Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict (2-downloads)

This is the eBook of the printed book and may not include any media, website access codes, or print supplements that may come packaged with the bound book. Integrating Logic Skills into the Critical Decision-Making Process   Organized around lively and authentic examples drawn from jury trials, contemporary political and social debate, and advertising, Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict shows students how to detect fallacies and how to examine and construct cogent arguments.    Accessible and reader friendly—yet thorough and rigorous—Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict shows students how to integrate all logic skills into the critical decision-making process, and construct arguments from examples gained through the study of contemporary and historic debates, both legal and popular.   Teaching and Learning Experience   Personalize Learning - MyThinkingLab delivers proven results in helping students succeed, provides engaging experiences that personalize learning, and comes from a trusted partner with educational expertise and a deep commitment to helping students and instructors achieve their goals.   Improve Critical Thinking - “Argue Your Case” segments, “Consider the Verdict” boxes, real-life examples and cases, and an optional chapter on “Thinking Critically about Statistics” all encourage students to examine their assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence, assess their conclusions, and more!   Engage Students - Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict’s readable, conversational style, wealth of exercises, suggested Website resources, glossary (and more!) allows your students to easily read, understand and engage with the text.                                                                                                                          Support Instructors - Teaching your course just got easier!  You can create a Customized Text or use our Instructor’s Manual, Electronic “MyTest” Test Bank or PowerPoint Presentation Slides. Plus, instructors find it easy to teach from Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict because students are given an argument context that orients them to new material and helps them place it in a familiar setting – giving you the freedom to present different, complimentary material in class!     Note: MyThinkingLab does no come automatically packaged with this text. To purchase MyThinkingLab, please visit www.mythinkinglab.com or you can purchase a valuepack of the text + MyThinkingLab (VP ISBN-10: 0205176046, VP ISBN-13: 9780205176045)

Table of Contents:
IN THIS SECTION: 1.) BRIEF 2.) COMPREHENSIVE      BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS      Table of Contents Preface      Acknowledgments        Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2  A Few Important Terms Chapter 3 Ad Hominem Arguments Chapter 4 The Second Deadly Fallacy:  The Strawman Fallacy Chapter 5 What’s the Question?      Chapter 6 Relevant and Irrelevant Reasons       Chapter 7 Analyzing Arguments Chapter 8 The Burden of Proof       Chapter 9  Language and its Pitfalls Chapter 10  Appeal to Authority         Cumulative Exercises One           (Chapters 1 through 10) Chapter 11 Arguments by Analogy   Chapter 12 Some Distinctive Arguments and Potential Pitfalls: Slippery Slope, Dilemma, and Golden Mean Arguments         Chapter 13 Begging the Question      Cumulative Exercises Two           (Chapters 1 through 13)   Chapter 14 Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Chapter 15 Scientific and Causal Reasoning       Chapter 16 The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth        Cumulative Exercises Three        Chapters 1 through 16) Chapter 17 Thinking Critically about Statistics   Chapter 18 Symbolic Sentential Logic        Chapter 19 Arguments about Classes         Key Terms      Answers to Selected Exercises     Index           COMPREHENSIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS   Table of Contents Preface      Acknowledgments        Chapter 1     Introduction Critical Thinking in Everyday Life       Play Fair     Seating a Jury     Jury Research: Eliminating or Selecting Bias?   Impartial Critical Thinking  Adversarial Critical Thinking Cooperative Critical Thinking Exercises Additional Reading Online Resources Chapter 2      A Few Important Terms Arguments      Statements       Exercise 2-1 Premises and Conclusions      Exercise 2-2 Deductive and Inductive Arguments       Exercise 2-3 Deduction, Validity, and Soundness    Induction, Strong Arguments, and Cogent Arguments   Exercises 2-4, 2-5 Review Questions Online Resources   Chapter 3     Ad Hominem Arguments The Ad Hominem Fallacy       Nonfallacious Ad Hominem Arguments      Ad Hominem and Testimony   Distinguishing Argument from Testimony       Exercise 3-1 Tricky Types of Ad Hominem      Bias Ad Hominem   Inconsistency and Ad Hominem  Psychological Ad Hominem   Inverse Ad Hominem       Attacking Arguments Exercises 3-2 Review Questions Additional Reading Internet Resources       Chapter 4      The Second Deadly Fallacy:  The Strawman Fallacy Strawman       The Principle of Charity   The Strawman Fallacy   Special Strawman Varieties  Limits on Critical Thinking Exercises 4-1 and 4-2 Additional Reading   Chapter 5     What’s the Question?     