Customer Reviews

Critical Thinking

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have taught critical thinking and argument for fourteen years, and Moore and Parker's Critical Thinking is the best in its field, bar none. That is why it is in its eighth edition. You'll see imitations, but this is the original--the one that started it all and brought critical thinking out of philosophy classrooms and to the masses of non-philosophy college students.

Don't get me wrong, Parker and Moore do not water down or pander to the at-large reader, but rather use intelligence, media issues, and humor to teach "heavy" concepts in a most palatable and efficient way. When students start using the language of a discipline easily and naturally, and they understand its concepts, the writers have done their work. Parker and Moore make getting there insightful and fun.

Very well written and easy to understand. The author doesn't go over your head with abstract concepts for his peers. It is very broken down and helpful.

I attend Ashford online. And this is the book I needed for PHI 103.
Please remember you don't have to buy the books from Ashford it will break you. A lot of the books will say Ashford addition and have a number such as (7th ed) when in fact you can get the (6th ed) is word for word except for the number, no Ashford name on the cover and you will save anywhere from 75-95% of the coast if you buy them on Amazon I have even got one here for 50 cents and the bookstore at Ashford wanted $97.00. Please check first as we all knows books can kill the wallet.

This book was required for a Philosophy class I took last year and I understand why. Moore & Parker do not spare any feelings as they guide the reader through the critical thinking process. This has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative, as another reviewer commented; it does have everything to do with being a fantastic book for developing strong critical thinking skills. Before I studied this book, I thought I would despise Philosophy and especially critical thinking, mainly because I didn't consider myself an extremely logical person. (I told my professor that more than once and he just smiled - and gave me an "A" in the course.) Moore & Parker showed me how wrong I was. My critical thinking skills (essential for everything of merit we do) are well-honed, in large part because of this book. It is on my bookshelf and will stay there. Highly recommended.

I am currently using this book in my PHI103 class. Although the school I am attending would have liked me to have the book made specific to the school, I have the book without the school's name on it and it works just as well as the book with the school's name on it; but it costs a lot more to have the name on it instead of just blank, so I chose the blank one and it has the same information in it.

I bought this book for my Phil 102 class and never thought I'd even like the subject. This book was interesting, and made me laugh a little. I can now say, I know how to argue with people better than before!

I'm about to enter law school next year so I decided to work on my critical thinking skills by buying this book.

Overall, the book is good in terms of the scope of material covered and the authors provide plenty of material for study. However, the book provides only a limited number of answers to the practice exercises at the back of each chapter, which from a pedagogical perspective is a drawback, especially if you are new to the study of critical thinking.

Not knowing whether my analysis of the exercises in the back of each chapter is right or wrong is frustrating. For instance, chapter six of this book covers argumentative fallacies and provides 132 arguments for analysis at the end of the chapter that may or may not have at least one of the 31 types of fallacies covered in chapters five and six. Unfortunately, the book provides the answer to only 20 arguments of the 132. What's worse, most of the answers are for easy exercises, and most of the harder ones don't have an answer. Although reading about the different types of argumentative fallacies is instructive, it is only through practice that one learns to spot them and argue against them. Knowing whether one's analysis of an argument is right or wrong is essential in learning critical thinking through practice. Not having the answers reduces the analysis to a guess, which is not a good way to learn any subject, not just critical thinking.

I searched the web for a study guide for this edition (8th), but could not find one. I also used the book website but it does little to supplement the practice exercises.

I gave this book three stars because although it covers a lot of material, it did little to help me learn critical thinking through practice.

My suggestion to anyone who is considering buying this book for self study is to look elsewhere if you want a book that will help you practice critical thinking with confidence.

Not too short and not too long. detailed and specific. it makes sense, informative, and entertaining.

This book is in good condition. It is really helping me with my classwork so that I don't have to print out everything or read the chapters online.

This is the book that C.S. Lewis had in mind when he brought forth the idea of the Abolition of Man. It heavily targets the right wing as its constant negative example, almost creating a stigma towards one side in a way I would expect from strict opinion pieces, not college literature. I was required to read this for a college course and was shocked at how biased it was. I rather enjoy the concepts of critical thinking and don't necessarily think this book lacks the basic concepts of critical thinking, but it eliminates its own argument by being heavily biased towards one side. In this book, I read page after page of shots towards the right wing and in my opinion this is highly unnecessary considering its role in the classroom. At one point it discussed the 9/11 conspiracy brought forth by "truthers" giving some credence to the idea and then pulling back by saying there is a website to visit that has a strong argument against the truthers; this same website, which I checked, also discussed the data on aliens and other very odd items.

I am mainly commenting on this book based upon its role as an assigned educational tool. In my opinion a heavily slanted book does not belong regardless of its party slant. In full disclosure I am a conservative and I know that many will disagree with my review on that point, but no side should dominate in a classroom teaching critical thinking. I am shocked when a book attempts to teach the concept of critical analysis in regard to theory and turns around to destroy one group over and over as it does no justice towards the greater theme. If you are a liberal and want to read an opinion piece I recommend this book; If you are a student and are required to read it, I hope that you are a liberal otherwise you'll miss the basic lesson which I thought was the point of "higher education".