Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Chapter 1 What Is Critical Thinking, Anyway?
Beliefs and Claims
Objective Claims and Subjective Claims
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
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
Telling the Difference between Deductive and Inductive Arguments
Deduction, Induction, and Unstated Premises
Balance of Considerations
Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE)
What Are not Premises, Conclusions, or Arguments
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
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
Some Tips on Definitions
Writing Argumentative Essays
Good Writing Practices
Essay Types to Avoid
Persuasive Writing
Writing in a Diverse Society
Recap
Additional Exercises
Chapter 4 Credibility
The Claim and Its Source
Assessing the Content of the Claim
Does the Claim Conflict with Our Personal Observations?
Does the Claim Conflict with Our Background Information?
The Credibility of Sources
Interested Parties
Physical and Other Characteristics
Expertise
Credibility and the News Media
Consolidation of Media Ownership
Government Management of the News
Bias Within the Media
Talk Radio
Advocacy Television
The Internet, Generally
Advertising
Recap
Additional Exercises
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
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
Chapter 7 Induction Fallacies
Generalizations
Generalizing from Too Few Cases (Hasty Generalization)
Generalizing from Exceptional Cases
Accident
Weak Analogy
Fallacious Appeal to Authority
Fallacious Appeal to Popularity (Fallacious Appeal to Common Belief)
Fallacious 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
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
Gambler's Fallacy
Overlooking Prior Probabilities
Overlooking False Positives
Recap
Additional Exercises
Chapter 9 Deductive Arguments I Categorical Logic
Categorical Claims
Venn Diagrams
Translation into Standard Form
The Square of Opposition
Three Categorical Relations
Conversion
Obversion
Contraposition
Categorical Syllogisms
The Venn Diagram Method of Testing for Validity
Categorical Syllogisms with Unstated Premises
Real-Life Syllogisms
The Rules Method of Testing for Validity
Recap
Additional Exercises
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 β¦ Or"
Truth-Functional Arguments
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
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
The Statistical Syllogism
Causal Statements and Their Support
Forming Causal Hypotheses
Weighing Evidence
Confirming Causal Hypotheses
Calculating Statistical Probabilities
Joint Occurrence of Independent Events
Alternative Occurrences
Expectation Value
Calculating Conditional Probabilities
Causation in the Law
Recap
Additional Exercises
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
Appendix: Exercises from Previous Editions
Glossary
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Answers, Suggestions, and Tips for Triangle Exercises
Credits
Index
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