Critical thinking: An introduction to reasoning

by Francis Watanabe Dauer

Book Overview

A demanding introduction to logic and critical thinking, this book offers more traditional means of teaching the art of reasoning at a time when the field has become almost mathematical. Francis Dauer... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760701377
• ISBN13: 9780760701379
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Length: 542 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Impressive and novel approach to Critical Thinking

In my opinion, it is the best introduction to critical thinking. I was a teaching assistant for Dauer a few years back and I continue teaching the subject with essentially the same approach. Dauer goes much deeper into the structure of traditional fallacies. Although it makes a more difficult learning experience, the benefits of knowing why X is a fallacy, what reasoning process took place, etc., far outweighs the burdens. In addition to discussing first order logic (and making it more accessible with geometric representations of argument forms), Dauer develops a novel method for evaluating claims. The three independent approaches are put together in a comprehensive matrix of critical evaluations. There's always room for improvement in any text. Nevertheless, this one motivates me to ammend it (in particular with more up-to-day examples) rather than rewrite it.