A thoroughly updated introduction to the concepts, methods, and standards of critical thinking, A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking: Deciding What to Do and Believe, Second Edition is a unique presentation of the formal strategies used when thinking through reasons and arguments in many areas of expertise. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach to critical thinking, the book offers a broad conception of critical thinking and explores the practical relevance to conducting research across fields such as, business, education, and the biological sciences. Applying rigor when necessary, the Second Edition maintains an informal approach to the fundamental core concepts of critical thinking. With practical strategies for defining, analyzing, and evaluating reasons and arguments, the book illustrates how the concept of an argument extends beyond philosophical roots into experimentation, testing, measurement, and policy development and assessment. Featuring plenty of updated exercises for a wide range of subject areas, A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking Deciding What to Do and Believe, Second Edition also includes: Numerous real-world examples from many fields of research, which reflect the applicability of critical thinking in everyday life New topical coverage, including the nature of reasons, assertion and supposing, narrow and broad definitions, circumstantial reasons, and reasoning about causal claims Selected answers to various exercises to provide readers with instantaneous feedback to support and extend the lessons A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking Deciding What to Do and Believe, Second Edition is an excellent textbook for courses on critical thinking and logic at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as an appropriate reference for anyone with a general interest in critical thinking skills.

A thoroughly updated introduction to the concepts, methods, andstandards of critical thinking, A Practical Guide to CriticalThinking: Deciding What to Do and Believe, SecondEdition is a unique presentation of the formal strategiesused when thinking through reasons and arguments in many areas ofexpertise. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach to criticalthinking, the book offers a broad conception of critical thinkingand explores the practical relevance to conducting research acrossfields such as, business, education, and the biologicalsciences.Applying rigor when necessary, the Second Edition maintainsan informal approach to the fundamental core concepts of criticalthinking. With practical strategies for defining, analyzing, andevaluating reasons and arguments, the book illustrates how theconcept of an argument extends beyond philosophical roots intoexperimentation, testing, measurement, and policy development andassessment. Featuring plenty of updated exercises for a wide rangeof subject areas, A Practical Guide to Critical ThinkingDeciding What to Do and Believe, Second Edition alsoincludes:* Numerous real-world examples from many fields of researchwhich reflect the applicability of critical thinking in everydaylife* New topical coverage, including the nature of reasonsassertion and supposing, narrow and broad definitionscircumstantial reasons, and reasoning about causal claims* Selected answers to various exercises to provide readers withinstantaneous feedback to support and extend the lessonsA Practical Guide to Critical Thinking Deciding What to Doand Believe, Second Edition is an excellent textbook forcourses on critical thinking and logic at the undergraduate andgraduate levels as well as an appropriate reference for anyone witha general interest in critical thinking skills.

PrefaceNote to InstructorsChapter 1 The Nature and Value of Critical Thinking1. The Nature of Critical Thinking2. Critical Thinking and Knowledge3. Knowledge and Truth4. Knowledge and Belief5. Knowledge and Justification6. Good Reasons are Sufficient and Acceptable7. When Evidence Conflicts8. Critical Thinking and Personal Autonomy9. Critical Thinking in PracticeChapter 2 Clarifying Meaning1. The Place of Definitions in Critical Thinking2. Assertion and the Assertion Test3. Assertion Test4. Constructing and Evaluating Definitions5. Give a Slogan6. Expand on the Slogan7. Give Examples8. Identify Contrasting Ideas9. Thinking Critically about Frameworks10. Clarifying Beliefs and Problems11. Technical Definitions12. Meaning in Advertisements13. Critical Thinking in PracticeChapter 3 Sufficient Reasons1. Critical Thinking and Arguments2. Identifying Premises and Conclusions3. Dependent and Independent Premises4. Sub-Arguments5. Evaluating Logical Support6. Missing Premises7. Piling on Independent Premises8. Critical Thinking in PracticeChapter 4 Acceptable Reasons1. Reliable Sources2. Undermining and Overriding Evidence3. Observation4. Memory5. Testimony6. Advertising7. News Reports8. Measurement9. Surveys10. Critical Thinking in PracticeChapter 5 Reasoning about Alternatives and about Necessary and Sufficient Conditions1. Reasoning about Alternatives2. The Meaning of Disjunctions3. Reasoning by Denying a Disjunct4. False Disjunctions5. When are Disjunctions Acceptable?6. Exclusive Disjunctions7. How to Criticize Reasoning about Alternatives8. Reasoning about Necessary and Sufficient Conditions9. The Meaning of Conditionals10. Valid Forms of Reasoning about Necessary and Sufficient Conditions11. Invalid Forms of Reasoning about Necessary and Sufficient Conditions12. Making Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Explicit13. When are Claims about Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Acceptable?14. Reasoning with Definitions and Standards15. Necessary and Sufficient Causal Conditions16. Reasoning with Causal Claims17. Discovering Causal Conditions18. Critical Thinking in PracticeChapter 6 Reasoning by Analogy1. Reasoning by Perfect Analogy2. Is Reasoning by Analogy valid?3. When is an Analogical Claim True?4. Reasoning using Representational Analogy5. Reasoning with Samples6. When are Samples Representative?7. Reasoning with Maps and Models8. Critical Thinking in PracticeChapter 7 Critical Thinking in Action1. Thinking Critically about a Discipline2. Identifying a Discipline's Sources of Evidence3. Identifying a Discipline's forms of Reasoning4. Critical Thinking Questions5. Thinking Critically in your own Decision Making6. Thinking Critically in Discussion7. From Theory to Practice: applying what we have learnedAppendix A: Critical Thinking MistakesAppendix B: Critical Thinking Strategies