Critical Thinking

by Richard L. Epstein

Featuring its own cast of characters, a personal and accessible tone, and carefully crafted in step by step units, Epstein's CRITICAL THINKING sets new standards of clarity for presenting subject matter. Extensively class tested, the text uses an enormous number of everyday examples and exercises to illuminate key points and ideas. It is the only text in philosophy in which students work with cartoons to convert the non-verbal into arguments and arrive at conceptual understanding. It is also the only text-workbook-instructor's manual system designed and constructed simultaneously to provide the most fully integrated learning and teaching system available.

Genres: Philosophy

480 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 1998

Reviews

[Crim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed early on, then skimmed through a later chapter, and gave up. While logic is not dependent on the content of the premises, this is not a book about reasoning itself; it is about critical thinking in, I presume, daily life, so it really undermines itself when it uses examples that ring false, that go against psychologically adaptative cognitive processes. To make its point, it ignores adult emotional intelligence, and in that it reads like the creepy opposite of books that, for better or for worse, talk about all that shit we should do to better understand and interact with other people. I think critical thinking is essential and often overlooked in education, but this is not how to teach it. The book reads like it was written by aliens, and not in a good, objective perspective way.

[Abdul]

A must read if you don't want mumbo-jumbo ruling your thinking

[Cleo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is probably the worst textbook I have ever read. Initially, I assumed I was the only person who was having issues with it. However, throughout the course (on critical thinking), it became clear that almost the entire class was struggling to understand the concepts in this book. When students began sharing other resources that explained the same subject matter, it was so much easier to digest and process! This book is terrible for teaching this type of critical thinking. Terribly frustrating!

[Alex Raffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the cartoons!