Critical Thinking: The Art of Argument, 2nd Edition

George W. Rainbolt, Sandra L. Dwyer

Copyright 2015
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Critical Thinking: The Art of Argument 2nd Edition by George W. Rainbolt/Sandra L. Dwyer

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Overview
Meet the Authors
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
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Overview

CRITICAL THINKING: THE ART OF ARGUMENT, 2nd Edition, is an accessible yet rigorous introduction to critical thinking. The text emphasizes immediate application of critical thinking in everyday life and helps students apply the skills they are studying. The relevance of these skills is shown throughout the text by highlighting the advantages of basing one's decisions on a thoughtful understanding of arguments and presenting the overarching commonalities across arguments. With its conversational writing style and carefully selected examples, the book employs a consistent and unified treatment of logical form and an innovative semiformal method of standardizing arguments that illustrates the concept of logical form while maintaining a visible connection to ordinary speech. Without sacrificing accuracy or detail, the authors clearly present the material, with appropriate study tools and exercises that emphasize application rather than memorization.

Meet the Authors

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George W. Rainbolt

Dr. George W. Rainbolt is Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Georgia State University. He is the co-author of ETHICS (Harper-Collins 1994) and the author of THE CONCEPT OF RIGHTS (Springer 2006) as well as numerous articles. He chairs the Georgia State University Senate Committee on Admissions and Standards, has served on Georgia State University's General Education Assessment Committee, was a member of the Georgia State's SACS Accreditation Leadership Team, and is a member of Georgia State's Critical Thinking through Writing Leadership Team.

Sandra L. Dwyer

Dr. Sandra L. Dwyer is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Georgia State University. As Coordinator for Graduate Teaching, she mentors twenty to thirty graduate students each year, overseeing their initial experience of teaching philosophy, including Critical Thinking sections. Over the past twenty years, she has taught numerous courses including more than 100 sections of critical thinking. She is the author of THINKING ETHICALLY IN BUSINESS (Humanities-Ebooks, 2008).

What's New

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The semiformal method, unique to this text, is reinforced by making more visible the connection between the application of the method and how the reasoning skills derived from it actually help students in other classes, at work, and in their daily lives. A Key Form margin note points to each use of the semiformal method, and a new section, Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter, emphasizes the importance of form.
Coverage of fallacies has been increased by 40%. The nine additional fallacies presented are Composition, Division, Amphiboly, Red Herring, False Precision, Accent, Common Cause, Appeal to Force, and Appeal to Pity.
The discussion of unstated premises is completely revised in light of testing with students. The revised discussion simplifies the use of unstated premises.
The format for standardizing and diagramming arguments has been reworked to make standardizations and diagrams clearer and easier to understand.
The discussion of causal arguments has been streamlined to help students identify the underlying form of causal arguments.

Features

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This text has been class-tested over the course of three years with more than 10,000 students and more than 50 instructors.
A dedication to accuracy and rigor yields clarity and conciseness, particularly the presentation of Analogical, Statistical, and Causal Arguments in chapters seven, eight, and nine.
A direct and conversational style makes the material accessible for students at all skill levels.
Extensive exercises in the text and in online supplements ensure that students get the practice that they need. Exercises always emphasize application over memorization. Many of the exercises are drawn from real-life examples.
Unique study tools and features such as Key Concept, Key Term, Key Form, and Technical Term boxes help student comprehension and review.

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Preface.
Introduction: How to Use This Book.
1. Critical Thinking and Arguments. What Is Critical Thinking? What Is an Argument? Why Think Critically? Identifying Arguments. Things That Are Not Arguments. Putting Arguments into Standard Form. Diagramming Arguments. Chapter Summary. Guide: Identifying and Standardizing Arguments.
2. What Makes a Good Argument? The Two Characteristics of a Good Argument. True Premises. Proper Form. Relevance. Arguing about Arguments. Some Improper Forms: Fallacies of Relevance. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter. Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Arguments.
3. Premises and Conclusions. Empirical Premises. Definitional Premises. Premises and Experts. Conclusions. Chapter Summary.
4. Language. Identifying Definitions. Evaluating Definitions. Language and Clarity. Language and Emotion. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter.
5. Propositional Arguments. Identifying Propositional Statements. Evaluating Propositional Arguments. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter. Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Propositional Arguments.
6. Categorical Arguments. Identifying Categorical Statements. Evaluating Categorical Arguments with One Premise. Evaluating Categorical Arguments with Two Premises. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter. Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Categorical Arguments.
7. Analogical Arguments. Identifying Analogical Arguments. Evaluating Analogical Arguments. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter. Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Analogical Arguments.
8. Statistical Arguments. Descriptive Statistics. Identifying Statistical Arguments. Evaluating Statistical Arguments. Statistical Fallacies. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter. Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Statistical Arguments.
9. Causal Arguments. The Many Meanings of "Cause." Identifying Causal Arguments. Evaluating Causal Arguments. The Scientific Method. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter. Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Causal Arguments.
10. Moral Arguments. Identifying Moral Arguments. The Nature of Moral Arguments. Evaluating Moral Arguments. Moral Conflict. A Final Thought. Chapter Summary. Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter. Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Moral Arguments.