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| Preface | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Context | |
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| Who Are You? | |
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| The Influence of Time and Place | |
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| The Influence of Ideas | |
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| The Influence of Mass Culture | |
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| The "Science" of Manipulation | |
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| The Influence of Psychology | |
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| Becoming an Individual | |
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| What is Critical Thinking? | |
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| Mind, Brain, or Both? | |
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| Critical Thinking Defined | |
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| Characteristics of Critical Thinkers | |
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| The Role of Intuition | |
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| Basic Activities in Critical Thinking | |
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| Critical Thinking and Writing | |
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| Critical Thinking and Discussion | |
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| Avoiding Plagiarism | |
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| What Is Truth? | |
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| Where Does It All Begin? | |
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| Imperfect Perception | |
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| Imperfect Memory | |
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| Deficient Information | |
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| Even the Wisest Can Err | |
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| Truth Is Discovered, Not Created | |
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| Understanding Cause and Effect | |
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| What Does It Mean to Know? | |
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| Requirements of Knowing | |
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| Testing Your Own Knowledge | |
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| How We Come to Know | |
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| Why Knowing Is Difficult | |
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| A Cautionary Tale | |
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| Is Faith a Form of Knowledge? | |
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| Obstacles to Knowledge | |
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| How Good Are Your Opinions? | |
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| Opinions Can Be Mistaken | |
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| Opinions on Moral Issues | |
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| Even Experts Can Be Wrong | |
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| Kinds of Errors | |
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| Informed Versus Uninformed Opinion | |
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| Forming Opinions Responsibly | |
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| What Is Evidence? | |
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| Kinds of Evidence | |
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| Evaluating Evidence | |
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| What Constitutes Sufficient Evidence? | |
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| What Is Agrument? | |
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| The Parts of an Argument | |
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| Evaluating Agruments | |
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| More Difficult Arguments | |
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| The Pitfalls | |
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| The Basic Problem: "Mine Is Better" | |
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| Egocentric People | |
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| Ethnocentric People | |
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| Controlling "Mine-Is-Better" Thinking | |
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| Errors of Perspective | |
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| Poverty of Aspect | |
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| Unwarranted Assumptions | |
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| The Either/Or Outlook | |
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| Mindless Conformity | |
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| Absolutism | |
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| Relativism | |
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| Bias for or Against Change | |
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| Errors of Procedure | |
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| Biased Consideration of Evidence | |
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| Double Standard | |
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| Hasty Conclusion | |
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| Overgeneralization and Stereotyping | |
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| Oversimplification | |
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| The post Hoc Fallacy | |
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| Errors of Expression | |
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| Contradiction | |
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| Arguing in a Circle | |
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| Meaningless Statement | |
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| Mistaken Authority | |
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| False Analogy | |
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| Irrational Appeal | |
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| Errors of Reaction | |
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| Automatic Rejection | |
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| Changing the Subject | |
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| Shifting the Burden of Proof | |
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| Straw Man | |
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| Attacking the Critic | |
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| The Errors in Combination | |
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| Errors of Perspective | |
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| Errors of Procedure | |
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| Errors of Expression | |
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| Errors of Reaction | |
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| Sample Combinations of Errors | |
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| A Sensible View of Terminology | |
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| A Strategy | |
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| Knowing Yourself | |
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| Critical Thinking Inventory | |
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| Using Your Inventory | |
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| Challenge and Reward | |
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| Being Observant | |
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| Observing People | |
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| Observation in Science and Medicine | |
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| The Range of Application | |
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| Becoming More Observant | |
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| Reflecting on Your Observations | |
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| Selecting an Issue | |
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| The Basic Rule: Less Is More | |
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| How to Limit an Issue | |
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| Sample Issue: Pornography | |
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| Sample Issue: Boxing | |
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| Sample Issue: Juvenile Crime | |
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| Narrowing the Issue Further | |
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| Conducting Inquiry | |
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| Working with Inconclusive Results | |
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| Where to Look for Information | |
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| Keeping Focused | |
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| How Much Inquiry Is Enough? | |
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| Managing Lengthy Material | |
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| Forming a Judgment | |
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| Evaluating Evidence | |
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| Evaluating Your Sources' Arguments | |
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| Making Important Distinctions | |
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| Expressing Judgments | |
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| Persuading Others | |
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| Guidelines for Persuasion | |
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| An Unpersuasive Presentation | |
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| A Persuasive Presentation | |
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| Notes | |
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| INdex | |