The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims [Paperback]

Lewis Vaughn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0195320417 | ISBN-13: 978-0195320411 | Edition: 2

Enhanced by many innovative exercises, examples, and pedagogical features, The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims, Second Edition, explores the essentials of critical reasoning, argumentation, logic, and argumentative essay writing while also incorporating material on important topics that most other texts leave out. Author Lewis Vaughn offers comprehensive treatments of core topics, including an introduction to claims and arguments, discussions of propositional and categorical logic, and full coverage of the basics of inductive reasoning. Building on this solid foundation, he also delves into areas neglected by other texts, adding extensive material on "inference to the best explanation" and on scientific reasoning; a thorough look at the evaluation of evidence and credibility; and a chapter on the psychological and social factors that can impede critical thinking. Additional notable elements are a chapter on moral reasoning, advice on how to evaluate Internet sources, and guidelines for evaluating occult, paranormal, or supernatural claims.
The Power of Critical Thinking, Second Edition, integrates many pedagogical features including hundreds of diverse exercises, examples, and illustrations; progressive, stand-alone writing modules; numerous text boxes; step-by-step guidelines for evaluating claims, arguments, and explanations; a glossary of important terms; and many reminders, summaries, and review notes throughout. The text is supplemented by a companion website at www.oup.com/us/criticalthinking (offering a student study guide and more), and an Instructor's Manual with Test Questions (available both in print and on a CD).
This unique text features a modular structure that allows instructors to teach the chapters in almost any order. Written in a student-friendly style and enhanced by humor where appropriate, it is ideal for courses in critical thinking, introduction to logic, informal logic, argumentative writing, and introduction to argumentation.

New to the Second Edition

* Full-color throughout and an expanded art program (37 more photos and illustrations)
* A new writing module--an annotated sample student paper--and five additional essays for analysis
* A new section on evaluating news reports and advertising
* Timely discussions of intelligent design and population (nonintervention) studies
* Expanded coverage of experts and authors and reasons to doubt their reliability
* More "Field Problems" and exercise questions
* Chapter objectives and key terms with definitions for each chapter

Editorial Reviews

Review

"All in all, this is the best book on the market. . . . Chapter 9, 'Inference to the Best Explanation,' is unique to Vaughn's book and rather brilliant. It is both philosophically interesting and teaches students an important skill."--John Gibson, University of Louisville

"The Power of Critical Thinking is unique in that it offers a comprehensive introduction to the basic principles of critical thinking in an engaging and approachable manner. It is the best book that I have seen for teaching critical thinking and practical logic skills."--Daniel Engster, The University of Texas at San Antonio

"Two unique features are the stand-alone writing modules and the diverse collections of exercises. . . . including field problems, writing exercises, and quizzes."--Stephen Ma, California State University, Los Angeles

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

LEWIS VAUGHN is the author or coauthor of several books, including The Power of Critical Thinking, Third Edition (OUP, 2010); How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age, Fifth Edition (2007); Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues (2007); Doing Philosophy: An Introduction Through Thought Experiments, Fourth Edition (2010); and Writing Philosophy: A Student??s Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays (OUP, 2005). He is also coeditor (with Louis P. Pojman) of Philosophy: The Quest for Truth, Seventh Edition (OUP, 2008) and The Moral Life, Third Edition (OUP, 2007).

Product Details

• Paperback: 580 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2 edition (January 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195320417
• ISBN-13: 978-0195320411
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #528,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lewis Vaughn is the author or coauthor of several books, including: Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases (OUP, 2008); How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age, Fifth Edition (2007); Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues (2007); Doing Philosophy: An Introduction Through Thought Experiments, Third Edition (2006); and Writing Philosophy: A Student's Guide to Writing Philosophy Essays (OUP, 2005).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, long wait, October 1, 2010

By 

Vbspiker2717 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims (Paperback)

This is a great book for my logic class. I'm 23, and I find it doesn't dumb down language or concepts for "younger" readers. Unfortunately, whomever I ordered this book from waited until the last possible minute to mail the book to me, so I was in class without a book for almost 4 weeks! But if your teacher requires this book, definitely buy it. It will probably be able to explain the concepts better than your professor can!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, September 8, 2009

By 

James M. Szewczyk (Ft. Worth, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims (Paperback)

This book is informative and helped me understand how to rationally evaluate truth claims. I am using it for a course at a Christian university and despite it being written by someone not of my faith, I appreciated it for its intellectual value. This book would be great for any who are on debate teams or "argue" frequently about a mulitude of topics, as it teaches proper technique and helps to find holes in logic of opposing viewpoints.

13 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Save Money, May 11, 2007

By 

Nicole Li "Nicky" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Power of Critical Thinking: Effective Reasoning About Ordinary and Extraordinary Claims (Paperback)

I used this book for class up to Chapter 11, and it wasn't bad. There were lots of excerises, but there were only answers for 5/20 you do in the back of the book. its a good deal to buy from amazon because i bought it used and it worked great for me, i saved a little less than 75$ compare to buying it at the bookstore. So overall, this book is easy to understand and is better used for understanding concepts and definitions but not for excerises that practice what you learn in the chapters.