PART I. CRITICAL THINKING

1. Introduction to Critical Thinking

What Does Critical Thinking Involve? / Argument / Fallacies / Why Study Fallacies? / The Mass Media / Adopting a Critical Point of View /

2. Claims

Claim Making / Descriptive and Value-Laden Claims / Clarity / Impediments to Clarity / Clearing Things Up: Definition / Media Watch: The Language of Advertising /

3. Assessing Arguments

When Is an Argument Acceptable? / Assessing Premises / Assessing Inferential Strength: The Main Method / Assessing Inferential Strength: An Alternative Method / Deduction and Induction / Strong and Weak Refutation /

4. Welcome to the Real World: Arguments in Context

Recognizing Arguments: Telltale Signs / Paraphrasing Arguments / Complicating Factors /

PART II. FALLACIES /

5. Relevance

A Note of Caution / Classifying Fallacies / Types of Relevance / A Test for Relevance / Fallacies of Relevance /

6. Distortion

Distortions of Fact / Distortions of the Views of Others / Media Watch: Distortion in the Coverage of the News /

7. Ambiguity and Redundancy

Equivocation / Collective and Distributive Properties / Division / Composition / Hypostatization / Circular Reasoning / Begging the Question /

8. Analogy

Arguments by Analogy / Analogical Refutations / Assessing Arguments by Analogy / The Uses of Analogy / Working Through Arguments by Analogy /

9. Generalizations and Causes

Generalizations / Fallacies Involving Generalizations / Reasoning About Causes / Testing for Causal Links / Causal Fallacies / Media Watch: Science in the News Media /

10. Reason, Rhetoric, and Emotion: The Fine Art of Manipulation

Reason and Emotion / Emotional Manipulation / Reason and Rhetoric / Rhetorical Manipulation / Logical Self-Defense / Media Watch: Advertising /

In each chapter:

Summary

Exercises

Solutions to Exercises