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Acknowledgements | |
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Reasoning and Critical Thinking | |
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Reasoning | |
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The Concept of Logical Strength | |
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Truth, Logical Strength and Soundness | |
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Critical Thinking Skills | |
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Critical Thinking and the Science of Logic | |
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Self-Test No. 1 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Meaning and Definition | |
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The Complexity of Language | |
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The Meaning of Language | |
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The Main Functions of Language | |
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Self-Test No. 2 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Definition | |
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The Purposes of Definition | |
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Methods of Definition | |
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Assessing Reportive Definitions | |
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Assessing Stipulative and Essentialist Definitions | |
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A Warning | |
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Self-Test No. 3 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Clarifying Meaning | |
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The Principle of Charity | |
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Linguistic Ambiguity | |
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Self-Test No. 4 | |
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Analytic, Contradictory and Synthetic Statements | |
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Self-Test No. 5 | |
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Descriptive and Evaluative Meaning | |
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Self-Test No. 6 | |
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Necessary and Sufficient Conditions | |
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Self-Test No. 7 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Reconstructing Arguments | |
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Reconstruction | |
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Missing Premises and Conclusions | |
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Self-Test No. 8 | |
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Near Arguments | |
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Self-Test No. 9 | |
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The Structure of Arguments | |
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Self-Test No. 10 | |
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Another Warning | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Strategies for Assessing Arguments | |
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The Fallacies Approach | |
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The Criterial Approach | |
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Seven Rules for Assessing Arguments | |
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Assessing Truth Claims | |
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Theories of Truth | |
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Types of Truth Claims | |
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Acceptability | |
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Self-Test No. 11 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Assessing The Acceptability of Premises | |
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Some Particular Fallacies | |
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Self-Test No. 12 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Assessing Relevance | |
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The Criterion of Relevance | |
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Recognizing Irrelevant Premises | |
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Appeals To Authority (I) | |
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Some Particular Fallacies | |
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Self-Test No. 13 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Assessing Adequacy | |
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The Criterion of Adequacy | |
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Appeals to Authority (2) | |
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Analogical Reasoning | |
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Appeals to Ignorance | |
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The Slippery Slope Fallacy | |
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Causal Fallacies | |
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Self-Test No. 14 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Deductive Reasoning | |
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The Nature of Deductive Reasoning | |
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Truth-Functional Statements | |
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Formal Validity and Soundness | |
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Valid Argument Forms | |
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Formal Invalidity | |
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Self-Test No. 15 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Inductive Reasoning | |
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The Nature of Inductive Reasoning | |
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Inductive Generalization | |
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Statistical Syllogism | |
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Induction By Confirmation | |
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Self-Test No. 16 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Moral Reasoning | |
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Moral Judgments and Judgments of Taste | |
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Moral Justification | |
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Appeals to Principles of Right and Wrong | |
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Self-Test No. 17 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Appeals To Consequences | |
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Self-Test No. 18 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Rational Agreement | |
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Moral Maturity | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Arguing Back | |
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Explaining the Weakness | |
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Counter-examples | |
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Absurd Examples | |
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Counter-arguments | |
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Self-Test No. 19 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Irrational Techniques of Persuasion | |
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Loaded Terms | |
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Vague Terms | |
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Loaded Questions | |
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False Confidence | |
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Selectivity | |
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Misleading Statistics | |
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Humour | |
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Red Herring | |
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Guilt By Association | |
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Persuasive Redefinition | |
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Self-Test No. 20 | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Critiquing the Media | |
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Determining Bias | |
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Is Objective Reporting Possible? | |
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How to Assess News Reports | |
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Another Warning | |
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Questions for Discussion | |
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Writing and Assessing Argumentative Essays | |
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Writing Argumentative Essays: Structure | |
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Writing Argumentative Essays: Style | |
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Assessing Argumentative Essays | |
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Assessing a Sample Argumentative Essay | |
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Question for Discussion | |
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Paradoxes and Puzzles | |
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App. II: Answers to Self-Tests | |
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Index | |