This course will require your regular attention. The Distinction Between Value Statements and Factual Statements. Also, there are many examples and exercises using current. Modularity rating: 5 I liked the overall structure of this book. This seventh edition is revised and updated throughout, and includes a new chapter on legal reasoning as well as access to a companion website of additional questions and other useful resources.
Responsibility for the Wise Exercise of Your Knowledge. Making an Overall Appraisal of an Observation Statement. The prose Van Cleave used is consistent. Later in the text, it does refer to a few concepts that appear early in that text, but these are all basic concepts that must be used to create a clear and understandable text. Chapter 4 introduces common informal fallacies. Work later in the course presupposes competence acquired earlier in the course. The basic structure of grading in the course does not involve me awarding you credits in virtue of your presence in the classroom each Saturday morning.
Additional sub-sections would ease this interplay even further. Chapter 2 covers propositional logic and categorical logic. Necessarily Following: Deductive Versus Best-Explanation Inference and General Argument Strategy. If I am not there and do not arrive in a timely fashion, send email or phone. The author tackles an impressive breadth of concepts in Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4, which leads to 50-plus-page chapters that are dense with statistical analyses and critical vocabulary.
Some examples are very current for analyzing the argument structure in a speech, but for this sort of text understandable examples are important and the author uses good examples. Clarity rating: 5 The book is clear and easy to read. Writing That Consciously Takes Account of Definitional Activities. It's simply unrelated to the conclusion. We're gonna talk about three possible answers she could give. Students will learn how to approach issues and problems in a reasoned way, considering purpose, language, awareness of argument structure and other concepts.
If those involved don't work that out, the only thing they'll accomplish by arguing is to create more animosity. There are exercises on creating truth tables and proofs, so it could work as a logic primer in short sessions or with the addition of other course content. Relates all aspects of critical thinking to decisions that the jury had to make. Cultural Relevance rating: 5 This text is quite culturally relevant. Students who complete this course successfully should understand well such concepts as validity, soundness, confirmation, controlled experiment, explanation, argument, equivocation, and stipulative definition; should be able to identify conclusions and premisses in arguments, and recognize a number of fallacious and valid argument forms; and they should be able both to construct and to analyze argumentative reasoning as it occurs in artistic, political, scientific, and everyday discourse. Because it is made by one company versus another? Interface rating: 4 Problems with navigation are not present.
Modularity rating: 5 The books is broken down into sub units that make it easy to assign short blocks of content at a time. Arbitrary Stipulative Definition, Positional Definition, and Definition Strategy. Interpretation of Data: Tables, Graphs, and Correlations. There was a time when doctors thought leeches could cure us. Students will be expected to apply critical thinking to real-world decision-making e. Suggested Answers for Chapter 5.
We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. Affirming and Denying the Antecedent and Consequent. It's not simply about criticizing ideas, it is about developing the ability to think about ideas with greater critical distance. In propositional logic, this textbook does not cover suppositional arguments, such as conditional proof and reductio ad absurdum. Arguments like this, we call ampliative. The authors provide a thorough treatment of such central topics as deductive and inductive reasoning, logical fallacies, how to recognize and avoid ambiguity, and how to distinguish what is relevant from what is not. Despite my dire warning, I have no reason to think the material in this course is too difficult for any student who seriously tries to master it.
An Alternative: Diagramming the Whole Argument. Further criteria for open source books includes modularity and consistency of terminology. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this text! And third, what's the difference between deductive and ampliative arguments? The opening chapter is clear in defining the necessary terms, and it gives the students an understanding of the toolbox available to them in assessing and evaluating arguments. Clarity rating: 4 The author writes in a very conversational, easy-to-read manner. In all cases, they should be grammatically correct and show evidence of having been proofread as necessary. The middle section is less clear, though.
Accuracy rating: 4 The ideas addressed in Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking are accurate but at times notably political. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. Still, good critical thinkers know that new information can be introduced at any moment—even after a decision is made—so we remain open to the views and ideas of others, which may further shape our decision. Grammatical Errors rating: 5 I did not find any grammatical errors. Without it, it's too easy for us to fall into error. I think the author loses the balance of a conversational, helpful tone and focuses too heavily on equations.