The Thinking Reader

Organ Sales and Ben and Jerry's and Corporate Philanthropy are just a couple of the truly stimulating subjects addressed in THE THINKING READER. Koobatian offers articles of varying lengths and levels of difficulty on such subjects in order to help students learn to create good arguments. Article authors include such notables as James Rachels, Joyce Carol Oates, Alan Dershowitz, Peter Singer, and William Jefferson Clinton! Study questions are written to help students recognize the key components of argument while sufficient latitude is allowed for instructors to work with their own presentations of argument analysis.

Table of Contents:
Preface. ORGAN SALES. 1. David J. Rothman, The International Organ Traffic. 2. Richard A. Epstein, Sell Your Body, Save a Life. Janet Radcliffe Richards, From Him That Hath Not. 4. Leon R. Kass, Organs for Sale? Propriety, Property, and the Price of Progress. 5. Michael Kinsley, Take My Kidney, Please. CHESS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. 1. M. Mitchell Waldrop Interviews Feng-Hsiung Hsu, How the Chess was Won. 2. Glenn D. Klopfenstein, Cheating at Chess 200 Million Times a Second. 3. Garry Kasparov, The Day I Sensed a New Kind of Intelligence. 4. Garry Kasparov, IBM Owes Mankind a Rematch. 5. David Gelernter, How Hard Is Chess? Walter Goodman and Bennett Goodman, Fair Game. 7. Charles Krauthammer, Be Afraid: The Meaning of Deep Blue"s Victory. TERMINATOR TECHNOLOGY. 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fact Sheet: Why USDA"s Technology Protection System (aka "Terminator") Benefits Agriculture. 2. Delta & Pine Land Company, Protecting Technology and Encouraging Development. 3. Delta & Pine Land Company, Advantages of the TPS. 4. Hope Shand and Pat Mooney, Terminator Seeds Threaten an End to Farming. BEN AND JERRY"S AND CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY. 1. Ben Cohen, Is Corporate Philanthropy Fair to Shareholders? 2. Albert J. Dunlap, Excerpt from Mean Business. 3. Dan Seligman, Is Philanthropy Irrational? SCHOOL UNIFORMS. 1. William J. Clinton, The President"s Radio Address--February 24, 1996. 2. William J. Clinton, Memorandum on the School Uniforms Manual. 3. William F. Buckley Jr., School Uniforms? 4. Leonia K. Kurgan, Adolescent Immaturity and Trench Coat Uniform. 5. Dennis Evans, School Uniforms: An "Unfashionable" Dissent. CHANNEL ONE. 1. Susan Mueller, Twelve Interviews. 2. Michael J. Sandel, Ad Nauseam. 3. Mark Crispin Miller, How to Be Stupid: The Teachings of Channel One. 4. Samuel Gwynne, Hot News in Class. 5. Casey Lartigue, Anti-Channel One Crusade Is Failing. THE TABLOIDS AND CHECKBOOK JOURNALISM. 1. Editorial, Put Away the Checkbook. 2 Mark Fitzgerald, For ABC News..."The Price is Right." 3. John Sullivan, Defending Play for Play. 4. Nicholas von Hoffman, In Defense of Checkbook Journalism. 5. Steve Coz, When Tabloids Cross the Line. 6. Howard Kurtz, Glifford Tumbles into Tabloid Trap. 7. William Powers, Getting Kathy Lee. THE BELL CURVE. 1. Dan Seligman and Charles Murray, As the Bell Curves. 2. Charles Murray and Richard J. Herrnstein, Race, Genes, and IQ-An Apologia. 3. Stephen Jay Gould, Curveball. 4. Greg Easterbrook, The Case Against The Bell Curve. 5. Randolph Quaye, The Assault on the Human Spirit: The Bell Curve. 6. Diane Ravitch, Dumb Students? Or Dumb Textbooks? 7. Robert J. Sternberg, For Whom Does The Bell Curve Toll? 8. Max Weiner and Bruce Cooper, Commentary on The Bell Curve. 9. National Institutes of Health, Statement: The Bell Curve. 10. Art Levine, Why Are Jews So Rich? DUTY OF CARE. 1. George J. Annas, Pregnant Women as Fetal Containers. 2. Alan Dershowitz, Drawing the Line on Prenatal Rights. 3. Kate Murphy, Some Words on Fetal Rights. THE GREAT APE PROJECT. 1. Paola Cavalier and Peter Singer (Editors) and Contributors to The Great Ape Project, A Declaration on Great Apes. 2. Jane Goodall, Chimpanzees-Bridging the Gap. 3. James Rachels, Why Darwinians Should Support Equal Treatment for Other Great Apes. 4. Robert Wokler, Keeping It in the Family. 5. John Bignall, Rights for Homo Sapiens. ZOOS. 1. Holly Penfound, Rattling the Cage: Protecting Wild Animals from Zoos. 2. Stephen St C. Bostock, Defending Zoos. BOXING. 1. William Plummer, A Life on the Ropes. 2. George D. Lundberg, Boxing Should Be Banned in Civilized Countries. 3. Maurice W. Van Allen, The Deadly Degrading Sport. 4. George D. Lundberg, Boxing Should Be Banned in Civilized Countries--Round 3. 5. David Kindred, Prescription for Murder. 6. Lincoln Sargeant, Hugh Brayne, and Carol Brayne, Could Boxing Be Prevented If Doctors Withdrew Cover?: An Ethical Perspective. 7. George D. Lundberg, Blunt Force Violence in America--Shades of Gray or Red. 8. Russel H. Patterson, On Boxing and Liberty. 9. Joyce Carol Oates, Excerpt from On Boxing. 10. John Schulian, Death in the Ring is a Fact of Life.

