Table of Contents |  Click on the book icon to see a larger image. |  More Critical Thinking Books |
Chapter One: Overview of Critical Thinking | |
| Introduction | 1 |
| We learned it at bedtime and at the movies | 3 |
| Why study critical thinking? | 6 |
What is Critical Thinking?
|
8 |
| Critical thinking is deciding in a logical manner what to believe from accurate and objective evidence | 11 |
| Summary | 12 |
| Critical thinking in the strong sense | 12 |
| What are arguments? | 13 |
| Why view arguments this way? | 16 |
| Sound arguments | 16 |
| Nature of truth | 16 |
| Fallacies | 17 |
Misuse of language
Ambiguity Emotive association |
21 |
| Values | 24 |
| Reporting, inferring, and judging | 29 |
| Reasonable proportion | 29 |
Evaluating extended arguments
|
30 |
| Cautions | 31 |
Study Guide: Fundamentals
Vocabulary in Brief Study Guide Questions Overview Crossword Exercise #1-9 |
32 |
Chapter Two: Problem Solving | |
Define the Problem
Clarify Be Specific |
55 |
| Creating Alternatives | 56 |
| Evaluation | 57 |
| Decide | 59 |
Review
Problem solving crossword |
61 |
Chapter Three: Creativity | |
Perception
|
64 |
| Creativity | 69 |
Barriers to Creativity
Psychological barriers Beliefs as barriers Cultural barriers |
71 |
More strategies for creative thought
Questioning attitude Fluency and flexibility Different languages Fantasy Checklists Attribute listing Reading |
75 |
Steps in Creative Thought
Saturation Incubation Insight Evaluation Recommended reading Study guide questions Creativity crossword Exercise #10-16 |
76 |
PART I: THE TRUTH | 95 |
| Study Guide | 96 |
Chapter Four: Empericism | |
| Empiricism | 97 |
| Study Guide Questions | 101 |
Chapter Five: Logic | |
| Easy | 103 |
| Hard | 103 |
| Harder | 104 |
| Hardest | 104 |
| Deductive logic | 106 |
| Inductive logic | 114 |
Miscellaneous principles of logic
|
117 |
Logic and language
Study guide questions Logic crossword Exercise #17-27 |
119 |
Chapter Six: The Scientific Method | |
Archimedes
|
147 |
Additional assumptions and characteristics of the scientific method
|
149 |
Characteristics of science: necessary features or goals
Objectivity Precision Operationalism Verifiability |
151 |
Important terms of science
Law Theory |
155 |
| Science and democracy | 155 |
Pseudoscience
Scientific method crossword Exercise #28-29 |
156 |
Chapter Seven: Deceiving Ourselves | |
Cognitive biases
Heuristics |
165 |
Psychological biases
|
173 |
| Defense mechanisms | 180 |
Characteristics of defense mechanisms
Suppression Compulsions and obsessions Rationalization Fantasy Denial Displacement Sublimation Reaction formation Regression Projection Identification Compensation Intellectualization Undoing Guilt Study Guide Questions Defense Mechanisms Crossword Exercise # 30-31 |
181 |
Chapter Eight: Propaganda | |
| Hitler's seven propaganda principles | 202 |
| The sale of political candidates | 203 |
| Subliminal messages | 207 |
| Cults and pseudoscience revisited | 208 |
Caution
Propaganda Crossword Exercise # 32 |
210 |
PART II: THE WHOLE TRUTH | 215 |
| Study Guide | 219 |
Chapter Nine: Missing Evidence | |
| Half-truth fallacy | 221 |
| Negative proof fallacy | 222 |
| If-Only fallacy | 223 |
Stereotyping
Gender Religion Nationality Ethnic origin |
224 |
| Labels | 225 |
| Cliche fallacy | 226 |
| Faulty analogy | 226 |
| Faulty comparison | 229 |
Invincible ignorance
|
229 |
Chapter Ten: Association | |
| Introduction | 231 |
Positive association
Tradition fallacy Popularity fallacy Testimonial Identification Purr Words |
231 |
Neutral association
|
239 |
Negative association
Name calling Guilt-by-association Poisoning the well |
240 |
Conclusion
|
242 |
Chapter Eleven: Unwarranted Assumptions | |
| Introduction | 243 |
| Either-or fallacy | 243 |
| Is-ought fallacy | 244 |
| Wishful thinking | 245 |
| Complex question fallacy | 246 |
| Provincialism | 246 |
| Common sense fallacy | 248 |
Conclusion
|
242 |
Chapter Twelve: Causal Fallacies | |
| Causal oversimplification | 251 |
| After-this fallacy | 252 |
| Cause-effect confusion | 253 |
| Common cause fallacy | 254 |
Slippery Slope
Fallacies of the Whole Truth Crossword Exercise # 33-34 |
254 |
PART III: NOTHING BUT THE LOGICAL TRUTH | 261 |
| Study Guide | 262 |
Chapter Thirteen: Irrelevance | |
| Introduction | 263 |
| Doesn't-follow fallacy | 263 |
| Irrelevant purpose | 265 |
| Anachronism | 265 |
| Appeal to vanity | 266 |
| Appeal to pity | 266 |
| Appeal to force | 267 |
Truth by volume
|
272 |
Chapter Fourteen: Diversion | |
| Introduction | 275 |
| Strawman | 275 |
| Red herring | 276 |
| Tokenism | 277 |
| Humor fallacy | 278 |
Two wrongs fallacy
|
279 |
Chapter Fifteen: Confusion | |
| Introduction | 283 |
| Equivocation fallacy | 283 |
| Begging-the-question fallacy | 285 |
| Doublespeak | 288 |
Inconsistency fallacy
Exercise # 35-36 |
289 |
Chapter Sixteen: Statistics | |
| Introduction | 295 |
| Small sample | 296 |
| Unrepresentative sample | 297 |
| False precision fallacy | 298 |
| Biased questions | 299 |
| Gambler's fallacy | 300 |
| Faulty comparison | 302 |
Causal-correlation fallacy
Logical & Statistical Fallacies Crossword Exercise # 37-39 |
302 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 313 |
BOOK EVALUATION | 317 |
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