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| Preface | |
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| The Basic Tools | |
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| Identifying Arguments | |
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| Opinion versus argument | |
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| Identifying the argument | |
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| Evidence of the author's intention | |
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| Argument indicators | |
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| Context | |
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| Logical structure | |
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| A word of warning | |
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| Examples | |
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| Argument and explanation | |
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| Reading carefully | |
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| Summary | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Interpreting Arguments | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Conclusions | |
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| Premises | |
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| Semantic indicators of argument structure | |
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| Restating premises and conclusion | |
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| Internal arguments | |
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| Missing premises | |
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| Tree diagrams | |
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| Surface and depth analysis | |
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| Postpone evaluation | |
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| A more complex example | |
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| Summary | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Fundamentals of Argument Construction and Evaluation | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Fundamentals of argument evaluation | |
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| Fundamentals of argument construction | |
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| What is my position? | |
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| What makes me think my position is true or plausible? | |
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| What is the purpose of my argument? | |
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| Summary | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Fallacies | |
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| Three Basic Fallacies | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Irrelevant reason | |
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| Hasty conclusion | |
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| Problematic premise | |
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| Variations of problematic premise | |
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| Begging the question | |
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| Inconsistency | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Fallacies of Diversion | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Straw person | |
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| Argument Ad Hominem | |
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| Abusive Ad Hominem | |
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| Circumstantial Ad Hominem | |
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| Legitimate attacks on the person | |
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| Poisoning the well | |
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| Tu Quoque | |
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| Guilt by association | |
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| Red herring | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Fallacies of Impersonation | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Faulty analogy | |
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| Two wrongs | |
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| Improper appeal to practice | |
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| Questionable cause | |
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| Argument "to" and "from" causal claims | |
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| Particular and general causal claims | |
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| Necessary and sufficient conditions | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Fallacies of Language and Meaning | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Policy 1 | |
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| Policy 2 | |
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| Policy 3 | |
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| Fallacies related to meaning | |
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| Lack of clarity | |
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| Ambiguity | |
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| Equivocation | |
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| Vagueness | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Fallacies of Intimidation | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Improper appeal to authority | |
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| Appropriateness | |
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| Capability | |
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| Consensus | |
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| Credibility | |
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| Popularity | |
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| Majority rule | |
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| Slippery slope | |
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| Exercises | |
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| The Causes of Fallacious Reasoning | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Ethnocentrism and egocentrism | |
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| Ethnocentric thinking | |
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| Egocentric thinking | |
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| Dubious assumption | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Argumentation and Mass Media | |
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| Dealing with News Media | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Checklist of questions | |
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| All media | |
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| Television | |
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| Projects | |
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| Finding out how the media operate | |
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| Discovering the ideological role of the media | |
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| Suggestions for further reading | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Advertising: Games People Play | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Myths about advertising | |
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| "I want truthful advertising" | |
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| "All advertising is dishonest, deceptive, or both!" | |
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| "They're always trying to sell you something" | |
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| "Ads are a slice of life" | |
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| The "logic" of advertising | |
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| Some tricks of the trade | |
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| "People aren't that stupid!" | |
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| Semantic license | |
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| False or misleading implications | |
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| Suppressed evidence | |
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| Appeal to the psyche | |
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| Paraphernalia: graphics, visuals, and music | |
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| Some sample analyses | |
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| Advertisement for Shield | |
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| Advertisement for NuThin | |
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| Television advertising | |
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| Demonstration | |
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| Dramatization | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Advanced Argumentation | |
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| Constructing Arguments | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Argumentation as dialectic | |
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| Argumentative inquiry | |
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| Identify the problem, question, or issue | |
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| Constructing the case | |
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| Make your position clear | |
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| Present arguments for your position | |
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| Defend your arguments | |
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| Consider objections to your position | |
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| Decide on your order of presentation | |
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| An example | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Analyzing Extended Arguments | |
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| The method explained | |
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| Write a synopsis of te argument | |
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| Identify the main premises and the conclusion | |
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| Put the main premises into hierarchical order | |
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| Evaluate the argument | |
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| Write up your critique | |
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| The method applied | |
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| Against capital punishment | |
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| For capital punishment | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Answers to Selected Exercises | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Index | |