A practical guide to critical thinking : deciding what to do and believe / David A. Hunter, Department of Philosophy, Ryerson University.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.

A thoroughly updated introduction to the concepts, methods, and standards of critical thinking, this edition is a unique presentation of the formal strategies used when thinking through reasons and arguments in many areas of expertise. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach to critical thinking, the book offers a broad conception of critical thinking and explores the practical relevance to conducting research across fields such as business, education and biological sciences. Featuring exercises for a wide range of subject areas, it also includes: real-world examples from many fields of research, which reflect the applicability of critical thinking in everyday life; new topical coverage, including the nature of reasons, assertion and supposing, narrow and broad definitions, circumstantial reasons, and reasoning about causal claims; and selected answers to various exercises to provide readers with instantaneous feedback to support and extend the lessons. -- Edited summary from book.

Titlepage; Copyright; Dedication; Preface; Preface to First Edition; Note to Instructors; 1 The Nature and Value of Critical Thinking; 1.1 The Nature of Critical Thinking; 1.2 Critical Thinking and Knowledge; 1.3 Knowledge and Truth; 1.4 Knowledge and Belief; 1.5 Knowledge and Justification; 1.6 Good Reasons are Sufficient and Acceptable; 1.7 When Evidence Conflicts; 1.8 Critical Thinking and Personal Autonomy; 1.9 Critical Thinking in Practice; 2 Clarifying Meaning; 2.1 The Place Of Definitions In Critical Thinking; 2.2 Assertion; 2.3 The Assertion Test

2.4 Constructing And Evaluating Definitions2.5 Give A Slogan; 2.6 Expand On The Slogan; 2.7 Give Examples; 2.8 Identify Contrasting Ideas; 2.9 Thinking Critically About Frameworks; 2.10 Clarifying Beliefs And Problems; 2.11 Technical Definitions; 2.12 Meaning In Advertisements; 2.13 Critical Thinking In Practice; Notes; 3 Sufficient Reasons; 3.1 Critical Thinking and Arguments; 3.2 IDentifying Premises and Conclusions; 3.3 Dependent and Independent Premises; 3.4 SUB-Arguments; 3.5 Evaluating Logical Support; 3.6 Missing Premises; 3.7 Piling on Independent Premises

3.8 Critical Thinking in Practice4 Acceptable Reasons; 4.1 Reliable Sources; 4.2 Undermining and Overriding Evidence; 4.3 Observation; 4.4 Memory; 4.5 Testimony; 4.6 Advertising; 4.7 News Reports; 4.8 Measurement; 4.9 Surveys; 4.10 Critical Thinking in Practice; Notes; 5 Reasoning About Alternatives and Necessary and Sufficient Conditions; 5.1 Reasoning About Alternatives; 5.2 The Meaning of Disjunctions; 5.3 Reasoning by Denying a Disjunct; 5.4 False Disjunctions; 5.5 When are Disjunctions Acceptable?; 5.6 Exclusive Disjunctions; 5.7 How to Criticize Reasoning About Alternatives

5.8 Reasoning About Necessary and Sufficient Conditions5.9 The Meaning of Conditionals; 5.10 Valid Reasoning About Necessary and Sufficient Conditions; 5.11 Invalid Forms of Reasoning About Necessary and Sufficient Conditions; 5.12 Making Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Explicit; 5.13 When are Claims About Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Acceptable?; 5.14 Reasoning with Definitions and Standards; 5.15 Necessary and Sufficient Causal Conditions; 5.16 Reasoning with Causal Claims; 5.17 Discovering Causal Conditions; 5.18 Critical Thinking in Practice; 6 Reasoning by Analogy

6.1 REASONING BY PERFECT ANALOGY6.2 IS REASONING BY PERFECT ANALOGY VALID?; 6.3 WHEN IS AN ANALOGICAL CLAIM TRUE OR ACCEPTABLE?; 6.4 REASONING USING REPRESENTATIONAL ANALOGY; 6.5 REASONING WITH SAMPLES; 6.6 WHEN ARE SAMPLES REPRESENTATIVE?; 6.7 REASONING WITH MODELS AND MAPS; 7 Critical Thinking in Action; 7.1 Thinking Critically About a Discipline; 7.2 Identifying a Discipline's Sources of Evidence; 7.3 Identifying a Discipline's Forms of Reasoning; 7.4 Critical-Thinking Questions; 7.5 Thinking Critically in Your Own Decision Making; 7.6 Thinking Critically in Discussion