Reason and Argument by Richard Feldman

by Richard Feldman

This book presents a clear and philosophically sound method for identifying, interpreting, and evaluating arguments as they appear in non-technical sources. It focuses on a more functional, real-world goal of argument analysis as a tool for figuring out what is reasonable to believe rather than as an instrument of persuasion. Develops a precise, step-by-step method for analyzing arguments about a variety of topics -- shows how to rewrite arguments in a format that makes them clearer and makes their evaluation easier; and then how to evaluate the rewritten argument. Illustrates methods by applying them to both serious and humorous arguments about different topics as they appear in a variety of contexts — e.g., newspaper and magazine editorials and columns, short essays, informal reports of scientific results, etc. Uses simple, relatively non-controversial examples to illustrate the basic ideas and concepts, and then offers more complicated and controversial examples for challenging applications. For anyone interested in identifying, interpreting, and evaluating arguments as they appear in non- technical sources.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Logic, Textbooks

Paperback

First published December 1, 1992

Reviews

[Brian Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I finally got to the one book by Rich that I hadn't read til now :) Needless to say, I found it to be remarkably clear, well organized, and effective (as with everything else he has written). Even though I cannot reasonably assign the text to my students due to its high price, I plan to follow Rich's approach in my upcoming Critical Thinking course. I'll end with my favorite quote from the book--the dedication to his niece: "In memory of Lindsay and of elephants dancing on lightbulbs."

[Cynthia McCloud · Rating 1 out of 5]

The copy I have has some major errors -- typographical and printing (sentences and parts of sentences are not printed and you can't figure out the meaning from the context.) There are sections about which my professor said "I don't know what the author was trying to do here" and "That section was incredibly confusing." The author has a corny, annoying manner of naming people in his examples, "X. O. Cute" in an exercise considering capital punishment, "Ken B. Bribed" about a corrupt politician. This was required reading, and I'm no better for it.

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the purpose of being an introduction, this (2nd edition) book is good and useful.
It is written in a clear and easy manner and gives exercises, explains and teaches soundness, strength, reconstruction, deduction, induction, and some more. It activates your bullshit detector against intentional or unintentional traps like vagueness, straw men, argument stoppers or abandonment of debate under presumtions of competing arguments being equally strong.

If this isn't natural functioning for you, I would recommend this book since basic reason -logical thinking and handling truth, is vitaly important to learn in childhood but instead is taught at university.

[Jo Ly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. The writing was concise and the blend of technical and normal language was just enough to introduce me to basic philosophy principles without overwhelming me. I find that this book helped me become more perceptive when listening to people's speeches, whether or not it contains an argument, and more importantly, it helped me stay engaged and be able to contribute substantial ideas to lots of discussions. Would definitely recommend.

[Linnea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feldman explains the basics of argument analysis in a structured and comprehensive way. A great book for anyone into philosophy, political reasoning, applied logic and argumentation. Brings up propositional and predicate logic, and clarifies with simple examples.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful.

[Sharon Mariampillai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for school. It was interesting to see how to generate formulas. It was an intriguing class and I am glad that I took. Found out how it was related to my Health Science courses.