Overview

Lewis Vaughn's Concise Guide to Critical Thinking, third Edition, offers a clear and compact introduction to critical thinking and argumentative writing. Based on his best-selling text, The Power of Critical Thinking, this affordable volume strikes a unique balance for instructors. While it is more succinct than the leading comprehensive texts, it covers more key content, and does so more effectively, than any of the briefer critical thinking handbooks. In addition to six core chapters on identifying, evaluating, and devising deductive and inductive arguments, the text features: *Extensive coverage of scientific reasoning, with chapters on inductive reasoning, causal arguments, scientific theories and inference, and scientific method and theory evaluation.  * A chapter on obstacles to critical thinking * A chapter on fallacies and rhetorical persuaders * A substantial chapter on writing argumentative essays Throughout the text, Vaughn places emphasis on evaluation of evidence, authority, and credibility. Students don>'t just learn about critical thinking; they learn the skills necessary to think critically. Each chapter reinforces these skills with numerous exercises, including review questions, writing assignments, and self-assessment quizzes.

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9780197768365

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Reviews

"The book is comprehensive in taking up crucial aspects of critical thinking. I particularly applaud the inclusion of chapter two to help readers grasp the all-too-easy to make mistakes that impede critical thinking. The opening chapter does a great job of giving students a clear sense of not only what the rest of the book offers but also a clear sense of the meaning and purview of critical thinking. The last chapter is also vital, as ethics is all too often ignored as a vital component of critical thinking."" -Jeffrey Nall The topic (obstacles to critical thinking) is itself a major strength. Too many critical thinking books focus on logic without taking adequate time to explore the skills and psychological biases that influence our capacity to think critically. The inclusion of subjective relativism is particularly important given the uncritical acceptance of this profoundly misguided ideology."" -Jeffrey Nall This is one of the better * if not the bestintroductory texts to critical thinking I have read in quite some time. Main strengths are the clarity and concise nature of the writing throughout the text, the material covered, and the general tone (not overly technical, not pandering)."" -John Ludes *"

Author Information

Lewis Vaughn is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Bioethics, Fifth Edition (2022), The Power of Critical Thinking, Seventh Edition, (2021), Philosophy Here and Now, fourth Edition (2021), and Living Philosophy, third Edition (2020), all published by Oxford University Press.  He also publishes Doing Ethics, Fifth Edition (2018) with W.W. Norton.

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