We are bombarded daily with vast amounts of information, much of it using faulty logic. From adverts to blogs, television to newspapers, knowing what to believe is a daunting task. Critical Thinking: A Beginner’s Guide teaches you how to analyze people’s arguments and explains the main "fallacies" that are used to deceive and confuse. With a wealth of real life examples, a glossary, and plenty of diagrams, this is an invaluable tool for both students wanting to improve their grades and general readers in search of clarity.
Sharon M. Kaye, PhD, is a professor of philosophy at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. She’s also the author of Big Thinkers and Ideas: An Introduction to Eastern and Western Philosophy for Kids.
طبق گفته نويسنده اين كتاب ما ١٥ مغالطه معمول در گفت و گوها داريم. اين نوع از مغالطه به سه دسته ي ارتباط، احتمال و ابهام تقسيم ميشه و هر در هر قسمت پنج مدل رو توضيح ميده. * ارتباط: يك: مغالطه معروفيت، يعني به اين استناد كنيم كه چون همه موافق يه چيزي هستن پس اون درسته. دو:مغاطه جهالت، يعني اگه مدركي رو در مورد اثبات چيزي پدا نكرديم اين فقط نشون ميده كه اثبات نشده نه اينكه اين مطلب وجود نداره. سه: مغالطه اي كه بر مبناي منبع غير موثق اختيار ميشه. چهار: مغالطه شاه ماهي قرمز، يعني موضوع بحث رو تغيير دادن. پنجم، مغالطه اقناعي، به اين معنا كه بجاي دليل به طرف مقابل حمله كنيد، تهمت زدن. * احتمال، يك: تعميم شتاب زده يا مغالطه از بعضي به همه تسري دادن. دو: مصادره به مطلوب، اين مغالطه زماني اتفاق ميفته كه استدلال با نتيجه تفاوتي نداشته باشد. استدلال از مقدمه و نتيجه تشكيل ميشه. شما بايد در مقدمه دلايل رو بگيد تا به نتيجه برسيد. سه: قياس ذووجهين باطل يا مغالطه كاهش آرا متعدد به تنها دو مورد(شايد همون تبصره ٢٢ جوزف هلر ؟ نميدونم). چهار: مغالطه دليل باطل. پنجم: مرد پوشالي، مغالطه اي كه در آن نظر فرد مقابل را آن اندازه ساده مي كنيم كه به راحتي بتوانيم آن را رد كنيم. * ابهام: كلا زماني پيش مياد كه در معني كلمات ابهام وجود دارد. خيلي سخت بود كلماتش😬 آخر كتاب نظر جان استوارت ميل رو در مورد منطق ميگه به اين مظمون كه چون اين مسئله ما رو از رفتن به راههاي نادرست باز ميداره در عملكردهاي عقلاني چيزي گرانبهاتر از منطق وجود نداره. با بررسي استدلال ميتونيم از افتادن در دام مغالطه و خطا مصونيت پيدا كنيم. در اين فضاي خردمندي و خردورزي تفكر مهمترين داشته ما خواهد بود و نوع نگاه انتقادي به مسائل پيش رو عملي ترين ابزار اون ميشه. فكر كنم تقريبا با اين مكانيسم كتابي كه از ابتدا تا انتها در مورد منطق صحبت ميكنه عنوانش ميشه "تفكر انتقادي". كتاب خوبيه هرچند موضوعيت منطق بسي دشوار و پر اسماي عجيب و غريب نظريه و استدلال و اينچيزاست. الان به نظرم ميرسه كه مديرم سر كار كلا مغالطه هست! تمامي اصول مغالطه رو مو به مو اجرا ميكنه. چطور ديگه ميتونم تحملش كنم؟!! 😟
Something I studied in school under the name of logic. Whilst I thoroughly enjoy the topic and the mathematic logic, I did not foresee the book with such a name being on that topic. An essential part of critical thinking no doubt, but perhaps also not the only essential aspect.
Sharon M. Kaye is a professor of Philosophy at John Carroll University. She's written several introductions to philosophy and logic with students in mind. She writes in the intro that she was converted to Philosophy as a major while attending a Critical Thinking lecture in which she was confronted with the notion that "not everything can be true," which offended her post-modern senses at the time. I found this book to be a good introduction to logic. One nice aspect is that Kaye has selected articles from various newspapers and magazines for students to critique as exercises. She explains how to set up a good argument, how to lay out all the premises of someone else's argument, and how to find weaknesses, critiquing a paper by Steven Pinker as the concluding example.
An argument cannot be sound if it is not valid. While soundness is subjective, validity requires a conclusion that logically follows from the arguments' premises. Kaye starts with Socrates' categorical syllogisms, a three-step transitive argument, modus ponens, various fallacies, etc. Avoid affirming the consequent and denying the antecedent.
It took me back to a mathematical logic and set theory course I'd had. There we dealt more with Boolean logic, I wish I'd had logic from the philosophy side as well. Interestingly, religion is one of Kaye's interests. The first example of establishing a logic argument is one from William Lane Craig on the existence of a creator. I'm reminded that he teaches courses in logic for his home church.
I give this guide 4 stars out of 5. It's a great introduction.
This book will help you frame your arguments logically, it will also help you identify illogical statements. It has an important section on logic fallacies that are commonly used in everyday media such as the Fallacy of Composition whereby an attribute of the part is used, erroneously, as a descriptor of the whole, such as, The Mafia aren't criminal mobsters, I know someone in The Mafia, and he would never do anything illegal.
Must reading for anyone looking to enhance their logic and debating skills.
I picked up Critical Thinking from my school library for just some light reading, with the intention of getting smarter from having read said text. Sharon M. Kaye's book is a self-proclaimed "Beginner's Guide" to critical thinking, and it shows. Everything she said in the book could be read, interpreted, and criticized by second graders. Critical Thinking lacked any insight into the process of the human mind and was, overall, disappointing.
The book is very practice oriented. It views the roots of the science of logic, its base terms and postulates as well as the necessary minimum for having a valid conclusion. I think it will be helpful in my everyday life to better understand communication with people.
A good beginners guide for critical thinking. It lists all you need to know and all you need to know to get it right and not fall into some critical thinking trap.
Good book in critical thinking. Provides information in a very organized way a full of examples.like the fact that on the end of each chapter exercises are provided to test your knowledge. Don't consider this book as a reference in the subject, much because somethimes the information gets passed in boring way, making the reader loose focus. If it wasn't for that, this would definitely be one of my favourite books.
I believe in this modern era of blurred lines between Fact and Fiction, News and Entertainment, abilities such as taught in this book are really useful. Also, GMAT takers! Read this one! Overall an experience both entertaining and learning. Thanks Sharon!
The book is a really good introduction to critical thinking. The books has good exercises, which provide good opportunity to the reader to apply the rules of critical thinking.