Critical Thinking

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 3
Copyright Page......Page 4
Brief Table of Contents......Page 5
Table of CONTENTS......Page 7
List of Boxes......Page 18
Preface......Page 24
Acknowledgments......Page 26
A Note to Our Colleagues......Page 28
Book Features......Page 20
About the Authors......Page 30
Dedication Page......Page 31
Advisory......Page 32
CHAPTER 1 What Is Critical Thinking, Anyway?......Page 33
In Depth: Critical Thinking, the Long Version......Page 35
Beliefs and Claims......Page 36
Objective Claims and Subjective Claims......Page 37
Moral Subjectivism......Page 38
Issues......Page 39
Arguments......Page 40
Cognitive Biases......Page 49
In Depth: Rational Choice?......Page 51
Truth and Knowledge......Page 55
A Word About the Exercises......Page 56
Recap......Page 57
Additional Exercises......Page 58
Arguments: General Features......Page 69
Unstated Premises and Conclusions......Page 70
Deductive Arguments......Page 71
Inductive Arguments......Page 72
Real Life Abe Lincoln Knew His Logic......Page 73
Deduction, Induction, and Unstated Premises......Page 75
“Balance of Considerations” and IBEs......Page 77
Pictures......Page 78
“A because B”......Page 79
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos......Page 80
Clarifying an Argument’s Structure......Page 84
Distinguishing Arguments from Window Dressing......Page 86
On Language Stupid Liberal!......Page 87
Recap......Page 88
Additional Exercises......Page 89
CHAPTER 3 Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Clear Writing......Page 101
In the Media Say What?? . . .......Page 103
Real Life Vagueness at the Border......Page 104
Ambiguity......Page 106
Semantic Ambiguity......Page 107
Grouping Ambiguity......Page 108
Syntactic Ambiguity......Page 109
In Depth: More Examples of the Composition and Division Fallacies......Page 110
On Language Making Ambiguity Work for You......Page 111
Generality......Page 112
Defining Terms......Page 115
Purposes of Defi nitions......Page 116
Kinds of Defi nitions......Page 117
In Depth: Are We Innately Selfish?......Page 118
Writing Argumentative Essays......Page 119
Good Writing Practices......Page 121
On Language And While We’re on the Subject of Writing......Page 122
Writing in a Diverse Society......Page 123
Additional Exercises......Page 125
CHAPTER 4 Credibility......Page 136
Real Life The Nigerian Advance Fee 4-1-9 Fraud: The Internet’s Longest-Running Scam Is Still Running Strong......Page 137
The Claim and Its Source......Page 138
In the Media Guaranteeing an Interested Party, or the Fox Audits the Henhouse......Page 139
In the Media Incredible Claims!......Page 140
Real Life When Personal Observation Fails . . .......Page 141
Does the Claim Confl ict with Our Background Information?......Page 143
Real Life Do Your Ears Stick Straight Out?......Page 144
Real Life Fib Wizards......Page 145
Real Life Not All That Glitters......Page 147
Real Life Whom Do You Trust?......Page 148
Real Life War-Making Policies and Interested Parties......Page 150
Real Life Smoking and Not Paying Attention Can Be Deadly......Page 152
Consolidation of Media Ownership......Page 154
Government Management of the News......Page 155
In the Media Jumping to Conclusions in the News......Page 156
In the Media Saving Private Lynch......Page 157
The Internet, Generally......Page 159
In the Media Evaluating Website Credibility: A Tip from the Professionals......Page 160
In the Media Webcheckers......Page 162
Advertising......Page 163
Real Life When Is an Ad Not an Ad? When It’s a Product Placement!......Page 165
On Language WAY Too Good To Be True!......Page 166
Recap......Page 167
Additional Exercises......Page 168
CHAPTER 5 Persuasion Through Rhetoric: Common Devices and Techniques......Page 178
Euphemisms and Dysphemisms......Page 179
Real Life The Death Tax......Page 180
In the Media Innuendo with Statistics......Page 181
Downplayers......Page 182
Stereotypes......Page 184
In the Media We Get Dumber in Company of Blondes......Page 185
Innuendo......Page 186
Loaded Questions......Page 187
Ridicule/Sarcasm......Page 188
Hyperbole......Page 189
On Language Legislative Misnomers......Page 190
