Critical Thinking: The Art of Argument, Second Edition
By George W. Rainbolt and Sandra L. Dwyer
Contents:
PREFACE xvii
I N T R O D U C T I O N
How to Use This Book 1
C H A P T E R 1
Critical Thinking and Arguments 4
What Is Critical Thinking? 5
What Is an Argument? 6
Statements 7
Statements and Sentences 8
Why Think Critically? 12
Identifying Arguments 13
The First Three Steps 13
Look for an Attempt to Convince 13
Find the Conclusion 13
Find the Premises 14
Complicating Factors 16
Indicator Words Are Imperfect Guides 16
Sentence Order 16
Conclusions and Premises Not in Declarative Form 16
Unstated Premises and Unstated Conclusions 20
Things That Are Not Arguments 24
Assertions 24
Descriptions 24
Questions and Instructions 25
Explanations 25
Putting Arguments into Standard Form 31
Main Arguments & Subarguments 32
Diagramming Arguments 41
Chapter Summary 42
Guide: Identifying and Standardizing Arguments 43
C H A P T E R 2 What Makes a Good Argument? 44
The Two Characteristics of a Good Argument 45
True Premises 49
Audience 49
The Problem of Ignorance 51
Proper Form 52
Deductive and Inductive Arguments 57
Deductive Forms 57
Guide: Terms Used in Logic, Philosophy, and Math to Refer
to Good and Bad Arguments 61
Relevance 64
Dependent and Independent Premises 67
Arguing about Arguments 70
Some Improper Forms: Fallacies of Relevance 72
Fallacy: Red Herring 73
Fallacy: Easy Target 74
Fallacy: Appeal to Fear 76
Fallacy: Appeal to Pity 76
Fallacy: Appeal to Popularity 78
Fallacy: Appeal to Novelty or Tradition 78
Fallacy: Ad Hominem 81
Fallacy: Appeal to Ignorance 84
Chapter Summary 86
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 86
Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Arguments 87
C H A P T E R 3 Premises and Conclusions 89
Empirical Premises 90
Testimonal Premises 92
Definitional Premises 96
Statements by Experts 100
Appropriate Credentials 100
Reliability 101
Bias 101
Area of Expertise 102
Fallacy: Inappropriate Expertise 103
Expert Consensus 104
Guide: Assuming the Statement of an Expert 104
Guide: Proper Citation of Experts 105
Premises and the Internet 105
A Common Mistake 107
Conclusions 111
Strength of Conclusions 111
Scope of Conclusions 112
Chapter Summary 118
C H A P T E R 4 Language 119
Identifying Definitions 120
Extension and Intension 120
Genus and Species 122
Dictionary Definitions 123
Guide: Dictionaries 125
Technical Definitions 126
Evaluating Definitions 130
Evaluating Dictionary Definitions 130
Correct Extension 131
Correct Intension 132
Persuasive Definitions 134
Evaluating Technical Definitions 135
Language and Clarity 137
Ambiguity 137
Fallacy: Equivocation 138
Fallacies: Composition and Division 140
Vagueness 142
Language and Emotion 145
Euphemism 146
Rhetorical Devices 147
Chapter Summary 150
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 151
C H A P T E R 5 Propositional Arguments 152
Identifying Propositional Statements 153
Negations 154
Disjunctions 155
Conjunctions 159
Conditionals 160
Conditionals: Some Complications 161
Guide: Negation, Disjunction, Conjunction, and Conditional
Indicator Words 162
Evaluating Propositional Arguments 164
Denying a Disjunct 164
Fallacy: Affirming an Inclusive Disjunct 166
Affirming an Exclusive Disjunct 166
Fallacy: False Dichotomy 168
Affirming the Antecedent 170
Fallacy: Denying the Antecedent 171
Denying the Consequent 172
Fallacy: Affirming the Consequent 173
Tri-Conditional 174
Fallacy: Begging the Question 177
Chapter Summary 180
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 181
Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Propositional
Arguments 182
C H A P T E R 6 Categorical Arguments 184
Identifying Categorical Statements 185
The Four Standard Categorical Statement Forms 185
Universal Affirmative: All G1 Are G2 188
Categorical Statements: Important Details 188
Detail 1: Venn Diagrams 188
Detail 2: Empty Groups 190
Detail 3: Group Variables 192
Detail 4: Complex Groups 193
Universal Negative: All G1 Are Not G2 194
Particular Affirmative: Some G1 Are G2 196
Particular Negative: Some G1 Are Not G2 197
Evaluating Categorical Arguments with One Premise 200
Contradiction 200
Fallacy: Confusing a Contrary and a Contradictory 202
Conversion 204
Distribution 206
Complements 207
Contraposition 207
Obversion 209
Evaluating Categorical Arguments with Two Premises 212
Identifying Categorical Syllogisms 212
Evaluating Categorical Syllogisms: The Test Method 217
The Equal Negatives Test 217
The Quantity Test 218
The Distributed Conclusion Test 219
Guide: Doing the Distributed Conclusion Test 219