Review :
Preface. ORGAN SALES. 1. David J. Rothman, The International Organ Traffic. 2. Richard A. Epstein, Sell Your Body, Save a Life. Janet Radcliffe Richards, From Him That Hath Not. 4. Leon R. Kass, Organs for Sale? Propriety, Property, and the Price of Progress. 5. Michael Kinsley, Take My Kidney, Please. CHESS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. 1. M. Mitchell Waldrop Interviews Feng-Hsiung Hsu, How the Chess was Won. 2. Glenn D. Klopfenstein, Cheating at Chess 200 Million Times a Second. 3. Garry Kasparov, The Day I Sensed a New Kind of Intelligence. 4. Garry Kasparov, IBM Owes Mankind a Rematch. 5. David Gelernter, How Hard Is Chess? Walter Goodman and Bennett Goodman, Fair Game. 7. Charles Krauthammer, Be Afraid: The Meaning of Deep Blue's Victory. TERMINATOR TECHNOLOGY. 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fact Sheet: Why USDA's Technology Protection System (aka "Terminator") Benefits Agriculture. 2. Delta & Pine Land Company, Protecting Technology and Encouraging Development. 3. Delta & Pine Land Company, Advantages of the TPS. 4. Hope Shand and Pat Mooney, Terminator Seeds Threaten an End to Farming. BEN AND JERRY'S AND CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY. 1. Ben Cohen, Is Corporate Philanthropy Fair to Shareholders? 2. Albert J. Dunlap, Excerpt from Mean Business. 3. Dan Seligman, Is Philanthropy Irrational? SCHOOL UNIFORMS. 1. William J. Clinton, The President's Radio Address--February 24, 1996. 2. William J. Clinton, Memorandum on the School Uniforms Manual. 3. William F. Buckley Jr., School Uniforms? 4. Leonia K. Kurgan, Adolescent Immaturity and Trench Coat Uniform. 5. Dennis Evans, School Uniforms: An "Unfashionable" Dissent. CHANNEL ONE. 1. Susan Mueller, Twelve Interviews. 2. Michael J. Sandel, Ad Nauseam. 3. Mark Crispin Miller, How to Be Stupid: The Teachings of Channel One. 4. Samuel Gwynne, Hot News in Class. 5. Casey Lartigue, Anti-Channel One Crusade Is Failing. THE TABLOIDS AND CHECKBOOK JOURNALISM. 1. Editorial, Put Away the Checkbook. 2 Mark Fitzgerald, For ABC News?"The Price is Right." 3. John Sullivan, Defending Play for Play. 4. Nicholas von Hoffman, In Defense of Checkbook Journalism. 5. Steve Coz, When Tabloids Cross the Line. 6. Howard Kurtz, Glifford Tumbles into Tabloid Trap. 7. William Powers, Getting Kathy Lee. THE BELL CURVE. 1. Dan Seligman and Charles Murray, As the Bell Curves. 2. Charles Murray and Richard J. Herrnstein, Race, Genes, and IQ-An Apologia. 3. Stephen Jay Gould, Curveball. 4. Greg Easterbrook, The Case Against The Bell Curve. 5. Randolph Quaye, The Assault on the Human Spirit: The Bell Curve. 6. Diane Ravitch, Dumb Students? Or Dumb Textbooks? 7. Robert J. Sternberg, For Whom Does The Bell Curve Toll? 8. Max Weiner and Bruce Cooper, Commentary on The Bell Curve. 9. National Institutes of Health, Statement: The Bell Curve. 10. Art Levine, Why Are Jews So Rich? DUTY OF CARE. 1. George J. Annas, Pregnant Women as Fetal Containers. 2. Alan Dershowitz, Drawing the Line on Prenatal Rights. 3. Kate Murphy, Some Words on Fetal Rights. THE GREAT APE PROJECT. 1. Paola Cavalier and Peter Singer (Editors) and Contributors to The Great Ape Project, A Declaration on Great Apes. 2. Jane Goodall, Chimpanzees-Bridging the Gap. 3. James Rachels, Why Darwinians Should Support Equal Treatment for Other Great Apes. 4. Robert Wokler, Keeping It in the Family. 5. John Bignall, Rights for Homo Sapiens. ZOOS. 1. Holly Penfound, Rattling the Cage: Protecting Wild Animals from Zoos. 2. Stephen St C. Bostock, Defending Zoos. BOXING. 1. William Plummer, A Life on the Ropes. 2. George D. Lundberg, Boxing Should Be Banned in Civilized Countries. 3. Maurice W. Van Allen, The Deadly Degrading Sport. 4. George D. Lundberg, Boxing Should Be Banned in Civilized Countries--Round 3. 5. David Kindred, Prescription for Murder. 6. Lincoln Sargeant, Hugh Brayne, and Carol Brayne, Could Boxing Be Prevented If Doctors Withdrew Cover?: An Ethical Perspective. 7. George D. Lundberg, Blunt Force Violence in America--Shades of Gray or Red. 8. Russel H. Patterson, On Boxing and Liberty. 9. Joyce Carol Oates, Excerpt from On Boxing. 10. John Schulian, Death in the Ring is a Fact of Life.