Rhetorical Analogies and Misleading Comparisons......Page 191
In the Media A Misleading Mathematical Visual......Page 193
Real Life Cause for Alarm?......Page 194
In Depth: Visual Hyperbole, Ridicule, or Just Beefcake?......Page 195
Proof Surrogates......Page 196
Repetition......Page 197
Persuasion Using Visual Images......Page 198
In the Media Now You See Him—Now You Don’t......Page 199
In the Media The Daschle Salute......Page 200
In Depth: Don’t Get Carried Away!......Page 201
Recap......Page 202
Additional Exercises......Page 203
CHAPTER 6 More Rhetorical Devices: Psychological and Related Fallacies......Page 216
The Argument from Outrage......Page 217
In the Media Wishful Thinking......Page 219
Scare Tactics......Page 220
Other Fallacies Based on Emotions......Page 221
Real Life Knee Operation Judged Useless......Page 222
Real Life Patriotic Passion......Page 223
In Depth: The “True For . . .” Cop-Out......Page 226
In the Media A Red Herring in a Letter to Time......Page 227
Everyone Knows . . .......Page 228
Real Life Is It Still a Lie If Everybody Does It?......Page 229
Rationalizing......Page 231
Two Wrongs Make a Right......Page 232
Recap......Page 233
Additional Exercises......Page 234
CHAPTER 7 More Fallacies......Page 242
The Inconsistency Ad Hominem......Page 243
In Depth: Ad Hominem......Page 244
Poisoning the Well......Page 245
The Genetic Fallacy......Page 246
Straw Man......Page 248
In the Media Seig Heil? . . . or Shut Up?......Page 249
False Dilemma......Page 250
Real Life Which Is It Going to Be, Springfield?......Page 252
The Line-Drawing Fallacy......Page 253
Slippery Slope......Page 254
Misplacing the Burden of Proof......Page 255
In the Media A Double Slippery Slope......Page 256
In Depth: Innocent Until Proved Guilty......Page 258
Begging the Question......Page 259
Real Life Getting Really Worked Up over Ideas......Page 260
On Language Begging . . . or Begging For?......Page 261
Additional Exercises......Page 262
CHAPTER 8 Deductive Arguments I: Categorical Logic......Page 285
Categorical Claims......Page 287
Venn Diagrams......Page 288
Translation into Standard Form......Page 289
On Language The Most Versatile Word in English......Page 291
In Depth: More on Individual Claims......Page 292
The Square of Opposition......Page 294
Conversion......Page 296
Contraposition......Page 297
In Depth: Venn Diagrams for the Three Operations......Page 298
Categorical Syllogisms......Page 303
Real Life Some Do; Therefore, Some Don’t......Page 304
The Venn Diagram Method of Testing for Validity......Page 305
Categorical Syllogisms with Unstated Premises......Page 308
Real-Life Syllogisms......Page 309
Real Life The World’s Second Most Common Syllogism......Page 310
The Rules Method of Testing for Validity......Page 313
Recap......Page 315
Additional Exercises......Page 316
CHAPTER 9 Deductive Arguments II: Truth-Functional Logic......Page 327
Truth Tables......Page 328
In Depth Test Yourself......Page 333
Symbolizing Compound Claims......Page 334
In Depth: Truth-Functional Logic and Electrical Circuits......Page 335
“If” and “Only If”......Page 336
Real Life Truth-Functional Trickery......Page 337
Real Life Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t . . .......Page 338
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions......Page 339
“Unless”......Page 340
“Either . . . Or”......Page 341
Three Common Valid Argument Patterns......Page 343
Three Mistakes: Invalid Argument Forms......Page 346
The Truth-Table Method......Page 349
Real Life An Al Gore Chain Argument......Page 352
The Short Truth-Table Method......Page 353
Group I Rules: Elementary Valid Argument Patterns......Page 357
Real Life If the Dollar Falls . . .......Page 359
Real Life Logician at Work......Page 360
Group II Rules: Truth-Functional Equivalences......Page 362
Conditional Proof......Page 369
Recap......Page 372
Additional Exercises......Page 373
CHAPTER 10 Thinking Critically About Inductive Reasoning......Page 381
In Depth: Everyday Statistical Syllogisms......Page 382
Reasoning from the General to the Specific (Statistical Syllogisms)......Page 383
Reasoning from the Specific to the General (Inductive Generalizing from a Sample)......Page 384
Everyday Inductive Generalizing from a Sample......Page 386
