Overview
In this era of increased polarization of opinion and contentious disagreement, CRITICAL REASONING presents a cooperative approach to critical thinking and formation of beliefs. CRITICAL REASONING emphasizes the importance of developing and applying analytical skills in real life contexts. This book is unique in providing multiple, diverse examples of everyday arguments, both textual and visual, including hard to find long argument passages from real-life sources. The book provides clear, step-by-step procedures to help you decide for yourself what to believe—to be a consumer of information in our contemporary "world of experts."
Synopsis
In this era of increased polarization of opinion and contentious disagreement, CRITICAL REASONING presents a cooperative approach to critical thinking and formation of beliefs. CRITICAL REASONING emphasizes the importance of developing and applying analytical skills in real life contexts. This book is unique in providing multiple, diverse examples of everyday arguments, both textual and visual, including hard to find long argument passages from real-life sources. The book provides clear, step-by-step procedures to help you decide for yourself what to believe—to be a consumer of information in our contemporary world of experts." "
Booknews
Cederblom (U. of Nebraska, Omaha) and Paulsen (Evergreen State College) address deciding what to believe, the anatomy of arguments (premises and conclusions), reconstructing arguments, evaluation, whether conclusions follow from premises, fallacies or bad arguments, unclear and misleading definitions, non-deductive arguments, explanation and criticism of theories, and putting all the above together. New to the fifth edition of this textbook are more day-to-day tips on decisionmaking, analysis of convergent (as opposed to "linked") arguments, a simplified classification of fallacies, easier-to-apply procedures for criticizing empirical arguments, and new and updated examples and exercises. A glossary is included. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
From the Publisher
"I have happily used this text many times. I have returned to it after experimenting with other texts. The writing is not dumbed-down, cute, or ingratiating. It is clear, intelligent, and comprehensible to the students."- John Justice, Randolf College"The book does contain an amazing collection of real argumentative passages complete with near perfect companion exercises for students to engage in learning how to evaluate arguments. I think it's the best I have ever seen. Also, the style in which the book is written is lucid and engaging."- Michael Nassif, Kent State University
"A clear and diverse survey of approaches to analyzing arguments, with many helpful examples and exercises."- Joseph F. Keeping, York University
"Nice overall organization of examples, exercises and review.""Excellent discussion of fallacies and kinds of arguments.""A good and thorough discussion of the analysis of arguments with strong attention paid to the questions of logical organization and evaluation. This is excellent discussion of modes of reasoning and encourages students to critically interact, interpret and break down the sample arguments."- Mark A. Pfeiffer, University of South Florida
"Well organized and accessible to students."- Glenn Sanford, Sam Houston State University