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Critical Thinking With Infotrac

by: EPSTEIN

Critical Thinking With Infotrac

by: EPSTEIN

ISBN 13:
9780534580599
ISBN 10:
0534580599
Edition: 2nd
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 06/12/2001
Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
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Summary

Critical thinking isn't as easy as it sounds. CRITICAL THINKING shows you how decision-making errors are made, and how to avoid them. By combining simple explanations with time-tested theories, CRITICAL THINKING helps you meet the challenges of life head-on. And because it includes over one thousand examples drawn from everyday life and tons of study tools, this textbook helps you get the grade you need.

Preface to the Student

Preface to the Instructor

Acknowledgments

THE FUNDAMENTALS

Critical Thinking?

Are You Convinced?

(1)

Claims

(3)

Arguments

(8)

Exercises for Chapter 1

(4)

Writing Lesson 1

(1)

What Are We Arguing About?

Vague Sentences

Too vague?

(1)

Drawing the line (bad arguments)

(1)

Vagueness and standards

(4)

Moral claims

(1)

Confusing objective and subjective (bad arguments)

(1)

Exercises for Section A

(2)

Ambiguous Sentences

Which do you mean?

(1)

Pronouns and quotation marks

(1)

Exercises for Section B

(1)

Definitions

(10)

Exercises for Chapter 2

(5)

Writing Lesson 2

(2)

What is a Good Argument?

(1)

The Connection Between the Premises and Conclusion

(3)

The Tests for an Argument to Be Good

(6)

Exercises for Sections A--C

(2)

Strong vs. Valid Arguments

(12)

Exercises for Chapter 3

(5)

Writing Lesson 3

(2)

Writing Lesson 4 [Cartoons]

(4)

Repairing Arguments

We Need to Repair Arguments

(1)

The Principle of Rational Discussion

(2)

The Guide to Repairing Arguments

(6)

Relevance (bad arguments)

(7)

Exercises for Sections A--D

(6)

Inferring and Implying

(11)

Exercises for Section E

(3)

Writing Lesson 5

(2)

Writing Lesson 6 [Cartoons]

(5)

Is That True?

Evaluating Premises

(1)

Criteria for Accepting or Rejecting Claims

Reject: The claim contradicts our personal experience

(2)

Exercises for Sections A and B.1

(2)

Reject: The claim contradicts other claims we know are true

(1)

Reject: The premises contradict each other

(1)

Accept: The claim is made by someone whom we know and trust, and the person is an authority on this kind of claim

(1)

Accept: The claim is offered by a reputable authority whom we can trust as an expert about this kind of claim and who has no motive to mislead

(1)

Exercises for Sections B.2---B.5

(1)

Accept: The claim is put forward in a reputable journal or reference source

(1)

Accept: The claim is in a media source that's usually reliable and has no obvious motive to mislead

(1)

Suspend judgment: You just don't know for sure

(1)

Advertising?

(1)

The Internet?

(1)

Arguing backwards: Don't believe the premises just because the conclusion is true

(1)

Summarizing: When to accept and when to reject

(1)

Exercises for Section B

(3)

It's Not Who Said It (bad arguments)

Mistaking the person for the argument

(1)

Mistaking the person for the claim

(1)

Phony refutation

(1)

Exercises for Section C

100

(3)

Writing Lesson 7

103

(4)

Review Chapters 1--5

107

(6)

THE STRUCTURE OF ARGUMENTS

Compound Claims

Consider the Alternatives

Compound claims

113

(1)

The contradictory of a claim

114

(1)

Exercises for Sections A. 1 and A. 2

115

(1)

Reasoning with ``or'' claims

116

(2)

False dilemmas (bad arguments)

118

(1)

Exercises for Section A

119

(1)

Conditionals

Conditionals and their contradictories

120

(3)

Exercises for Section B. 1

123

(1)

Valid and weak forms of arguments using conditionals

124

(5)

Exercises for Section B. 2

129

(1)

Necessary and Sufficient conditions

130

(1)

Exercises for Sections B. 3

131

(2)

Reasoning from hypotheses

133

(1)

Reasoning in a chain and the slippery slope

133

(1)

Exercises for Chapter 6

134

(6)

Writing Lesson 8

140

(5)

Writing Lesson 9 [Cartoons]

145

(2)

Complex Arguments

Raising Objections

147

(2)

Refuting an Argument

Refuting directly

149

(1)

Refuting indirectly

150

(1)

Attempts to refute that are bad arguments

151

(1)

Exercises for Sections A and B

152

(2)

Arguments within Arguments

154

(2)

Dependent and Independent Premises

156

(5)

Exercises for Sections C and D

158

(3)

Analyzing Complex Arguments

161

(10)

Exercises for Section E

166

(2)

Writing Lesson 10

168

(3)

General Claims

``All'' and ``Some''

171

(2)

Contradictories

173

(1)

``Only''

174

(2)

Exercises for Sections A--C

174

(2)

Some Valid and Invalid Forms

176

(7)

Exercises for Section D

180

(3)

Between One and All

Precise generalities

183

(1)

Vague generalities

184

(1)

Exercises for Section E

185

(2)

Writing Lesson 11

187

(2)

Review Chapters 6---8

189

(6)

AVOIDING BAD ARGUMENTS

Concealed Claims

Where's the Argument?

