The power of critical thinking: effective reasoning about ordinary and extraordinary claims

Cover......Page 1
Half Title Page......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
BRIEF CONTENTS......Page 8
CONTENTS......Page 9
PREFACE......Page 16
Acknowledgments......Page 19
Part One: BASICS......Page 22
 CHAPTER 1: The Power of Critical Thinking......Page 24
  Why It Matters......Page 26
   Claims and Reasons......Page 29
   Reasons and Arguments......Page 31
   Arguments in the Rough......Page 36
  Summary......Page 40
  EXERCISES......Page 41
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 47
  Writing Assignments......Page 49
 CHAPTER 2: Obstacles to Critical Thinking......Page 51
  Psychological Obstacles......Page 52
   The Almighty Self......Page 53
   The Power of the Group......Page 59
   Subjective Relativism......Page 64
   Skepticism......Page 66
  Summary......Page 67
  EXERCISES......Page 69
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 74
  Integrative Exercises......Page 76
  Writing Assignments......Page 78
 CHAPTER 3: Making Sense of Arguments......Page 79
  Argument Basics......Page 80
  Judging Arguments......Page 86
  Finding Missing Parts......Page 94
  Argument Patterns......Page 100
  Diagramming Arguments......Page 107
  Assessing Long Arguments......Page 116
  Summary......Page 122
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 123
  Integrative Exercises......Page 125
  Writing Assignments......Page 127
Part Two: REASONS......Page 128
 CHAPTER 4: Reasons for Belief and Doubt......Page 130
  When Claims Conflict......Page 131
  Experts and Evidence......Page 136
  Personal Experience......Page 144
   Impairment......Page 145
   Expectation......Page 148
   Innumeracy and Probability......Page 149
  Fooling Ourselves......Page 151
   Resisting Contrary Evidence......Page 152
   Looking for Confirming Evidence......Page 153
   Preferring Available Evidence......Page 155
   Inside the News......Page 158
   Sorting Out the News......Page 161
  Advertising and Persuasion......Page 163
   Slogans......Page 164
   Weasel Words......Page 165
  Summary......Page 166
  EXERCISES......Page 168
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 171
  Integrative Exercises......Page 173
  Writing Assignments......Page 175
 CHAPTER 5: Fallacies and Persuaders......Page 176
   Genetic Fallacy......Page 177
   Composition......Page 178
   Division......Page 179
   Appeal to the Person......Page 180
   Equivocation......Page 181
   Appeal to Popularity......Page 182
   Appeal to Ignorance......Page 183
   Appeal to Emotion......Page 186
   Straw Man......Page 188
   Begging the Question......Page 191
   False Dilemma......Page 192
   Decision-Point Fallacy......Page 194
   Slippery Slope......Page 195
   Faulty Analogy......Page 198
   Euphemisms and Dysphemisms......Page 199
   Stereotyping......Page 200
   Rhetorical Definitions......Page 201
  Summary......Page 202
  EXERCISES......Page 203
  Field Problems......Page 207
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 208
  Integrative Exercises......Page 209
  Writing Assignments......Page 211
Part Three: ARGUMENTS......Page 212
 CHAPTER 6: Deductive Reasoning: Propositional Logic......Page 214
  Connectives and Truth Values......Page 216
   Conjunction......Page 217
   Disjunction......Page 219
   Negation......Page 221
   Conditional......Page 222
   Simple Arguments......Page 226
   Tricky Arguments......Page 230
   Streamlined Evaluation......Page 233
  Proof of Validity......Page 239
   Rules of Inference......Page 240
   Rules of Replacement......Page 242
  Summary......Page 245
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 246
  Integrative Exercises......Page 248
  Writing Assignments......Page 250
 CHAPTER 7: Deductive Reasoning: Categorical Logic......Page 251
  Statements and Classes......Page 252
  Translations and Standard Form......Page 255
   Terms......Page 257
   Quantifiers......Page 261
  Diagramming Categorical Statements......Page 263
  Sizing Up Categorical Syllogisms......Page 268
   The Square of Opposition......Page 275
   Categorical Equivalence......Page 277
  KEY WORDS......Page 279
