Synopses & Reviews
Based upon the authors' successful ELEMENTS OF REASONING, this text is an even more concise introduction to the basic elements of argumentative prose and the tools to understand, analyze, criticize and construct arguments. More direct, essential coverage of basics is provided with fewer exercises.
About the Author
Ronald Munson is Professor of the Philosophy of Science and Medicine at the University of Missouri--St. Louis. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and was Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology at Harvard University. He has been Visiting Professor at University of California, San Diego; Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; and Harvard Medical School. A nationally acclaimed bioethicist, Munson is a medical ethicist for the National Eye Institute and a consultant for the National Cancer Institute. He is also a member of the Washington University School of Medicine Human Research Protection Committee and is Associate Editor of the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY. Munson's most recent book is THE WOMEN WHO DECIDED TO DIE: CHALLENGES AND CHOICES AT THE EDGES OF MEDICINE. His other books include RAISING THE DEAD: ORGAN TRANSPLANTS, ETHICS, AND SOCIETY (named a "Best Book in Science and Medicine" by the National Library Association); REASONING IN MEDICINE (with Daniel Albert, and Michael Resnik); ELEMENTS OF REASONING, Sixth Edition (with Andrew Black); and OUTCOME UNCERTAIN: CASES AND CONTEXTS IN BIOETHICS. He is also author of the novels NOTHING HUMAN, FAN MAIL, and NIGHT VISION.David A. Conway received his Ph.D. at Princeton University and has written in the areas of social philosophy and philosophy of religion. Currently he is Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
Table of Contents
Preface. Orientation. 1. Recognizing Arguments. 2. Analyzing Arguments. 3. Evaluating Arguments. 4. Some Valid Argument Forms. 5. More Valid Argument Forms: Categorical Reasoning and Venn Diagrams. 6. Causal Analysis. 7. Argument by Analogy and Models. 8. Definition. 9. Vagueness and Ambiguity. 10. Reasonable Belief. Answers to Selected Exercises. Index.