Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide

by Tracy Bowell, Gary Kemp

Attempts to persuade us - to believe something, to do something, to buy something - are everywhere. What is less clear is how to think critically about such attempts and how to distinguish those that are sound arguments. Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide is a much needed guide to argument analysis and a clear introduction to thinking clearly and rationally for oneself. Accessibly written, this book equips students with the essential skills required to tell a good argument from a bad one.

Key features of the book include:
* clear, jargon-free discussion of key concepts in argumentation
* how to avoid common confusions surrounding words such as 'truth', 'knowledge' and 'opinion'
* how to identify and evaluate the most common types of argument
* how to spot fallacies and tell good reasoning from bad
* chapter summaries, exercises, examples and a glossary.

The second edition has been updated to include topical new examples from politics, sport, medicine and music, as well as new exercises throughout.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Logic, Psychology, Ebooks, Self Help, Academic

288 pages, Paperback

First published November 8, 2001

Reviews

[Dante]

Reading this now. It's a practical book that aims to help readers become critical thinkers.

It is divided into seven chapters.

Chapter one talks about what critical thinking is and why it matters. It also talks about what an argument is and what its elements are.

Chapter two talks about the deductive form of argument.

Chapter three talks about the inductive form of argument.

Chapter four talks about rhetorical ploys and logical fallacies.

Chapter five talks about reconstructing arguments, which is one of the steps in analyzing arguments.

Chapter six talks about assessing arguments, which is the final step in critical thinking.

Chapter seven talks about the other essential concepts relevant to critical thinking, like truth, belief, and knowledge.

The book has a summary and some exercises at the end of each chapter.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب دسم جدا، هتكشتف فيه نوع الخدع التي يتم ممارستها في النقاشات وازاي تحلل الحجة المطروحة أمامك، عجبني استخدام الأمثلة وتعقيدها شيئا فشيئا مع تقدم الفصول
لا ينصح به للقرّاء الجدد او العائدين بعد انقطاع

[Laurent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to informal logic and critical thinking.

[Kieran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read parts of this book for a critical thinking subject I did in my first semester of university. I decided to go back and read the entire thing because I saw value in the book.

I remember the first time I heard the phrase “critical thinking”. I read the definition of it and I understood the words written, however, I didn’t (at the time) have a true comprehension of what those words entailed. Thanks to university and especially this book I have gained valuable insight into the world around me. The information that enters my life had already been scrutinised (I was always quite a sceptic), but now I will subject information to a new level of investigation about its source, any hidden ambiguity or hidden motives. I think we should all think deeply about why someone is trying to convince us of something. What are their motives? Are they giving good reasons or using faulty argumentative techniques?

The book also delves into these argumentative techniques. It guides the reader into discovering fallacies within opponents arguments and offers a range of tools for building your own stronger arguments.

A very well balanced book that gives you the tools to unpack the arguments you come across in your daily life and to think critically.

[Julia Hörmayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally read the last chapter of this book so I can mark this as read, I’d completely forgotten HOW fucking boring it is
I can recommend this if you have an IQ of -54 but other than that: don’t waste your time
Boring, slow-paced and 99% obvious, helpful for philosophic terms though but would suggest to skim over, not actually read and I’m sure there’s more interesting alternatives
3 stars because it’s fucking easy to understand, so it doesn’t exactly fail as a textbook I guess

[Suat Atan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bu kitabı okuduktan sonra köşeyazarları, haber manşetleri, hatta bilimsel iddiaları görünce iki kez düşüneceksiniz. Büyük ihtimalle sohbetlerinizde yaptığınız ve sıkça yapılan mantık hataları yüzünden sessizleşeceksiniz. Okuması zor bir kitap ama kesinlikle keyifli ve öğretici

[Andreea Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful and concise book on the topics of Logic and Critical Thinking. After reading this I got a clue of how ignorant I was sometimes.

[Samuel Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have assessed my own approaches to argument and realized how bad not knowing really is. So I will reread this book a few more times along with others on the same subject.

[AhmadEsam · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب رااائع ومرجع هااام جدا لمن يريد تعلم ودراسة التفكير النقدي
اعجبني طريقة تنظيمه وتقسيمه والامثلة التي تتعقد شيئا فشيئا
لم يعجبني قدمه بعض الشيء ولكن مادته دسمة جداا

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a course about learning philosophical skills, for which this book was very well suited. It’s a clear introduction to critical thinking and logical reasoning. Additionally, you can tell that the authors are women, because the default pronoun for various professions mentioned in examples are she/her, which I loved.