Determine the Conclusion       What Is the Exact Conclusion?       Exercises 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4 Review Question   Chapter 6     Relevant and Irrelevant Reasons       Premises Are Relevant or Irrelevant Relative to the Conclusion     Irrelevant Reason Fallacy      The Red Herring Fallacy   Exercises 6-1 and 6-2 Review Questions Additional Reading      Chapter 7     Analyzing Arguments Argument Structure       Convergent Arguments  Linked Arguments   Subarguments       Exercises 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3 Assumptions: Their Use and Abuse       Legitimate Assumptions   Enthymemes Illegitimate Assumptions Exercise 7-4 Review Questions Additional Reading   Chapter 8     The Burden of Proof       Who Bears the Burden of Proof?       Appeal to Ignorance      The Burden of Proof in the Courtroom       Presumption of Innocence   When the Defendant Does Not Testify   Juries and the Burden of Proof   Unappealing Ignorance       Exercises 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, 8-5, 8-6, 8-7 Review Questions Additional Reading   Chapter 9      Language and its Pitfalls Defintions       Stipulative Definitions Controversial Definitions Deceptive Language The Fallacy of Ambiguity Amphiboly Exercises 9-1, 9-2, and 9-3 Additional Reading Internet Resources   Chapter 10      Appeal to Authority         Authorities as Testifiers      Conditions for Legitimate Appeal to Authority       Popularity and Tradition      Exercise 10-1 Review Questions Additional Reading Cumulative Exercises One           (Chapters 1 through 10)   Chapter 11     Arguments by Analogy   Figurative Analogy    Deductive Argument by Analogy       Exercise 11-1 The Fallacy of Faulty Analogy   Exercises 11-2 and 11-3 Analyzing a Deductive Argument by Analogy   Deductive Arguments by Analogy and Cooperative Critical Thinking The Fallacy of Analogical Literalism   Caution! Watch for Analogies That Look Like Slippery Slopes!  Inductive Arguments by Analogy       Exercises 11-4, 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, and 11-10 Review Questions   Chapter 12 Some Distinctive Arguments and Potential Pitfalls: Slippery Slope, Dilemma, and Golden Mean Arguments         Slippery Slope     Separating Slippery Slopes from Strawmen The Slippery Slope Fallacy   Genuine Slippery Slopes   Exercises 12-1and 12-2 Dilemmas, False and True       Genuine Dilemmas  False Dilemmas   Dilemmas in Conditional Form False Dilemma Combined with Strawman   Consider the Possibilities   Exercise 12-3 Golden Mean       The Golden Mean Fallacy   Constructing Golden Mean Fallacies   Exercise 12-4 Review Questsions Additional Reading Additional Reading Internet Resources    Chapter 13 Begging the Question      The Problem with Question-Begging Arguments       A New and Confusing Use of “Begs the Question” Subtle Forms of Question Begging       Synonymous Begging the Question   Generalization Begging the Question   Circular Begging the Question   False Charges of Begging the Question Self-Sealing Arguments Complex Questions Exercises 13-1 and 13-2 Review Questions Additional Reading Cumulative Exercises Two           (Chapters 1 through 13)   Chapter 14     Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Necessary Conditions       Distinguishing Necessary from Sufficient Conditions  Sufficient Conditions       Necessary and Sufficient Conditions in Ordinary Language  Ex Exercises 14-1, 14-2, and 14-3 Conditional Statements       Alternative Ways of Stating Necessary and Sufficient Conditions       Both Necessary and Sufficient  Exe Exercises 14-4 and 14-5 Valid Inferences from Necessary and Sufficient Conditions       Modus Ponens   Modus Tollens   Fallacies Based on Confusion between Necessary and Sufficient Conditions    The Fallacy of Denying the Antecedent The Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent   Detecting Argument Forms       Exercises 14-6, 14-7, and 14-8 Review Questions   Chapter 15     Scientific and Causal Reasoning       Distinguishing Causation from Correlation   Exercise 15-1 The Questionable Cause Fallacy   Exercise 15-2    The Method of Science       Randomized Studies and Prospective Studies   Making Predictions   When Predictions Go Wrong   Faulty “Scientific” Claims   Occam’s Razor Confirmation Bias Scientific Integrity, Scientific Cooperation, and Research Manipulation Exercise 15-3 Review Questions Additional Reading Internet Resources   Chapter 16 The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth        Eyewitness Testimony    Potential Sources of Eyewitness Error   Judging the Honesty of a Witness   Exercise 16-1 The Whole Truth       Are the Premises True?     