Customer Reviews

Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.