[Aykut Karabay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bilimsel düşünceye giriş niteliğinde bir kitap. Argüman, önerme, argümanı ispatlama, dil, retorik, mantık, doğru bilgi ile safsatayı ayırma, neden - sonuç bağlantısı kurma, sorgulama gibi bilimsel düşüncenin etmen konularını örnekler ve alıştırmalarla ele alan bir kitap. Doğruya ulaşmaya çalışırken nesnellik, rasyonellik, argüman, tümevarım, kanıt gibi bilimsel yöntemlerle hareket etmenin önemini ve yöntemlerini detaylandırıyor.

Her bölümün sonunda bölüm özeti ile bölümle ilgili alıştırmalar kısmı bulunuyor. Bunlarda bölüm konularının anlaşılıp, pekişmesi için çok iyi bir yöntem. Memnun kaldığım bir kitap oldu. Bilimsel düşünce, mantık, bilim felsefesi konularında kendisini geliştirmek isteyenlere tavsiye ederim.

[Abdullah Başaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Argüman inşası ve analizleri oldukça başarılı, bilhassa yeniden oluşturma ve değerlendirme iyice oturduğunda safsatalar kendiliğinden çorap söküğü gibi geliyor. Kitabın en cılız bölümü son bölüm; mantıksal argümanların felsefi meselelere yansıtılması iyi kurulamamış.

Öte yandan kitabın Türkçesinde çok kusur var, kelime tercihleri vs. problemli; kaç baskı yapmış hâlâ birçok yazım yanlışı var. Dizgi hatası çok, hangi altbaşlık hangisinin altında sürekli karışıyor. Tübitak'tan beklenmeyecek bir dikkatsizlik.

[Akbar Madan · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب صفحة من الفكر والتفكير حول التفكير النقدي ، ذلك التفكير الذي من أهم عناصره المنهجية العلمية في التفكير والمبنية على الاخذ بالاسباب والمسببات وطريقة التفكير الاستدلالي الاستنباطي والاستقرائي ، ولغة الاحتمال ، كل تلك التقنيات تساهم بشكل صحيح في خلق تفكير نقدي متوازن ويحمل قيمة معرفية سليمة ، التفكير النقدي يغوص في ارجاء المعرفة نفسها ويحدد كيف نعرف اننا نعرف ، ما هي آليات المعرفة الصحيحة أو الأقرب للواقع . في ناحية أخرى ينقلنا التفكير النقدي إلى عملية التغيير نفسها وكيف يتم التغيير في شتى المجالات وما هي عوامل التغيير الأساسية للأفكار والمذاهب والواقع .

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a class and actually enjoyed it. Good introduction to logic and critical thinking. There are little exercises after each chapter that kept me engaged. I was happy to spend the money in this book.

[Asdasd Dasdasd]

سشيسسصيسي

[Rosa Ferreira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leitura imprescindível para ampliar o paradigma do "Pensar Bem".

[alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

fucking hated this class but it got better after a while

[David Hany · Rating 4 out of 5]

يعلم أساسيات التفكير المنطقي وكيف تمارس النقد بطريقة فلسفية صحيحة

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I learned a lot of info that will make me even less fun at parties.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear explanations of concepts and terms. Easy to understand and a useful guide.

[Michiel Tummers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on critical thinking, more important than ever in a time where critical thinking is on the line (no good argument here, piece of opinion;))
The subtitle of this book should be; how to become a good debater and lose all your friends, since you WILL offend friends because after this book you will pick flaws in reasoning, formal and informal fallacies out of any sentenced uttered; use with caution (piece of advice, not an argument ;) ).

Classic academic textbook on formal and informal logic imo. More people should read it!

[Kyle van Oosterum · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title states, an introduction to critical thinking that keeps you well-informed with lucid examples and even clearer examples.

[Rashid Abdullah]

i hope to read this book

[Sympawtico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good -- really helped to clarify my thinking process.

[Priyadarshi Ranjan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice reading

[M A · Rating 4 out of 5]

it deserves a second more focused reading

[Adnan Akpınar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tüm gençlerin okuması gereken, liselerde ders müfredatına eklenmesi gereken, adının hakkını veren şahane bir eleştirel düşünme kılavuzu.