Digging for Truth   Consider the Source   Exercise 16-2 Review Questions Additional Reading Online Resources   Cumulative Exercises Three        Chapters 1 through 16)   Chapter 17     Thinking Critically about Statistics   All Children Are Above Average      Empty Statistics     Finding the Appropriate Context      Caught Off Base       Statistical Apples and Oranges     Statistical Half-Truths      Sample Size and “Statistical Significance” How to Make Your Study Yield the Results You Want Exercises 17-1 Surveys Exercise 17-2 Additional Reading Online Resources   Chapter 18     Symbolic Sentential Logic        Truth-Functional Definitions       Negation   Disjunction   Conjunction   Conditional   Material Implication   Exercise 18-1 Testing for Validity and Invalidity    Exercise 18-2   Punctuation     Exercise 18-3 The Truth-Table Method of Testing for Validity   ExExercise 18-4    The Short-Cut Method for Determining Validity or Invalidity   Exercises 18-5, 18-6, and 18-7 Review Questions   Chapter 19     Arguments about Classes         Types of Categorical Propositions       Exercise 19-1 Relations among Categorical Propositions    Venn Diagrams       Diagramming Statements  Diagramming Arguments   Exercise 19-2 Translating Ordinary-Language Statements into Standard-Form  Categorical Propositions       Exercise 19-3 Reducing the Number of Terms   Exercises 19-4 and 19-5 Review Questions Consider Your Verdict Comprehensive Critical Thinking in the Jury Room Case One:  Commonwealth v. Moyer Judge Carroll’s Summation and Charge to the Jury   Case Two:  State v. Ransom Judge Schwebel’s Summation and Charge to the Jury  Key Terms      Answers to Selected Exercises     Index      

About the Author :
In This Section:   I. Author Bio II. Author Letter     I. Author Bio   Dr. Bruce N. Waller is Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University. He received his Ph.D. in 1979 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His other works include Consider Ethics: Theory, Readings, and Contemporary Issues, Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict, You Decide! Current Debates in Criminal Justice, You Decide! Current Debates in Contemporary Moral Problems, You Decide! Current Debates in Introductory Philosophy, You Decide! Current Debates in Ethics, Coffee and Philosophy: A Conversational Introduction to Philosophy with Readings, and Against Moral Responsibility.       II. Author Letter   Dear Colleagues,   I’ve taught a wide range of philosophy courses, including Intro to Philosophy, Bioethics, Logic, and Ethical theory. All those courses are fun and I’ve been lucky to have students who seem to genuinely enjoy studying philosophy. The course I teach most often, Critical Thinking, is the course my students usually enjoy the most. It’s a course in which you can actually watch students become significantly more confident and more effective in critical thinking. Above all, it is a course in which students never pose that dreadful philosophical query: Is this course really relevant to my life?   It’s no accident that courtroom dramas dominate popular television. The courtroom an ideal setting for the careful study of critical thinking: first, because students find the setting interesting and have no doubt of its importance; and second, because so many key issues in critical thinking are played out in jury deliberations. Jurors must be able to detect misleading and ambiguous statements, separate relevant from irrelevant material, keep in mind who does and does not bear the burden of proof, understand the judge’s instructions, weigh the strengths and weaknesses of appeals to authority, and not only identify fallacies but also understand and appreciate legitimate arguments.   The 6th edition of Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict, like the previous editions, uses the courtroom and the jury room as a laboratory for work on critical thinking. But as in earlier editions, it is clear that the critical deliberations of the courtroom are not the only place that critical thinking is important, and they are certainly not the settings in which most students will use their critical thinking skills most of the time. Critical thinking is also important in evaluating commercials, deciding how to vote and considering major social issues. Thus while Critical Thinking: Consider the Verdict, 6th editionuses the courtroom and the jury room to study and exercise critical thinking skills, the great majority of the examples and exercises come from other sources: advertisements, political campaigns, letters to the editor, editorials, and ordinary discussions.   There are new exercises and examples in every chapter of the new edition, but the most significant change from earlier editions is more attention to cooperative critical thinking. The adversarial system that dominates legal proceedings and drives political campaigns is often valuable. Adversarial argument is by no means the only type of argument, discussion and inquiry we pursue, and even the legal process has in many cases moved toward more cooperative proceedings. And of course, in discussions among friends and family and colleagues, we often find a cooperative discussion, which seeks shared benefits and emphasizes common goals, more valuable than an adversarial process which results in winners and losers.   I would be delighted to hear from anyone reviewing, teaching, or studying this book, and am always happy to receive suggestions for improvements as well as new examples for analysis. My email is bnwaller@ysu.edu.   Cheers,   Bruce N. Waller   Youngstown State University