The Distributed Middle Group Test 219
Guide: Validity of Categorical Syllogisms: The Test Method 220
Evaluating Categorical Syllogisms: The Venn Method 220
Guide: Validity of Categorical Syllogisms: Venn Method 234
Chapter Summary 235
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 236
Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Categorical
Arguments 237
C H A P T E R 7 Analogical Arguments 239
Identifying Analogical Arguments 240
The Form of Analogies 241
Illustrative Analogies 243
Uses of Analogies 248
Logical Analogies 250
Refutation by Logical Analogy 251
Evaluating Analogical Arguments 254
The True Premises Test 254
The Proper Form Test 257
Analogies, Consistency, and False Beliefs 260
Chapter Summary 265
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 266
Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Analogical
Arguments 267
C H A P T E R 8 Statistical Arguments 269
Descriptive Statistics 270
The Many Meanings of “Average” 271
The Mean 272
The Weighted Mean 272
The Mode 273
The Midrange 273
The Median 273
Outliers and Resistance 274
Guide 275
Standard Deviation 280
Distributions 280
Regressions 285
Identifying Statistical Arguments 289
Parts of a Statistical Argument 290
Statistical Arguments and Analogical Arguments 292
Evaluating Statistical Arguments 295
The True Premises Test 295
The Proper Form Test 296
Guideline 1: Size 297
Guideline 2: Variety 297
Sampling Techniques 298
Statistical Fallacies 301
Fallacy: Hasty Generalization 301
Fallacy: Biased Sample 301
Fallacy: Biased Questions 302
Fallacy: False Precision 302
Chapter Summary 307
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 308
Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Statistical
Arguments 309
C H A P T E R 9 Causal Arguments 311
The Many Meanings of “Cause” 312
Cause as Necessary Condition 313
Cause as Sufficient Condition 315
Cause as Necessary and Sufficient Condition 315
Contributory Cause 315
Primary Cause 316
Identifying Causal Arguments 319
The Form of a Causal Argument 319
Evaluating Causal Arguments 324
The True Premises Test and the Proper Form Test 324
Premise (1): Correlation 324
Binary and Scalar Features 324
Binary Correlation 325
Scalar Correlation 325
Premise (1) and the True Premises Test: Mill’s Methods 328
The Method of Agreement 328
The Method of Difference 329
The Joint Method of Agreement and Difference 329
The Method of Scalar Variation 330
The Limits of Mill’s Methods 330
Premise (1) and the Proper Form Test: Correlation Is Not Causation 331
Fallacy: Hasty Cause 332
Fallacy: Causal Slippery Slope 332
Premise (2) and the True Premises Test: Causes and Time 335
Premise (2) and the Proper Form Test: The Post Hoc Fallacy and
The Hasty Cause Fallacy 336
Premise (3) and the True Premises Test: Third-Party Causes 337
Premise (3) and the Proper Form Test: The Common Cause Fallacy 339
Premise (4) and the True Premises Test: Coincidental Correlation 339
Premise (4) and the Proper Form Test: The Return
of the Hasty Cause Fallacy 340
The Scientific Method 347
Step 1: Identify the Question to Be Answered 347
Step 2: Formulate a Hypothesis 348
Step 3: Check for Correlations 349
Back to Step 2: Formulate a Hypothesis 350
Step 4: Check for Reverse Causes, Third-Party Causes,
and Coincidental Correlation 351
Back to Step 1: Identify New Questions 351
An Example of the Scientific Method 351
Chapter Summary 362
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 363
Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Causal Arguments 364
C H A P T E R 10 Moral Arguments 366
Identifying Moral Arguments 367
Values: Often Overlooked Premises 368
The Nature of Moral Arguments 372
Moral Arguments and Truth 372
Moral Arguments, Emotion, and Self-Interest 373
Evaluating Moral Arguments 374
Consequentialist Moral Arguments 376
What Sorts of Consequences Are Morally Important? 377
Who Is Morally Important? 380
What’s the Correct Amount of the Morally Important Consequences? 382
Deontic Moral Arguments 383
Universalizability 385
Cooperation 385
Aretaic Moral Arguments 390
Moral Conflict 391
A Final Thought 394
Chapter Summary 395
Argument Forms Studied in the Chapter 395
Guide: Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Moral Arguments 396
Answers to Selected Exercises 398
Reference Guide 433
Summary Guide for Identifying, Standardizing, and Evaluating Arguments 433
Argument Forms Studied in the chapters 436
Alphabetical List of Fallacies 443
Alphabetical List of Guides 443
Alphabetical List of Habits of a Critical Thinker 444
List of Citations 445
Index 461