Lewis Vaughn

The Power of Critical Thinking

Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The Power of Critical Thinking explores the essentials of critical reasoning, argumentation, logic, and argumentative essay writing while also incorporating important topics that most other texts leave out, such as "inference to the best explanation," scientific reasoning, evidence and authority, visual reasoning, and obstacles to critical thinking.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Oxford University Press Inc
• Seitenzahl: 648
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. März 2024
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 244mm x 198mm x 31mm
• Gewicht: 1474g
• ISBN-13: 9780197768204
• ISBN-10: 0197768202
• Artikelnr.: 70527923

Autorenporträt

Lewis Vaughn is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Bioethics, Fifth Edition (2022), The Power of Critical Thinking, Seventh Edition, (2021), Philosophy Here and Now, fourth Edition (2021), and Living Philosophy, third Edition (2020), all published by Oxford University Press. He also publishes Doing Ethics, Fifth Edition (2018) with W.W. Norton.

Inhaltsangabe

PREFACE?
??Part One?BASICS
1 The Power of Critical Thinking?
WHY IT MATTERS?
HOW IT WORKS?
Claims and Reasons?
Reasons and Arguments?
Arguments in the Rough?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
EXERCISES?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
2 Obstacles to Critical Thinking?
ALL HAIL THE SELF?
ALL HAIL MY GROUP?
THE TOUGHEST MENTAL OBSTACLES?
Denying Contrary Evidence?
Looking for Confirming Evidence?
Motivated Reasoning?
Preferring Available Evidence?
YOUR BRAIN ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
Mere Exposure Effect?
Illusion-of-Truth Effect?
False Consensus Effect?
The Dunning-Kruger Effect?
PHILOSOPHICAL OBSTACLES?
Subjective Relativism?
Social Relativism?
Skepticism?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
EXERCISES?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
3 Making Sense of Arguments?
ARGUMENT BASICS?
EXERCISE?
JUDGING ARGUMENTS?
EXERCISES?
FINDING MISSING PARTS?
EXERCISE?
ARGUMENT PATTERNS?
EXERCISES?
DIAGRAMMING ARGUMENTS?
EXERCISES?
ASSESSING LONG ARGUMENTS
EXERCISES?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
??Part Two?REASONS
4 Reasons for Belief and Doubt?
WHEN CLAIMS CONFLICT?
EXPERTS AND NONEXPERTS?
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE?
Impairment?
Expectation?
Innumeracy and Probability?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
EXERCISES?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
5 Media Manipulation: Fake News, Bias, and Advertising?
FAKE NEWS?
Telling Fake from Real?
MEDIA BIAS?
Objectivity and Bias?
Opinion, Analysis, Advocacy?
Liberal and Conservative Bias?
ADVERTISING?
How Advertising Works?
Internet Advertising?
Political Advertising?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
EXERCISES?
FIELD PROBLEM?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
6 Fallacies and Persuaders?
FALLACIES: IRRELEVANT PREMISES?
Genetic Fallacy?
Composition?
Division?
Appeal to the Person?
Equivocation?
Appeal to Popularity?
Appeal to Tradition?
Appeal to Ignorance?
Appeal to Emotion?
Red Herring?
Straw Man?
Two Wrongs Make a Right?
FALLACIES: UNACCEPTABLE PREMISES?
Begging the Question?
False Dilemma?
Decision-Point Fallacy?
Slippery Slope?
Hasty Generalization?
Faulty Analogy?
PERSUADERS: RHETORICAL MOVES?
Innuendo?
Euphemisms and Dysphemisms?
Stereotyping?
Ridicule?
Rhetorical Definitions?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
EXERCISES?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
