
Critical Thinking
An Introduction to Reasoning Well
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
2nd Edition
Published on 17. December 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
456 pages
978-1-4725-9568-3 (ISBN)
Description
'You shouldn't drink too much. The Earth is round. Milk is good for your bones.' Are any of these claims true? How can you tell? Can you ever be certain you are right?
For anyone tackling philosophical logic and critical thinking for the first time, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well provides a practical guide to the skills required to think critically. From the basics of good reasoning to the difference between claims, evidence and arguments, Robert Arp and Jamie Carlin Watson cover the topics found in an introductory course.
Now revised and fully updated, this Second Edition features a glossary, chapter summaries, more student-friendly exercises, study questions, diagrams, and suggestions for further reading. Topics include:
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
With real life examples, advice on graduate school entrance exams and an expanded companion website packed with additional exercises, an answer key and help with real life examples, this easy-to-follow introduction is a complete beginner's tool set to good reasoning, analyzing and arguing. Ideal for students in basic reasoning courses and students preparing for graduate school.
For anyone tackling philosophical logic and critical thinking for the first time, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well provides a practical guide to the skills required to think critically. From the basics of good reasoning to the difference between claims, evidence and arguments, Robert Arp and Jamie Carlin Watson cover the topics found in an introductory course.
Now revised and fully updated, this Second Edition features a glossary, chapter summaries, more student-friendly exercises, study questions, diagrams, and suggestions for further reading. Topics include:
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
With real life examples, advice on graduate school entrance exams and an expanded companion website packed with additional exercises, an answer key and help with real life examples, this easy-to-follow introduction is a complete beginner's tool set to good reasoning, analyzing and arguing. Ideal for students in basic reasoning courses and students preparing for graduate school.
Reviews / Votes
With its new glossary and appendix material, novel real-life examples and freshly created summary boxes, Arp and Watson's second edition of Critical Thinking is now the most incisive (and still affordable) introduction to the subject matter. Philosophy majors, law school aspirants, students taking the GRE, of if you just want to improve your reasoning skills-this is the book for you. -- Kevin Decker, Professor of Philosophy, Eastern Washington University, USA Well-explained, clearly laid out and hip, this is one of the best-if not the best-critical thinking textbooks on the market today. Critical Thinking comes close to hitting the ideal balance between explanation and meaningful practice, making this book the whole package -- Adam Barkman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Redeemer University College, Canada Engagingly written with a good mix of academic and real life examples and exercises, this textbook by Arp and Watson is a great option for a wide range of logic courses. Covering all of the terrain required by a logic text, this book does a very nice job of taking on what can be dauntingly formal topics in a way that doesn't feel so abstract and obscure. Unlike many other logic books, this text does a much more thorough job on inductive logic-a topic seriously neglected in too many logic books-and includes a much welcomed section on putting all of the critical thinking skills learned together. Highly recommended. -- Benjamin W. McCraw, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, University of South Carolina Upstate, USA This is a great text for any critical thinking or introductory logic course. Jamie and Rob have a way of explaining key words and ideas simply and clearly, providing examples that students observe in everyday life. -- Matt Stanfill, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Pensacola State College, USA Critical Thinking balances clarity, detail and a user-friendly approach for students with the kind of rigor and care instructors will welcome. As a thorough introduction to basic tools of logic, probability and scientific reasoning, this text is a winner. -- Robert Bass, Department of Philosophy, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, USA Watson and Arp have built an accessible portal for students learning logic and its basis in human language and expression. In addition to serving courses on formal logic, the text provides straightforward and clear supplements for instructors who teach college writing with a focus on argumentation. In particular, its sections on the challenges of inductive reasoning and logical fallacies will prove especially helpful for showing undergraduates how to better analyze evidence and critique arguments. -- Ray Bossert, Assistant Professor of English and Writing Center Director, Notre Dame of Maryland University, USA In this book, Robert Arp and Jamie Watson provide the tools to overcome one of the greatest deficits in the developed world: that of critical thinking. -- Jai Galliott, Senior Research Associate, The University of New South Wales, AustraliaMore details
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
758 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4725-9568-3 (9781472595683)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2015
2nd Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€30.99
Available for download

E-Book
10/2015
2nd Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€30.99
Available for download
Previous edition

Book
02/2011
Continuum Publishing Corporation
€52.18
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Robert Arp teaches Logic at the University of Missouri, USA and is a Researcher and Analyst for projects with the US Army at Ft. Leavenworth. He is the author of An Evolutionary Account of Creative Problem Solving (2008), co-author of Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology (2011) and 101 Ideas that Changed the Way We Think (2013).
Jamie Carlin Watson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Broward College, USA.
Jamie Carlin Watson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Broward College, USA.
Content
Preface to the Second Edition
Part I: The Basics of Good Reasoning
1. The Basic Tools of Reasoning
2. Evaluating Arguments
Part II: Deductive Reasoning
3. Thinking and Reasoning with Categories
4. Basic Propositional Logic
5. Truth Tables
6. Rules of Inference
Part III: Inductive Reasoning
7. Probability and Induction
8. Inductive Arguments
9. Experiment and Inference to the Best Explanation
10. Informal Fallacies
11. Putting it All Together
12. Reasoning on Graduate Entrance Exams
Glossary
Index
Part I: The Basics of Good Reasoning
1. The Basic Tools of Reasoning
2. Evaluating Arguments
Part II: Deductive Reasoning
3. Thinking and Reasoning with Categories
4. Basic Propositional Logic
5. Truth Tables
6. Rules of Inference
Part III: Inductive Reasoning
7. Probability and Induction
8. Inductive Arguments
9. Experiment and Inference to the Best Explanation
10. Informal Fallacies
11. Putting it All Together
12. Reasoning on Graduate Entrance Exams
Glossary
Index