The Power of Critical Thinking

Lewis Vaughn is the author or coauthor of several books, including: Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases (OUP, 2008); How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age, Fifth Edition (2007); Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues (2007); Doing Philosophy: An Introduction Through Thought Experiments, Third Edition (2006); and Writing Philosophy: A Student's Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays (OUP, 2005).

Preface; 1. BASICS; 1. THE POWER OF CRITICAL THINKING; Why It Matters; How It Works; Summary; Exercises; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING: MODULE 1; Writing Assignments; 2. THE "ENVIRONMENT" OF CRITICAL THINKING; Perils of a Haunted Mind; Perils of a Haunted Worldview; Summary; Exercises; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING: MODULE 2; Writing Assignments; 3. MAKING SENSE OF ARGUMENTS; Argument Basics; Judging Arguments; Finding Missing Parts; Argument Patterns; Diagramming Arguments; Assessing Long Arguments; Summary; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING: MODULE 3; Writing Assignments; 2. REASONS; 4. REASONS FOR BELIEF AND DOUBT; When Claims Conflict; Experts and Evidence; Personal Experience; Fooling Ourselves; Claims in the News; Advertising and Persuasion; Summary; Exercises; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING: MODULE 4; Writing Assignments; 5. FAULTY REASONING; Irrelevant Premises; Unacceptable Premises; Summary; Exercises; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; CRITICAL THINKING AND WRITING: MODULE 5; Writing Assignments; 3. ARGUMENTS; 6. DEDUCTIVE REASONING: PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC; Connectives and Truth Values; Checking for Validity; Summary; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; Writing Assignments; 7. DEDUCTIVE REASONING: CATEGORICAL LOGIC; Statements and Classes; Translations and Standard Form; Diagramming Categorical Statements; Sizing Up Categorical Syllogisms; Summary; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; Writing Assignments; 8. INDUCTIVE REASONING; Enumerative Induction; Analogical Induction; Causal Arguments; Summary; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; Writing Assignments; 4. EXPLANATIONS; 9. INFERENCE TO THE BEST EXPLANATION; Explanations and Inference; Theories and Consistency; Theories and Criteria; Telling Good Theories from Bad; Summary; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; Writing Assignments; 10. JUDGING SCIENTIFIC THEORIES; Science and Not Science; The Scientific Method; Testing Scientific Theories; Judging Scientific Theories; Science and Weird Theories; Making Weird Mistakes; Judging Weird Theories; Summary; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; Writing Assignments; 11. JUDGING MORAL ARGUMENTS AND THEORIES; Moral Arguments; Moral Theories; A Coherent Worldview; Summary; Exercises; Field Problems; Self-Assessment Quiz; Integrative Exercises; Writing Assignments; APPENDIX A: ESSAYS FOR EVALUATION; 1. "Death Penalty Discriminates Against Black Crime Victims"; 2. "Marine Parks"; 3. "The Wrong Ruling on Vouchers"; 4. "The Kalam Cosmological Argument"; 5. "More Innocents Die When We Don't Have Capital Punishment"; 6. "Misleading the Patient for Fun and Profit"; 7. "Tight Limits on Stem Cells Betray Research Potential"; 8. "The Cohabitation Epidemic"; 9. "The Demon-Haunted Sentence: A Skeptical Analysis of Reverse Speech"; 10. "Amityville: The Horror of It All"; 11. "A Deviance from God's Norm"; 12. "Marriage Still Evolving, as Ever"; 13. "Slouching Toward Chimeras"; 14. "The Right to Ridicule"; 15. "Time to Think"; APPENDIX B: ANSWERS TO EXERCISES; Notes; Glossary; Credits; Index