Critical Thinking: Step by Step [Paperback]

Robert Cogan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0761810676 | ISBN-13: 978-0761810674 | Publication Date: April 23, 1998

This book is a comprehensive introduction to critical thinking skills and the philosophical and factual bases of critical thinking.
Contents: ^I ANALYSIS OF REASONING. Short Simple Reasoning; Longer More Complex Discourse. EVALUATION OF REASONING. Basic Concepts of Evaluation; Degrees of Support Reasons Give to Conclusions; Critical Life Decisions: Complete Evaluation of Reasoning; Syllogistic Logic; Reasoning with Statements; Moderate to Fallacious Arguments. EVALUATING UNSUPPORTED BELIEFS. Justification, Paradigms, and Reasoning; Seeing, Reasoning and Scientific Justification; Justification in Law; Philosophical Dialectic and High Justification; Religion and Science; Pseudoscience as Unjustified Statements; The United States and the Global Corporate Economy. Appendices; Index; Bibliography; Exercises.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robert Cogan is Professor of Philosophy at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: University Press Of America (April 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761810676
• ISBN-13: 978-0761810674
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,212,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introductory text book, June 11, 2000

By 

Benjamin Rossen "Benjamin" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Critical Thinking: Step by Step (Paperback)

This is an excellent text book with which to introduce students to habits of critical thinking while developing a strong philosophical style. The International Baccalaureate Diploma course, the two year European advanced placement program, includes "Theory of Knowledge" as a compulsory subject. For a long time there was no single text book suitable for this curriculum; most university philosophy texts are too advanced. Popular books, such as Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World" which is excellent for parts of the curriculum, typically do not cover all the areas required for a well rounded TOK course. Teachers of TOK often found themselves thrown back on their own imagination and dependent on a mélange of resources. This book is the best publication for teaching TOK which I have found. It is strongly recommended for International Baccalaureat and other introductory philosophy courses.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real-world approach to logic, December 18, 2001

By 

Amazon Greek "goddess819" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Critical Thinking: Step by Step (Paperback)

If you're looking for a guide to introduce you to the world of logic and critical thinking, this may well be your best bet. With the poise of a logician who's spent decades teaching college students, Dr. Cogan presents complicated concepts in a clearly-organized style. Designed as a textbook for classroom use, step-by-step examples illustrate each section and a series of test-length exercises are provided in the back.

Particularly notable is the real-world approach to abstract concepts, bringing theory to a level of common understanding with college-appropriate context and humor. But perhaps more significant is that the text can also function as stand-alone reading material, as in my case. Overall, the word "comprehensive" is perhaps the best descriptor--there's enough information here to fill several challenging undergraduate courses!