Thinking Critically, 12th Edition

Empower students to become sophisticated thinkers with THINKING CRITICALLY, 12th Edition, which teaches the fundamental cognitive process that allows students to develop higher-order thinking abilities needed for academic and career success. Students learn to think critically about subjects drawn from academic disciplines, current issues, and life experiences. Author John Chaffee begins with basic skills related to personal experience and then progresses to the more sophisticated reasoning skills required for abstract contexts. Each chapter provides an overview of an aspect of critical thinking, such as problem solving, perception, and the nature of beliefs. Activities and writing assignments invite active participation and prompt students to critically examine others' thinking, as well as their own. Readings engage students in thinking about complex issues from various perspectives. 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Contents Preface Chapter 1: Thinking Living an "Examined" Life A Roadmap to Your Mind Working Toward Goals Achieving Short-Term Goals Achieving Long-Term Goals Images, Decision Making, and Thinking About Visual Information Images, Perceiving, and Thinking An Organized Approach to Making Decisions Living Creatively " Can I be Creative?"• Becoming More Creative Thinking Ahead Chapter 2: Thinking Critically Thinking Actively Influences on Your Thinking Becoming an Active Learner Carefully Exploring Situations with Questions Thinking Independently Viewing Situations from Different Perspectives Supporting Diverse Perspectives with Reasons and Evidence Discussing Ideas in an Organized Way Listening Carefully Supporting Views with Reasons and Evidence Responding to the Points Being Made Asking Questions Increasing Understanding Reading Critically Asking Questions Using a Problem-Solving Approach Analyzing Issues What is the Issue? What is the Evidence? What are the Arguments? What is the Verdict? Chapter 3: Solving Problems Thinking Critically About Problems Introduction to Solving Problems Solving Complex Problems Accepting the Problem Step 1: What is the Problem? Step 2: What are the Alternatives? Step 3: What are the Advantages and/or Disadvantages of Each Alternative? Step 4: What is the Solution? Step 5: How Well is the Solution Working? Solving Nonpersonal Problems Chapter 4: Perceiving and Believing Actively Selecting, Organizing, and Interpreting Sensations People' s Perceptions Differ Viewing the World Through " Lenses" What Factors Shape Perceptions? Perceiving and Believing Believing and Perceiving Types of Beliefs: Reports, Inferences, Judgments Reporting Factual Information Inferring Judging Differences in Judgments Chapter 5: Constructing Knowledge Believing and Knowing Knowledge and Truth Stages of Knowing Thinking Critically About Your Beliefs Using Perspective-Taking to Achieve Knowledge Beliefs Based on Indirect Experience How Reliable are the Information and the Source? Chapter 6: Language and Thought The Evolution of Language The Symbolic Nature of Language Semantic Meaning (Denotation) Perceptual Meaning (Connotation) Syntactic Meaning Pragmatic Meaning Using Language Effectively Using Language to Clarify Thinking Improving Vague Language Using Language in Social Contexts Language Styles Standard American English Slang Jargon Social Boundaries of Language Using Language to Influence Euphemistic Language Emotive Language Chapter 7: Forming and Applying Concepts What Are Concepts? The Structure of Concepts Forming Concepts Applying Concepts Using Concepts to Classify Defining Concepts Relating Concepts with Mind Maps Chapter 8: Relating and Organizing Chronological and Process Relationships Chronological Relationships Process Relationships Comparative and Analogical Relationships Comparative Relationships Analogical Relationships Using Analogies to Shape Our World Causal Relationships Causal Chains Contributory Causes Interactive Causes Chapter 9: Thinking Critically About Moral Issues What Is Ethics? Your Moral Compass I Would Follow My Conscience I Do Not Know What I Would Do I Would Do Whatever Would Improve My Own Situation I Would Do What God or the Scriptures Say is Right I Would Do Whatever Made Me Happy I Would Follow the Advice of an Authority, Such as a Parent or Teacher I Would Do What is Best for Everyone Involved The Thinker' s Guide to Moral Decision Making Make Morality a Priority Recognize That a Critical-Thinking Approach to Ethics is Based On Reason Include the Ethic of Justice in your Moral Compass Include the Ethic of Care in your Moral Compass Accept Responsibility for your Moral Choices Seek to Promote Happiness for Yourself and Others Seek to Develop an Informed Intuition Discover Natural Law Choose to be a Moral Person Chapter 10: Constructing Arguments Recognizing Arguments Cue Words for Arguments Arguments are Inferences Evaluating Arguments Validity: Do the Reasons Support the Conclusion? Truth: How True are the Supporting Reasons? The Soundness of Arguments Understanding Deductive Arguments Application of a General Rule Modus Ponens Modus Tollens Disjunctive Syllogism Constructing Extended Arguments Writing an Extended Argument Chapter 11: Reasoning Critically Inductive Reasoning Empirical Generalization Is The Sample Known? Is The Sample Sufficient? Is The Sample Representative? Fallacies of False Generalization Hasty Generalization Sweeping Generalization False Dilemma Causal Reasoning The Scientific Method Controlled Experiments Causal Fallacies Questionable Cause Misidentification of the Cause Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc Slippery Slope Fallacies of Relevance Appeal to Authority Appeal to Tradition Bandwagon Appeal to Pity Appeal to Fear Appeal to Flattery Special Pleading Appeal to Ignorance Begging the Question Straw Man Red Herring Appeal to Personal Attack Two Wrongs Make A Right The Critical Thinker' s Guide to Reasoning What is My Initial Point of View? How Can I Define My Point of View More Clearly? What is an Example of My Point of View? What is the Origin of My Point of View? What are My Assumptions? What Reasons, Evidence, and Arguments Support My Point of View? What are Other Points of View on this Issue? What is My Conclusion, Decision, Solution, or Prediction? What are the Consequences? Chapter 12: Thinking Critically, Living Creatively Living a Life Philosophy Choose Freely Condemned to be Free Free Choice: the Mainspring of Human Action Creating Yourself Through Free Choices Because You are Free . . . Using your Freedom to Shape your Life Escaping From Freedom Increase your Freedom by Eliminating Constraints Deciding on a Career Thinking Errors in Career Decisions Creating Your Dream Job Discovering Who You Are What are your Interests? What are your Abilities? Finding the Right Match Choosing the " Good Life" Meaning of Your Life Final Thoughts Glossary Index Become a more sophisticated thinker with THINKING CRITICALLY, which teaches you a surefire process for developing the thinking abilities you need for academic and career success. First, you'll build your confidence by learning and practicing basic skills related to your personal experiences. Next, you'll progress to the types of reasoning skills required for abstract contexts -- such as your academic courses. Activities and writing assignments invite your active participation and prompt you and your peers to critically examine each other's thinking. Thought-provoking and current readings from a wide variety of thinkers engage you in thinking about complex issues from different perspectives. Along the way, monitor your own progress as a critical thinker with self-assessment activities.