  Summary......Page 280
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 281
  Integrative Exercises......Page 282
  Writing Assignments......Page 284
 CHAPTER 8: Inductive Reasoning......Page 285
  Enumerative Induction......Page 286
   Sample Size......Page 289
   Representativeness......Page 290
   Opinion Polls......Page 291
  Analogical Induction......Page 302
  Causal Arguments......Page 310
   Testing for Causes......Page 312
   Causal Confusions......Page 317
   Necessary and Sufficient Conditions......Page 323
  Summary......Page 330
  Field Problems......Page 331
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 332
  Integrative Exercises......Page 334
  Writing Assignments......Page 336
Part Four: EXPLANATIONS......Page 338
 CHAPTER 9: Inference to the Best Explanation......Page 340
  Explanations and Inference......Page 342
  Theories and Consistency......Page 352
  Theories and Criteria......Page 353
   Testability......Page 356
   Fruitfulness......Page 357
   Scope......Page 360
   Simplicity......Page 362
   Conservatism......Page 364
  Telling Good Theories from Bad......Page 370
   A Doomed Flight......Page 373
   An Amazing Cure......Page 376
  Summary......Page 381
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 382
  Integrative Exercises......Page 384
  Writing Assignments......Page 386
 CHAPTER 10: Judging Scientific Theories......Page 387
  Science and Not Science......Page 388
  The Scientific Method......Page 391
  Testing Scientific Theories......Page 395
  Judging Scientific Theories......Page 397
   Copernicus Versus Ptolemy......Page 398
   Evolution Versus Creationism......Page 400
  Science and Weird Theories......Page 413
   Leaping to the Weirdest Theory......Page 414
   Mixing What Seems with What Is......Page 415
   Misunderstanding the Possibilities......Page 416
  Judging Weird Theories......Page 417
   Crop Circles......Page 418
   Talking with the Dead......Page 426
  Summary......Page 436
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 437
  Integrative Exercises......Page 439
  Writing Assignments......Page 441
 CHAPTER 11: Critical Thinking in Morality and the Law......Page 442
  Moral Arguments......Page 443
  Moral Premises......Page 448
  Moral Theories......Page 450
   Evaluating Moral Theories......Page 451
   Two Important Theories......Page 454
  Legal Reasoning......Page 459
  A Coherent Worldview......Page 461
  Summary......Page 463
  EXERCISES......Page 465
  Self-Assessment Quiz......Page 469
  Integrative Exercises......Page 470
  Writing Assignments......Page 472
APPENDIX A: Essays for Evaluation......Page 474
 Essay 1: Death Penalty Discriminates Against Black Crime Victims......Page 475
 Essay 2: Marine Parks......Page 476
 Essay 3: A Feminist Defense of Pornography......Page 478
 Essay 4: A Defense of Homosexuality......Page 483
 Essay 5: More Innocents Die When We Don’t Have Capital Punishment......Page 495
 Essay 6: What’s Wrong with Adultery?......Page 497
 Essay 7: A Pat-Down Is Better Than a Blow-Up......Page 501
 Essay 8: The Cohabitation Epidemic......Page 502
 Essay 9: Not Being Vaccinated Is Not Acceptable......Page 505
 Essay 10: Women and the Afghanistan Peace Process......Page 507
 Essay 11: A Deviance from God’s Norm......Page 509
 Essay 12: Marriage Still Evolving, as Ever......Page 511
 Essay 13: Slouching Toward Chimeras......Page 512
 Essay 14: Fighting Islamic Extremists Who Stifle Free Speech......Page 514
 Essay 15: Is Sluttishness a Feminist Statement?......Page 516
 Essay 16: Torture: Time for Congress to End the Debate......Page 517
 Essay 17: Torture: Severe Interrogations Work......Page 519
 Essay 18: Freedom of Expression: Protect Student Speech—Even “Unwise” Bong Banner......Page 520
 Essay 19: Freedom of Expression: Policy Reflects Common Sense......Page 521
 Essay 20: It’s Irresponsible to Spread Fear of Vaccine......Page 522
 Essay 21: Flag Amendment: Flag Needs Protection......Page 523
APPENDIX B: Answers to Exercises......Page 526
APPENDIX C: Answers to Self-Assessment Quizzes......Page 546
APPENDIX D: Critical Thinking and Writing......Page 560
NOTES......Page 576
GLOSSARY......Page 580
CREDITS......Page 585
INDEX......Page 587