The Power of Critical Thinking
Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims
by Lewis Vaughn
8th Edition
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Book Details
| Print ISBN | 9780197768204 |
| eText ISBN | 9780197768211 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Publishing Year | 2024 |
| Edition | 8th Edition |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 648 |
Written by Lewis Vaughn and published by Oxford University Press, The Power of Critical Thinking, 8th Edition, offers structured instruction in argument analysis, formal logic, and practical reasoning. Designed for undergraduate students in philosophy departments, this textbook establishes foundational methods for evaluating both ordinary and extraordinary claims encountered in academic study and daily life.
The core material encompasses deductive and inductive reasoning frameworks, progressing from propositional logic to inference to the best explanation. Dedicated chapters investigate scientific reasoning practices, criteria for weighing evidence and authority, visual reasoning strategies, and the cognitive or emotional obstacles that frequently impair clear analytical thinking.
To support active skill development, the volume features step-by-step evaluation guidelines, structured practice exercises, and a complete glossary of foundational terms. This 648-page textbook directly aligns with course objectives across Critical Thinking, Informal Logic, and Critical Thought and Reasoning modules.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Power of Critical Thinking
- • WHY IT MATTERS
- • HOW IT WORKS
- • Claims and Reasons
- • Reasons and Arguments
- • Arguments in the Rough
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • EXERCISES
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 2: Obstacles to Critical Thinking
- • ALL HAIL THE SELF
- • ALL HAIL MY GROUP
- • THE TOUGHEST MENTAL OBSTACLES
- • Denying Contrary Evidence
- • Looking for Confirming Evidence
- • Motivated Reasoning
- • Preferring Available Evidence
- • YOUR BRAIN ON SOCIAL MEDIA
- • Mere Exposure Effect
- • Illusion-of-Truth Effect
- • False Consensus Effect
- • The Dunning-Kruger Effect
- • PHILOSOPHICAL OBSTACLES
- • Subjective Relativism
- • Social Relativism
- • Skepticism
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • EXERCISES
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 3: Making Sense of Arguments
- • ARGUMENT BASICS
- • EXERCISE
- • JUDGING ARGUMENTS
- • EXERCISES
- • FINDING MISSING PARTS
- • ARGUMENT PATTERNS
- • DIAGRAMMING ARGUMENTS
- • ASSESSING LONG ARGUMENTS
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 4: Reasons for Belief and Doubt
- • WHEN CLAIMS CONFLICT
- • EXPERTS AND NONEXPERTS
- • PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
- • Impairment
- • Expectation
- • Innumeracy and Probability
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • EXERCISES
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 5: Media Manipulation: Fake News, Bias, and Advertising
- • FAKE NEWS
- • Telling Fake from Real
- • MEDIA BIAS
- • Objectivity and Bias
- • Opinion, Analysis, Advocacy
- • Liberal and Conservative Bias
- • ADVERTISING
- • How Advertising Works
- • Internet Advertising
- • Political Advertising
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • EXERCISES
- • FIELD PROBLEM
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 6: Fallacies and Persuaders
- • FALLACIES: IRRELEVANT PREMISES
- • Genetic Fallacy
- • Composition
- • Division
- • Appeal to the Person
- • Equivocation
- • Appeal to Popularity
- • Appeal to Tradition
- • Appeal to Ignorance
- • Appeal to Emotion
- • Red Herring
- • Straw Man
- • Two Wrongs Make a Right
- • FALLACIES: UNACCEPTABLE PREMISES
- • Begging the Question
- • False Dilemma
- • Decision-Point Fallacy
- • Slippery Slope
- • Hasty Generalization
- • Faulty Analogy
- • PERSUADERS: RHETORICAL MOVES
