Students learn logic by practicing it by working through problems, analyzing existing arguments, and constructing their own arguments in plain language and symbolic notation. The Art of Reasoning not only introduces the principles of critical thinking and logic in a clear, accessible, and logical manner thus practicing what it preaches but it also provides ample opportunity for students to hone their skills and master course content.
This robust, clear, and well-researched textbook for classes in logic introduces students to both formal logic and to the virtues of intellectual inquiry. Part 1 challenges students to develop the analytical skills of deductive and inductive reasoning, showing them how to identify and evaluate arguments. Part 2 helps students develop the intellectual virtues of the wise inquirer. The book includes helpful pedagogical features such as practice exercises and a concluding summary with definitions of key concepts for each chapter. Resources for professors and students are available through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.
The author of this crucial text brings to the art of reasoning a concern and emphasis that other books on the subject lack: stimulating intellectual content and focus on the actual world. Francis Watanabe Dauer's belief is that students in the art of reasoning don't need to be inundated with traditional logic and quasi-mathematical problems. What they need, and what Critical Thinking provides, is help reasoning about matters they face in daily life. The material covered by this book, from accepting the unproblematic through language and its levels of meaning, is challenging, but the presentation is clear and simple, so students are encouraged to make efforts. And while the text is primarily concerned with presenting canons or principles of critical thinking, it is not heavy-handed in its presentation of rules and maxims. Instead, these are made plausible at an intuitive level, so that students can master the art of reasoning without having to memorize rules and tables and diagrams. Most important, one of the principal aims of the author in writing Critical Thinking has been to give a unified and coherent account of reasoning rather than a patchwork of disparate topics, as seen in so many texts on the subject. - Jacket flap.
Identify false information. Avoid getting tricked. Be quick-witted and insightful. Would you like to ask the right questions, come up with strong arguments, detect biases and irrational or illogical reasoning? But you don't know where to start learning these? The Art of Thinking Critically will help you with that! Using the brightest ideas and best practices of some of the greatest thinkers, you can become a self-thought critical thinker who doesn't accept things at face value. With the help of guided exercises, you will learn how to do your own research, think about information for yourself, and draw conclusions that stand true to you. Avoid being manipulated. Being surrounded by inaccurate and often misleading information can feel overwhelming. Become more astute and catch inconsistencies in others' reasoning, don't be misled. Learn to question, fact-check, and correct people without sounding offensive. - How to self-educate to think more critically. - Equip yourself with good questions and ideas on how to think for yourself. - Break out of herd mentality. - Get a structure on how to implement critical thinking practices in your life. Human beings are generally curious and wish to understand the world better. But many of us didn't have the luck to learn effective questioning techniques as children. We were not encouraged to form opinions and were rather scolded for being too curious. So we didn't learn how to properly question and assess the information we hear, read, and how to think for ourselves. But we can absolutely change that! And educate our children to be better equipped with critical thinking skills. Make better decisions. Don't be gullible.
A much-needed guide to thinking critically for oneself and how to tell a good argument from a bad one. Includes topical examples from politics, sport, medicine, music, chapter summaries, glossary and exercises.
This book is designed to engage students' interest and promote their writing abilities while teaching them to think critically and creatively. Dowden takes an activist stance on critical thinking, asking students to create and revise arguments rather than simply recognizing and criticizing them. His book emphasizes inductive reasoning and the analysis of individual claims in the beginning, leaving deductive arguments for consideration later in the course.
How both logical and emotional reasoning can help us live better in our post-truth world In a world where fake news stories change election outcomes, has rationality become futile? In The Art of Logic in an Illogical World, Eugenia Cheng throws a lifeline to readers drowning in the illogic of contemporary life. Cheng is a mathematician, so she knows how to make an airtight argument. But even for her, logic sometimes falls prey to emotion, which is why she still fears flying and eats more cookies than she should. If a mathematician can't be logical, what are we to do? In this book, Cheng reveals the inner workings and limitations of logic, and explains why alogic -- for example, emotion -- is vital to how we think and communicate. Cheng shows us how to use logic and alogic together to navigate a world awash in bigotry, mansplaining, and manipulative memes. Insightful, useful, and funny, this essential book is for anyone who wants to think more clearly.
A valuable guide on creativity and critical thinking to improve reasoning and decision-making skills Critical thinking skills are essential in virtually any field of study or practice where individuals need to communicate ideas, make decisions, and analyze and solve problems. An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity: Think More, Think Better outlines the necessary tools for readers to become critical as well as creative thinkers. By gaining a practical and solid foundation in the basic principles that underlie critical thinking and creativity, readers will become equipped to think in a more systematic, logical, and imaginative manner. Creativity is needed to generate new ideas to solve problems, and critical thinking evaluates and improves an idea. These concepts are uniquely introduced as a unified whole due to their dependence on each other. Each chapter introduces relevant theories in conjunction with real-life examples and findings from cognitive science and psychology to illustrate how the theories can be applied in numerous fields and careers. An emphasis on how theoretical principles of reasoning can be practical and useful in everyday life is featured, and special sections on presentation techniques, the analysis of meaning, decision-making, and reasoning about personal and moral values are also highlighted. All chapters conclude with a set of exercises, and detailed solutions are provided at the end of the book. A companion website features online tutorials that further explore topics including meaning analysis, argument analysis, logic, statistics, and strategic thinking, along with additional exercises and multimedia resources for continued study. An Introduction to Critical Thinking and Creativity is an excellent book for courses on critical thinking and logic at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The book also serves as a self-contained study guide for readers interested in the topics of critical thinking and creativity as a unified whole.