??Part Three?ARGUMENTS
7 Deductive Reasoning: Propositional Logic?
CONNECTIVES AND TRUTH VALUES?
Conjunction?
Disjunction?
Negation?
Conditional?
EXERCISES?
CHECKING FOR VALIDITY?
Simple Arguments?
Tricky Arguments?
Streamlined Evaluation?
EXERCISES?
PROOF OF VALIDITY?
Rules of Inference?
Rules of Replacement?
EXERCISES?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
8 Deductive Reasoning: Categorical Logic?
STATEMENTS AND CLASSES?
EXERCISES?
TRANSLATIONS AND STANDARD FORM?
Terms?
Quantifiers?
EXERCISES?
DIAGRAMMING CATEGORICAL STATEMENTS?
EXERCISES?
SIZING UP CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISMS?
EXERCISES?
THE SQUARE OF OPPOSITION?
CATEGORICAL EQUIVALENCE?
EXERCISES?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
9 Inductive Reasoning?
ENUMERATIVE INDUCTION?
Sample Size?
Representativeness?
Opinion Polls?
EXERCISES?
ANALOGICAL INDUCTION?
Relevant Similarities?
Relevant Dissimilarities?
The Number of Instances Compared?
Diversity among Cases?
EXERCISES?
CAUSAL ARGUMENTS?
Testing for Causes?
Causal Confusions?
Necessary and Sufficient Conditions?
EXERCISES?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
??Part Four?EXPLANATIONS
10 Inference to the Best Explanation?
EXPLANATIONS AND INFERENCE?
EXERCISES?
THEORIES AND CONSISTENCY?
THEORIES AND CRITERIA?
Testability?
Fruitfulness?
Scope?
Simplicity?
Conservatism?
EXERCISES?
TELLING GOOD THEORIES FROM BAD?
A Doomed Flight?
An Amazing Cure?
EXERCISES?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
11 Judging Scientific Theories?
SCIENCE AND NOT SCIENCE?
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD?
TESTING SCIENTIFIC THEORIES?
JUDGING SCIENTIFIC THEORIES?
Copernicus versus Ptolemy?
Evolution versus Creationism?
EXERCISES?
SCIENCE AND WEIRD THEORIES?
MAKING WEIRD MISTAKES?
Leaping to the Weirdest Theory?
Mixing What Seems with What Is?
Misunderstanding the Possibilities?
JUDGING WEIRD THEORIES?
Crop Circles?
Talking with the Dead?
EXERCISES?
SUMMARY?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
12 Critical Thinking in Morality?
MORAL ARGUMENTS?
MORAL PREMISES?
MORAL THEORIES?
Evaluating Moral Theories?
Two Important Theories?
A COHERENT WORLDVIEW?
KEY WORDS?
SUMMARY?
EXERCISES?
FIELD PROBLEMS?
SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ?
INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES?
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS?
APPENDIX A The Truth About Philosophy Majors?
APPENDIX B Essays for Evaluation?
Essay 1 Death Penalty Discriminates against Black Crime Victims?
Essay 2 Marine Parks?
Essay 3 A Feminist Defense of Pornography?
Essay 4 A Defense of Homosexuality?
Essay 5 More Innocents Die When We Don't Have Capital Punishment?
Essay 6 What's Wrong with Adultery??
Essay 7 A Pat-Down Is Better Than a Blow-Up?
Essay 8 The Cohabitation Epidemic?
Essay 9 Not Being Vaccinated Is Not Acceptable?
Essay 10 Women and the Afghanistan Peace Process?
Essay 11 A Deviance from God's Norm?
Essay 12 Marriage Still Evolving, as Ever?
Essay 13 Slouching toward Chimeras?
Essay 14 Fighting Islamic Extremists Who Stifle Free Speech?
Essay 15 Is Sluttishness a Feminist Statement??
Essay 16 Torture: Time for Congress to End the Debate?
Essay 17 Torture: Severe Interrogations Work?
Essay 18 Freedom of Expression: Protect Student Speech-Even "Unwise" Bong Banner?
Essay 19 Freedom of Expression: Policy Reflects Common Sense?
Essay 20 It's Irresponsible to Spread Fear of Vaccine?
Essay 21 Flag Amendment: Flag Needs Protection?
APPENDIX C Answers to Exercises?
APPENDIX D Answers to Self-Assessment Quizzes?
APPENDIX E Critical Thinking and Writing?
NOTES?
GLOSSARY
CREDITS?
INDEX