Thinking Critically: A Concise Guide / Edition 1

by John Chaffee

Overview

Designed as a brief, supplemental text for any course in which critical thinking is a key component, this Concise version of Chaffee's acclaimed Thinking Critically teaches the fundamental thinking, reasoning, reading, and writing abilities that students need for academic success. This streamlined text highlights skill development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618348824
Publisher:	Cengage Learning
Publication date:	09/17/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

John Chaffee, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at The City University of New York, where he has developed a Philosophy and Critical Thinking program that annually involves 25 faculty and 3,000 students. He is a nationally recognized figure in the area of critical thinking, having authored leading textbooks and many professional articles. He also has conducted numerous conference presentations and workshops throughout the country. In developing programs to teach people to think more effectively in all academic subjects and areas of life, Dr. Chaffee has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He was selected as New York Educator of the Year and received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Diversity in Teaching in Higher Education.

Table of Contents

1. Thinking Living an "Examined" Life Working Towards Goals Making Decisions Analyzing Issues Final Thoughts 2. Thinking Critically Thinking Actively Carefully Exploring Situations with Questions Thinking Independently Viewing Situations from Different Perspectives Supporting Diverse Perspectives with Reasons and Evidence Discussing Ideas in an Organized Way Becoming a Critical Thinker 3. Solving Problems Thinking Critically About Problems Introduction to Solving Problems Solving Complex Problems Solving Nonpersonal Problems 4. Perceivin, Believing, and Knowing Actively Selecting, Organizing, and Interpreting Sensations What Factors Shape Your Perceptions? Thinking Critically About Perceptions Constructing Beliefs Believing and Knowing Knowledge and Truth 5. Reporting, Inferring, and Judging Reporting Factual Information Inferring Judging Final Thoughts 6. Constructing Arguments Recognizing Arguments Evaluating Arguments Understanding Deductive Arguments Final Thoughts 7. Reasoning Critically Inductive Reasoning Empirical Generalization Fallacies of False Generalization Causal Reasoning Causal Fallacies Fallacies of Relevance The Critical Thinker's Guide to Reasoning 8. Thinking Critically, Living Creatively Living Creatively Living a Life Philosophy Glossary Acknowledgments Index