of Equivocation and Amphiboly
	The Fallacies of Composition and Division
	Confusing Explanations with Excuses
	Confusing Contraries and Contradictories
	Consistency and Inconsistency
	Miscalculating Probabilities
		Incorrectly Combining the Probability of Independent Events
		Gambler’s Fallacy
		Overlooking Prior Probabilities
		Faulty Inductive Conversion
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 9: Deductive Arguments I: Categorical Logic
	Categorical Claims
		Venn Diagrams
	Translation into Standard Form (Introduction)
		Translating Claims in Which the Word “Only” or the Phrase “The Only” Occurs
		Translating Claims About Times and Places
		Translating Claims About Specific Individuals
		Translating Claims that Use Mass Nouns
	The Square of Opposition
		Existential Assumption and the Square of Opposition
		Inferences Across the Square
	Three Categorical Relations
		Conversion
		Obversion
		Contraposition
	Categorical Syllogisms
		The Venn Diagram Method of Testing for Validity
		Existential Assumption in Categorical Syllogisms
		Categorical Syllogisms with Unstated Premises
		Real-Life Syllogisms
		The Rules Method of Testing for Validity
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 10: Deductive Arguments II: Truth-Functional Logic
	Truth Tables and Logical Symbols
		Claim Variables
		Truth Tables
	Symbolizing Compound Claims
		“If” and “Only If”
		Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
		“Unless”
		“Either . . . Or”
	Truth-Functional Argument Patterns (Brief Version)
		Three Common Valid Argument Patterns
		Three Mistakes: Invalid Argument Forms
	Truth-Functional Arguments (Full Version)
		The Truth-Table Method
		The Short Truth-Table Method
	Deductions
		Group I Rules: Elementary Valid Argument Patterns
		Group II Rules: Truth-Functional Equivalences
		Conditional Proof
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 11: Inductive Reasoning
	Argument from Analogy
		Evaluation of Arguments from Analogy
		Three Arguments from Analogy
		Other Uses of Analogy
	Generalizing from a Sample
		Evaluation of Arguments That Generalize from a Sample
		Three Arguments That Generalize from a Sample
	Scientific Generalizing from a Sample
	De-generalizing (Reverse Generalizing; the Statistical Syllogism)
	Causal Statements and Their Support
		Forming Causal Hypotheses
		Weighing Evidence
		Confirming Causal Hypotheses
		Inference to the Best Explanation
		Reasoning from Cause to Effect
	Calculating Statistical Probabilities
		Joint Occurrence of Independent Events
		Alternative Occurrences
		Expectation Value
		Calculating Conditional Probabilities
	Causation in the Law
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Chapter 12: Moral, Legal, and Aesthetic Reasoning
	Value Judgments
		Moral Versus Nonmoral
		Two Principles of Moral Reasoning
		Moral Principles
		Deriving Specific Moral Value Judgments
	Major Perspectives in Moral Reasoning
		Consequentialism
		Duty Theory/Deontologism
		Moral Relativism
		Religious Relativism
		Religious Absolutism
		Virtue Ethics
	Moral Deliberation
	Legal Reasoning
		Justifying Laws: Four Perspectives
	Aesthetic Reasoning
		Eight Aesthetic Principles
		Using Aesthetic Principles to Judge Aesthetic Value
		Evaluating Aesthetic Criticism: Relevance and Truth
		Why Reason Aesthetically?
	Recap
	Additional Exercises
	Answers and Tips
Appendix: Selected Exercises from Previous Editions
Glossary
Index