195

(1)

Loaded Questions

196

(1)

What Did He Say?

Making it sound nasty or nice

196

(1)

Downplayers and up-players

197

(1)

Where's the proof?

198

(2)

Innuendos

200

(1)

Slanters and Good Arguments

200

(7)

Exercises for Chapter 9

200

(7)

Too Much Emotion

Appeal to Pity

207

(1)

Appeal to Fear

208

(1)

Appeal to Spite

209

(1)

Feeling Good

210

(1)

Is This a Bad Argument?

211

(4)

Exercises for Chapter 10

212

(3)

Fallacies (A summary of bad arguments)

Fallacies

215

(1)

Structural Fallacies

216

(1)

Content Fallacies

217

(2)

Violating the Rules of Rational Discussion

219

(1)

Is This Really a Fallacy?

220

(1)

So It's Bad, So What?

221

(30)

Exercises for Chapter 11

221

(2)

Writing Lesson 12

223

(2)

Arguments for Analysis

225

(22)

Writing Lesson 13 [Cartoons]

247

(4)

REASONING ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE

Reasoning by Analogy

What is Reasoning by Analogy?

251

(1)

An Example

252

(2)

Judging Analogies

254

(5)

Analogies in the Law

259

(9)

Exercises for Chapter 12

258

(7)

Writing Lesson 14

265

(3)

Numbers?

Misleading Claims with Numbers

Apples and oranges

268

(1)

Compared to what?

268

(1)

Phony precision

269

(1)

How could they know that number?

269

(1)

Averages

270

(7)

Exercises for Chapter 13

272

(5)

Generalizing From Experience

Generalizing

277

(4)

Exercises for Section A

280

(1)

When is a Generalization Good?

How you can go wrong

281

(1)

Representative samples

282

(3)

Exercises for Sections B.1 and B.2

285

(1)

Sample size

286

(1)

Is the sample studied well?

287

(1)

Three premises needed for a good generalization

288

(1)

The margin of error and confidence level

288

(1)

Variation in the population

289

(1)

Risk

290

(1)

Analogies and generalizations

290

(1)

Exercises for Section B

290

(12)

Cause and Effect

What is the Cause?

Causes and effects

302

(1)

The normal conditions

303

(1)

Particular causes, generalizations, and general causes

303

(1)

Exercises for Sections A.1---A.3

304

(1)

The cause precedes the effect

305

(1)

The cause makes a difference

305

(1)

Overlooking a common cause

305

(1)

Tracing the cause backwards

306

(1)

Criteria for cause and effect

307

(1)

Two mistakes in evaluating cause and effect

308

(1)

Exercises for Section A

309

(1)

Examples

310

(7)

Exercises for Sections A and B

315

(2)

How to look for the cause

317

(3)

Exercises for Section C

318

(2)

Cause and Effect in Populations

320

(35)

Controlled experiment: cause-to-effect

321

(1)

Uncontrolled experiment: Cause-to-effect

321

(1)

Uncontrolled experiment: effect-to-cause

321

(2)

Exercises for Section D

323

(13)

Writing Lesson 15

336

(1)

Writing Lesson 16 [Cartoons]

337

(2)

Review Chapters 12--15

339

(2)

Evaluating Reasoning

341

(4)

Composing Good Arguments

345

(2)

Writing Lesson 17

347

(2)

Writing Lesson 18 [Cartoons]

349

(2)

Making Decisions

351

(4)

APPENDICES

Using Examples in Reasoning

Examples for Definitions and Methods

355

(1)

Showing a Universal Claim is False

356

(1)

Showing an Argument is Not Valid

356

(1)

Exercises on Examples

357

(2)

Diagramming Arguments

Diagrams

359

(3)

Exercises for Section A

362

(1)

Counterarguments

362

(2)

Exercises for Section B

364

(1)

Truth-Tables

Symbols and Truth-Tables

365

(3)

The Truth-Value of a Compound Claim

368

(2)

Exercises for Sections A and B

370

(1)

Representing Claims

371

(2)

Exercises for Section C

373

(1)

Checking for Validity

374

(3)

Exercises for Section D

377

(2)

Aristotelian Logic

The Tradition

379

(1)

Categorical Claims

380

(1)

Exercises for Section B

381

(3)

Contradictories, Contraries, and Subcontraries

384

(2)

Exercises for Section C

386

(1)

Syllogisms

387

(2)

Exercises for Section D

389

(2)

Glossary

391

(10)

Answers to Selected Exercises

401

(42)

Index

443

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Critical Thinking With Infotrac

Critical Thinking With Infotrac

9780534580599

0534580599

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Critical Thinking With Infotrac

Critical Thinking With Infotrac

9780534580599

0534580599

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

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