Critical Thinking Unleashed

Elliot D. Cohen (Author)

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Description

From alcohol and drug addiction to rage on national highways and in airports, many human beings have kept themselves in perpetual turmoil and despair. From encroachment on individual rights and liberties to wars of attrition and mass genocide, human history has continually repeated itself due to a failure to see the light. Containing numerous skill-building exercises, Critical Thinking Unleashed seeks to cultivate the reasoning skills required to overcome such destructive human tendencies and to live meaningful and productive lives in a democratic society.

In contrast to other treatments of practical reasoning, Elliot D. Cohen not only teaches students how to identify and refute irrational premises-he also teaches them how to construct rational antidotes to combat the personal, social, and political obstacles they confront in everyday life. Moreover, Cohen encourages students to use the theories and ideas embodied in the history of philosophy in order to construct these rational guides, drawing examples from many contemporary sources. Demonstrating the practical relevance and import of many historically significant philosophers (e.g. Socrates, Aristotle, Epictetus, Hume, Kant, Mill, Sartre, and Nietzsche), the book presents a practical, non-technical, and comprehensive approach to critical thinking.

1 Table of Contents
2 Preface to the Student
Chapter 3 Introduction: Free Thinking
Part 4 I. Kinds of Reasoning
Chapter 5 1. The Nuts and Bolts of Reasoning
Part 6 Deduction
Chapter 7 2. Deductive Reasoning
Chapter 8 3. Hypothetical Syllogisms
Chapter 9 4. Disjunctive Syllogisms
Chapter 10 5. Truth-Functional Logic
Chapter 11 6. Categorical Statements
Chapter 12 7. Immediate Deductions
Chapter 13 8. Categorical Syllogisms
Part 14 Induction
Chapter 15 9. Generalization
Chapter 16 10. Prediction
Chapter 17 11. Testimonials
Chapter 18 12. Hypothesis
Chapter 19 13. Causation
Part 20 Behavioral and Emotional Reasoning
Chapter 21 14. Behavioral Reasoning
Chapter 22 15. Refutation in Practical Reasoning
Chapter 23 16. Emotional Reasoning
Part 24 II. Informal Fallacies
Part 25 Fallacies that Promote Self-Destructive Emotions
Chapter 26 17. Inferences from "Must," "Awful," and "Can't"
Chapter 27 18. Damning Thoughts and Dutiful Worrying
Part 28 Fallacies that Impede Successful Interpersonal Relations
Chapter 29 19. Bandwagon Arguments
Chapter 30 20. Emotional Appeals
Chapter 31 21. Irrelevant Appeals
Chapter 32 22. Sophistical Arguments
Chapter 33 Appendix: Venn Diagrams
34 Index

Product details

Published	Oct 16 2009
Format	Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition	1st
Extent	416
ISBN	9781442200050
Imprint	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Series	Elements of Philosophy
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Elliot D. Cohen

In Critical Thinking Unleashed, Elliot D. Cohen takes the reader through the various parameters of reasoning. It is complex, yet fascinating stuff. But what I found most important perhaps was how so much of what he wrestles with, from deconstructing the news stories behind Iraqi WMD to 'spin' in political campaign ads, cuts to the heart of the challenge we face as citizens in today's democracy.

Peter W. Singer, Brookings Institution, author of Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century
In welcome contrast to the many disembodied treatments of critical thinking that have been published, this book speaks with a warm, human voice that knows what is at stake in thinking and provides a thorough tour of the logic and rhetoric that every educated person should master. The author's deep interest in the practical application of the tools of philosophy comes through clearly in this text. Fresh treatments of familiar topics provide a comprehensive view of critical thinking that is distinguished by its humanity and realism.

Greg Tropea, California State University, Chico