Thinking Critically

John Chaffee, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at The City University of New York, where he has developed a Philosophy and Critical Thinking program that annually involves 25 faculty and 3,000 students. He is a nationally recognized figure in the area of critical thinking, having authored leading textbooks and many professional articles. He also has conducted numerous conference presentations and workshops throughout the country. In developing programs to teach people to think more effectively in all academic subjects and areas of life, Dr. Chaffee has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He was selected as New York Educator of the Year and received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Diversity in Teaching in Higher Education.

1. Thinking
Living an Examined" Life
Working Towards Goals
Making Decisions
Analyzing Issues
Final Thoughts
2. Thinking Critically
Thinking Actively
Carefully Exploring Situations with Questions
Thinking Independently
Viewing Situations from Different Perspectives
Supporting Diverse Perspectives with Reasons and Evidence
Discussing Ideas in an Organized Way
Becoming a Critical Thinker
3. Solving Problems
Thinking Critically About Problems
Introduction to Solving Problems
Solving Complex Problems
Solving Nonpersonal Problems
4. Perceivin, Believing, and Knowing
Actively Selecting, Organizing, and Interpreting Sensations
What Factors Shape Your Perceptions?
Thinking Critically About Perceptions
Constructing Beliefs
Believing and Knowing
Knowledge and Truth
5. Reporting, Inferring, and Judging
Reporting Factual Information
Inferring
Judging
Final Thoughts
6. Constructing Arguments
Recognizing Arguments
Evaluating Arguments
Understanding Deductive Arguments
Final Thoughts
7. Reasoning Critically
Inductive Reasoning
Empirical Generalization
Fallacies of False Generalization
Causal Reasoning
Causal Fallacies
Fallacies of Relevance
The Critical Thinker's Guide to Reasoning
8. Thinking Critically, Living Creatively
Living Creatively
Living a Life Philosophy
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Index"