Hard Thinking: The Reintroduction of Logic to Everyday Life / Edition 1

by John D. Mullen

Overview

Too many college students lack the power to reason and argue effectively. Hard Thinking allows students to rebuild their confidence in the possibility of objective reasoning, by challenging contemporary cliches about the limits of objectivity and the relativity of value judgements. An entertaining, clearly written text for courses in logic, rhetoric, critical thinking, and English composition, Hard Thinking presents dialogues that reproduce commonly used "argument stoppers" (Who are you to think that you know the truth? Isn't it all relative? Isn't it all subjective?), and subjects them to scrutiny. The text teaches students how to avoid the pitfalls of "soft" or sloppy thinking, enabling them to be better readers, better arguers, and more critical consumers of quantitative data.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780847680030
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/26/1995
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.86(w) x 8.96(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

John D. Mullen is professor of philosophy at Dowling College in Oakdale, New York. He is the co-author, with Byron Roth, of Decision Making: Its Logic and Practice (Rowman & Littlefield, 1992).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 What is Hard Thinking? The Core Language of Reasoning Chapter 2 How to Read Arguments Chapter 3 Myths of Privileged Sources Chapter 4 Hard Thinking About Values Chapter 5 Mastering Language Chapter 6 Everyday Fallacies of Reasoning Chapter 7 Fallacies of Technical Reasoning Chapter 8 Modern Formal Logic Chapter 9 Appendix: Aristotle's Herculean Try

Editorial Reviews

Mullen effectively combines logic, epistemology, and good old fashioned common sense. The dialogues and examples are telling; the explanations clear and to the point. The book articulates, defends, and exemplifies all the important features of 'hard thinking'. Many texts purport to aid in the teaching of thinking; this one will clearly succeed.

Harvey Siegel

Not only does Mullen's text challenge students to do some hard thinking, but it explains why they should and it shows them how.. .. [T]he text includes strong chapters on both traditional and modern formal logic. As a result, this book should prove suitable for a wide variety of courses.

Bruce Umbaugh

Ideally a logic text should encourage not only criticism of thinking, but critical thinking itself. To its great credit, Hard Thinking does both.

Nicholas Rescher

Mullen effectively combines logic, epistemology, and good old fashioned common sense. The dialogues and examples are telling; the explanations clear and to the point. The book articulates, defends, and exemplifies all the important features of 'hard thinking'. Many texts purport to aid in the teaching of thinking; this one will clearly succeed.--Harvey Siegel, University of Miami

Not only does Mullen's text challenge students to do some hard thinking, but it explains why they should and it shows them how. . . . [T]he text includes strong chapters on both traditional and modern formal logic. As a result, this book should prove suitable for a wide variety of courses.--Bruce Umbaugh, Webster University

Ideally a logic text should encourage not only criticism of thinking, but critical thinking itself. To its great credit, Hard Thinking does both.--Nicholas Rescher

From the Publisher