Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills

In this updated version of William Hughes' now classic text on critical thinking, Jonathan Lavery and Katheryn Doran preserve and improve upon the structure and strengths of the original volume with new material and examples geared more toward an American readership. William Hughes' "Critical Thinking", recently revised and updated by Jonathan Lavery and Katheryn Doran, is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the essential skills required to make strong arguments. Hughes, Lavery, and Doran give a thorough treatment of such traditional topics as deductive and inductive reasoning, logical fallacies, the importance of inference, how to recognize and avoid ambiguity, and how to assess what is or is not relevant to an argument. The authors also cover less traditional topics such as special concerns to keep in mind when reasoning about ethical matters, and how the nature of a language can affect the structure of an argument. In addition to covering basic concepts for analyzing and assessing arguments, the text also has two chapters that are designed to help students write argumentative essays. Last but not least, "Critical Thinking" includes a selection of logical paradoxes and puzzles that are as entertaining as they are enlightening. This title features extensive revisions and improvements of examples; many examples chosen because of their American perspective; self-tests for each chapter (with answers in an appendix); discussion questions for each chapter; appendix of Paradoxes and Puzzles; and, web-based resources for instructors, including additional questions that can function as a test bank.