Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well

This book provides a practical guide to critical thinking skills, covering topics such as good reasoning, claims, evidence, and arguments. It is revised and updated, with two new chapters on reasoning in the age of conspiracy theories and fake news. It features a glossary, chapter goals, student-friendly exercises, study questions, diagrams, and suggestions for further reading.

Format: Hardback
Length: 536 pages
Publication date: 22 February 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

For anyone tackling philosophical logic for the first time, here is a practical guide to the skills required to think critically. From the basics of good reasoning to the difference between claims, evidence, and arguments, Jamie Carlin Watson, Robert Arp, and Skyler King cover the topics found in an introductory course. Now revised and fully updated, this 3rd edition gives you the chance to develop critical thinking skills that can be used in and out of the classroom. Two new chapters on reasoning in the age of conspiracy theories and fake news demonstrate how to apply reason and avoid being dissuaded by the persuasive power of evidence-free emoting. Features include a glossary, chapter goals, more student-friendly exercises, study questions, diagrams, and suggestions for further reading. Chapter topics, organized around real-life examples such as predicting the weather, a murder mystery, and the Ouija board, cover:

- the structure, formation, analysis, and recognition of arguments

- deductive validity and soundness

- inductive strength and cogency

- inference to the best explanation

- truth tables

- tools for argument assessment

- informal and formal fallacies

This entertaining and easy-to-follow introduction is a complete beginners tool set to good reasoning, analyzing, and arguing.

Weight: 701g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350232945
Edition number: 3 ed