The Way Inductive Arguments from Analogy Work......Page 395
Other Uses of Analogies......Page 398
Real Life Bears!......Page 399
Real Life Whom Do You Trust?......Page 400
Reasoning from General to General......Page 405
Informal Error-Margin and Confidence-Level Indicators......Page 407
Hasty Generalization......Page 408
Biased Generalization......Page 409
Real Life The Great Slip-Up of 1948......Page 410
Weak Analogy......Page 411
On Language Ask Us No (Loaded) Questions; We’ll Tell You No Lies......Page 412
Vague Generalities......Page 413
Recap......Page 414
Additional Exercises......Page 415
CHAPTER 11 Causal Explanation......Page 421
Physical Causal Explanations......Page 422
Behavioral Causal Explanations......Page 423
Real Life Behavioral Causal Explanations......Page 424
Nontestable Explanations......Page 425
Circular Explanations......Page 427
Unnecessary Complexity......Page 428
The Method of Difference......Page 434
The Method of Agreement......Page 435
In the Media Working at Night to Be Listed as “Probable” Cause of Cancer......Page 437
The Best Diagnosis Method......Page 438
On Language The Wrong Initials Can Shorten Your Life......Page 439
Confirming Causal Hypotheses......Page 444
Controlled Cause-to-Effect Experiments......Page 445
In the Media Here’s to Wine and Cheese......Page 446
Alternative Methods of Testing Causal Hypotheses in Human Populations......Page 447
Mistakes in Causal Reasoning......Page 455
Overlooking Statistical Regression......Page 457
In the Media Decoding Your Handwriting Style......Page 459
Proof by Absence of Disproof......Page 460
Causation in the Law......Page 461
On Language The Great 9/11 Mystery......Page 462
On Language AC and IBE......Page 463
Additional Exercises......Page 464
Real Life Are Women Less Competitive?......Page 470
CHAPTER 12 Moral, Legal, and Aesthetic Reasoning......Page 471
Value Judgments......Page 472
Two Principles of Moral Reasoning......Page 473
In Depth: Deducing the Right Thing to Do......Page 475
Deriving Specifi c Moral Value Judgments......Page 476
Consequentialism......Page 478
Duty Theory/Deontologism......Page 480
Real Life Inmate Who Got New Heart While Still in Prison Dies......Page 482
Religious Relativism......Page 483
Virtue Ethics......Page 484
In Depth: Why Moral Problems Seem Unresolvable......Page 487
Legal Reasoning......Page 492
Justifying Laws: Four Perspectives......Page 493
Eight Aesthetic Principles......Page 495
Using Aesthetic Principles to Judge Aesthetic Value......Page 498
Evaluating Aesthetic Criticism: Relevance and Truth......Page 500
Why Reason Aesthetically?......Page 502
Recap......Page 503
Additional Exercises......Page 505
Selection 1: Three Strikes and the Whole Enchilada......Page 508
Selection 3: Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11......Page 509
Selection 4: Excerpts from Federal Court Ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance......Page 511
Selection 5: The Threat from Same-Sex Marriage......Page 512
Selection 6 : Death Penalty Has No Place in U.S.......Page 514
Selection 7: Please, No More Gambling!......Page 515
Selection 8: Hetero by Choice?......Page 516
Selection 9: Bonnie and Clyde......Page 517
Selection 11B: Gay Marriage “Unnatural”......Page 518
Selection 13: Is God Part of Integrity?......Page 521
Selection 14A and 14B: Question: Do College and University Administration Have the Right to Establish Standards for Faculty Dress and Grooming?......Page 523
Selection 15B: Don’t Overreact to Smoke......Page 524
Selection 16B: Buying or Selling Notes Is Wrong......Page 526
Selection 17B: Gun Laws Are No Answer......Page 527
Selection 18: Letters from the National Rifle Association......Page 529
Selection 19B: We Need More Prayer......Page 531
Glossary......Page 533
ch01......Page 541
ch02......Page 542
ch03......Page 545
ch04......Page 547
ch05......Page 548
ch06......Page 549
ch07......Page 550
ch08......Page 551
ch09......Page 556
ch10......Page 559
ch11......Page 562
ch12......Page 564
Credits......Page 567
A......Page 569
B-C......Page 570
D......Page 571
E-F......Page 572
I......Page 573
M......Page 574
R......Page 575
S......Page 576
W......Page 577
X-Y-Z......Page 578