Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well ISBN-13: 9781472595676

Author: Watson, Jamie Carlin

Brand: Bloomsbury Academic

Edition: 2

Number Of Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 9781472595676

Release Date: 22-10-2015

Languages: English

Binding: Hardcover

Part Number: black & white illustrations

Package Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches

Details: About the Author

Robert Arp, Ph.D. has previously taught philosophy at Florida State University, Southwest Minnesota State University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is the author of Scenario Visualization: An Evolutionary Account of Creative Problem Solving (MIT Press, 2008) and co-author of Building Ontologies with Basic Formal Ontology (MIT Press, 2011).

He teaches Foundations of Logic (PHIL 222) for the Program for Adult Continuing Education (PACE) program at the University of Missouri – Kansas City every semester. This course is cross listed with UMKCs Department of Philosophy.

Jamie Carlin Watson is Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, USA, and a clinical ethicist at UAMS and Arkansas Childrens hospitals. He writes on social epistemology, expertise studies, and bioethics.

Product Description

You shouldnt 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 beginners tool set to good reasoning, analyzing and arguing. Ideal for students in basic reasoning courses and students preparing for graduate school.