- • Innuendo
- • Euphemisms and Dysphemisms
- • Stereotyping
- • Ridicule
- • Rhetorical Definitions
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • EXERCISES
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 7: Deductive Reasoning: Propositional Logic
- • CONNECTIVES AND TRUTH VALUES
- • Conjunction
- • Disjunction
- • Negation
- • Conditional
- • EXERCISES
- • CHECKING FOR VALIDITY
- • Simple Arguments
- • Tricky Arguments
- • Streamlined Evaluation
- • PROOF OF VALIDITY
- • Rules of Inference
- • Rules of Replacement
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 8: Deductive Reasoning: Categorical Logic
- • STATEMENTS AND CLASSES
- • EXERCISES
- • TRANSLATIONS AND STANDARD FORM
- • Terms
- • Quantifiers
- • DIAGRAMMING CATEGORICAL STATEMENTS
- • SIZING UP CATEGORICAL SYLLOGISMS
- • THE SQUARE OF OPPOSITION
- • CATEGORICAL EQUIVALENCE
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 9: Inductive Reasoning
- • ENUMERATIVE INDUCTION
- • Sample Size
- • Representativeness
- • Opinion Polls
- • EXERCISES
- • ANALOGICAL INDUCTION
- • Relevant Similarities
- • Relevant Dissimilarities
- • The Number of Instances Compared
- • Diversity among Cases
- • CAUSAL ARGUMENTS
- • Testing for Causes
- • Causal Confusions
- • Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 10: Inference to the Best Explanation
- • EXPLANATIONS AND INFERENCE
- • EXERCISES
- • THEORIES AND CONSISTENCY
- • THEORIES AND CRITERIA
- • Testability
- • Fruitfulness
- • Scope
- • Simplicity
- • Conservatism
- • TELLING GOOD THEORIES FROM BAD
- • A Doomed Flight
- • An Amazing Cure
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 11: Judging Scientific Theories
- • SCIENCE AND NOT SCIENCE
- • THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
- • TESTING SCIENTIFIC THEORIES
- • JUDGING SCIENTIFIC THEORIES
- • Copernicus versus Ptolemy
- • Evolution versus Creationism
- • EXERCISES
- • SCIENCE AND WEIRD THEORIES
- • MAKING WEIRD MISTAKES
- • Leaping to the Weirdest Theory
- • Mixing What Seems with What Is
- • Misunderstanding the Possibilities
- • JUDGING WEIRD THEORIES
- • Crop Circles
- • Talking with the Dead
- • SUMMARY
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter 12: Critical Thinking in Morality
- • MORAL ARGUMENTS
- • MORAL PREMISES
- • MORAL THEORIES
- • Evaluating Moral Theories
- • Two Important Theories
- • A COHERENT WORLDVIEW
- • KEY WORDS
- • SUMMARY
- • EXERCISES
- • FIELD PROBLEMS
- • SELF-ASSESSMENT QUIZ
- • INTEGRATIVE EXERCISES
- • WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Chapter APPENDIX A: The Truth About Philosophy Majors
Chapter APPENDIX B: Essays for Evaluation
- • Essay 1 Death Penalty Discriminates against Black Crime Victims
- • Essay 2 Marine Parks
- • Essay 3 A Feminist Defense of Pornography
- • Essay 4 A Defense of Homosexuality
- • Essay 5 More Innocents Die When We Don't Have Capital Punishment
- • Essay 6 What's Wrong with Adultery?
- • Essay 7 A Pat-Down Is Better Than a Blow-Up
- • Essay 8 The Cohabitation Epidemic
- • Essay 9 Not Being Vaccinated Is Not Acceptable
- • Essay 10 Women and the Afghanistan Peace Process
- • Essay 11 A Deviance from God's Norm
- • Essay 12 Marriage Still Evolving, as Ever
- • Essay 13 Slouching toward Chimeras
- • Essay 14 Fighting Islamic Extremists Who Stifle Free Speech
- • Essay 15 Is Sluttishness a Feminist Statement?
- • Essay 16 Torture: Time for Congress to End the Debate
- • Essay 17 Torture: Severe Interrogations Work
- • Essay 18 Freedom of Expression: Protect Student Speech-Even “Unwise” Bong Banner
- • Essay 19 Freedom of Expression: Policy Reflects Common Sense
- • Essay 20 It's Irresponsible to Spread Fear of Vaccine
- • Essay 21 Flag Amendment: Flag Needs Protection
Chapter APPENDIX C: Answers to Exercises
Chapter APPENDIX D: Answers to Self-Assessment Quizzes
Chapter APPENDIX E: Critical Thinking and Writing
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