This accessible and engaging book reveals the essential elements of critical and creative thinking that drive achievement in academic, professional, and personal spheres. Moving seamlessly from the foundations of critical understanding to the art of persuasion, leading scholar Robert DiYanni expertly guides readers past common obstacles toward a more complete intellectual toolkit.
This compelling guide is an indispensable companion to Reading Literature and Writing that Matters. Part One offers a clear and concise overview of essential aspects of critical thinking and understanding, including what knowledge is, how we acquire it, and how we can use it productively. Part Two explores argument and persuasion, including essential elements of argumentation and how to construct effective arguments. Part Three introduces types of logical fallacies, along with cognitive biases and various blocks to thinking—and how to overcome them. Part Four describes practical thinking tools and techniques to develop readers’ creative thinking skills. It also features a host of exercises and questions throughout.
The result is a more confident, capable thinker equipped to meet challenges with clarity and innovation. Whether you're navigating complex decisions, solving persistent problems, or analysing texts, this book is the essential guide to honing your critical thinking skills.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I: Critical Thinking
1. Why We Need Critical Thinking
2. How We Acquire Knowledge
3. Decisive Thinking—Making Good Decisions
Part II: Argument & Persuasion
4. Argument Basics—Claims & Evidence / Assumptions & Implications
5. Key Aspects of Argument—Causality & Correlation / Authority & Analogy
6. Rhetoric—Its Dangers and Its Uses
Part III: Obstacles to Productive Thinking
7. Inductive Thinking Fallacies
8. Cognitive Biases and Thinking Blocks
Part IV: Pathways to Creative Thinking
9. Some Lateral Thinking Tools
10. Creative Thinking Strategies and Techniques
Part V: Thinking with Some Master Thinkers
11. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir
12. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore
13. Susanne K. Langer and Jerome S. Bruner
14. Richard Feynman and Daniel Kahneman
Appendix A: Varieties of Future Thinking
Appendix B: Thinking About Artificial Intelligence
References
Index
About the Author :
Robert DiYanni is Professor of Humanities at New York University, USA where he serves on the faculties of the School of Professional Studies and the Stern School of Business, following a decade in the College of Arts and Science. His publications include The Pearson Guide to Critical and Creative Thinking (2014), Critical and Creative Thinking: A Brief Guide for Teachers (2015), and Critical Reading Across the Curriculum (with Anton Borst; 2017).
