Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking

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ISBN: 9780078038181 | 0078038189
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 2/8/2011

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This succinct, interdisciplinary introduction to critical thinking successfully dares students to question their own assumptions and to enlarge their thinking through the analysis of the most common problems associated with everyday reasoning. The text offers a unique and effective organization: Part I explains the fundamental concepts; Part II describes the most common barriers to critical thinking; Part III offers strategies for overcoming those barriers.

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
The Context	p. 3
Who Are You?	p. 4
The Influence of Time and Place	p. 4
The Influence of Ideas	p. 6
The Influence of Mass Culture	p. 7
The "Science" of Manipulation	p. 9
The Influence of Psychology	p. 11
Becoming an Individual	p. 13
What is Critical Thinking?	p. 16
Mind, Brain, or Both?	p. 17
Critical Thinking Defined	p. 18
Characteristics of Critical Thinkers	p. 20
The Role of Intuition	p. 22
Basic Activities in Critical Thinking	p. 24
Critical Thinking and Writing	p. 24
Critical Thinking and Discussion	p. 25
Avoiding Plagiarism	p. 27
What Is Truth?	p. 32
Where Does It All Begin?	p. 33
Imperfect Perception	p. 34
Imperfect Memory	p. 35
Deficient Information	p. 35
Even the Wisest Can Err	p. 36
Truth Is Discovered, Not Created	p. 37
Understanding Cause and Effect	p. 38
What Does It Mean to Know?	p. 47
Requirements of Knowing	p. 47
Testing Your Own Knowledge	p. 48
How We Come to Know	p. 50
Why Knowing Is Difficult	p. 51
A Cautionary Tale	p. 53
Is Faith a Form of Knowledge?	p. 54
Obstacles to Knowledge	p. 55
How Good Are Your Opinions?	p. 59
Opinions Can Be Mistaken	p. 61
Opinions on Moral Issues	p. 61
Even Experts Can Be Wrong	p. 63
Kinds of Errors	p. 65
Informed Versus Uninformed Opinion	p. 65
Forming Opinions Responsibly	p. 67
What Is Evidence?	p. 72
Kinds of Evidence	p. 73
Evaluating Evidence	p. 79
What Constitutes Sufficient Evidence?	p. 80
What Is Agrument?	p. 83
The Parts of an Argument	p. 84
Evaluating Agruments	p. 85
More Difficult Arguments	p. 87
The Pitfalls	p. 93
The Basic Problem: "Mine Is Better"	p. 94
Egocentric People	p. 95
Ethnocentric People	p. 96
Controlling "Mine-Is-Better" Thinking	p. 97
Errors of Perspective	p. 102
Poverty of Aspect	p. 102
Unwarranted Assumptions	p. 104
The Either/Or Outlook	p. 106
Mindless Conformity	p. 107
Absolutism	p. 108
Relativism	p. 108
Bias for or Against Change	p. 109
Errors of Procedure	p. 115
Biased Consideration of Evidence	p. 115
Double Standard	p. 117
Hasty Conclusion	p. 117
Overgeneralization and Stereotyping	p. 118
Oversimplification	p. 120
The post Hoc Fallacy	p. 121
Errors of Expression	p. 126
Contradiction	p. 126
Arguing in a Circle	p. 127
Meaningless Statement	p. 128
Mistaken Authority	p. 129
False Analogy	p. 129
Irrational Appeal	p. 130
Errors of Reaction	p. 135
Automatic Rejection	p. 137
Changing the Subject	p. 138
Shifting the Burden of Proof	p. 139
Straw Man	p. 139
Attacking the Critic	p. 140
The Errors in Combination	p. 144
Errors of Perspective	p. 144
Errors of Procedure	p. 146
Errors of Expression	p. 147
Errors of Reaction	p. 149
Sample Combinations of Errors	p. 150
A Sensible View of Terminology	p. 152
A Strategy	p. 157
Knowing Yourself	p. 158
Critical Thinking Inventory	p. 159
Using Your Inventory	p. 160
Challenge and Reward	p. 161
Being Observant	p. 164
Observing People	p. 164
Observation in Science and Medicine	p. 165
The Range of Application	p. 166
Becoming More Observant	p. 168
Reflecting on Your Observations	p. 168
Selecting an Issue	p. 171
The Basic Rule: Less Is More	p. 171
How to Limit an Issue	p. 172
Sample Issue: Pornography	p. 172
Sample Issue: Boxing	p. 174
Sample Issue: Juvenile Crime	p. 174
Narrowing the Issue Further	p. 176
Conducting Inquiry	p. 178
Working with Inconclusive Results	p. 178
Where to Look for Information	p. 179
Keeping Focused	p. 187
How Much Inquiry Is Enough?	p. 187
Managing Lengthy Material	p. 190
Forming a Judgment	p. 192
Evaluating Evidence	p. 193
Evaluating Your Sources' Arguments	p. 194
Making Important Distinctions	p. 198
Expressing Judgments	p. 199
Persuading Others	p. 206
Guidelines for Persuasion	p. 206
An Unpersuasive Presentation	p. 215
A Persuasive Presentation	p. 217
Notes	p. 224
INdex	p. 233
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking

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Table of Contents

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