Critical Thinking: The Basics

Description

Critical Thinking: The Basics is an accessible and engaging introduction to the field of critical thinking, drawing on philosophy, communication and psychology. Emphasising its relevance to decision making (in personal, professional and civic life), academic literacy and personal development, this book supports the reader in understanding and developing the knowledge and skills needed to avoid poor reasoning, reconstruct and evaluate arguments, and engage constructively in dialogues.

Topics covered include:

With discussion questions/exercises and suggestions for further reading at the end of each main chapter, this book is an essential read for students approaching the field of critical thinking for the first time, and for the general reader wanting to improving their thinking skills and decision making abilities.

Reviews

Critical Thinking: The Basics covers the basics engagingly and without unnecessary jargon, provides lots of well-chosen examples and practice exercises, and, unlike most critical thinking textbooks, explains the theoretical background to the recent rise of critical thinking in education. Justine Kingsbury, University of Waikato, New Zealand This is an excellent contribution to the growing literature on critical thinking. The discussion on causal reasoning, heuristics and biases, framing, social power, metacognition, and self-deception are timely and valuable. Critical Thinking: The Basics helps to bring together the literature on the psychology and sociology of human judgement with the philosophical art of argument analysis. Ted Poston, University of South Alabama, USA This text is loaded with references, explanations, history and examples from the development and enhancement of the understanding of critical thinking. It offers a coverage of the basics of critical thinking and also provides a sense of how the field and individual expectations of critical thinking are changing. Charles Blatz, Professor Emeritus at University of Toledo, USA.

Author description

Stuart Hanscomb is a lecturer in Philosophy & Communication at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, UK

Table of contents

1. Introduction 2. Argument structure and basic concepts 3. Argument reconstruction and evaluation 4. Arguments referring to expertise, power, and message source 5. Causal arguments, arguments from consequences and slippery slope arguments 6. Generalizations 7. Arguments from analogy, false dilemma, perfectionist arguments, and other uses of framing 8. Formal fallacies 9. Emotional appeals 10. Argument construction