How to Think Logically, 2nd edition

Gary Seay City University of New York
Susana Nuccetelli St. Cloud State University

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Concise Principles of Reasoning

Concise, yet covering all the basics of a 15-week course in informal logic or critical reasoning, this text engages students with a lively format and clear writing style. The small scale of the book keeps the cost low, a vital consideration in today’s economy, yet without compromising on logical rigor.

The author’s presentation strikes a careful balance: it offers clear, jargon-free writing while preserving rigor. Brimming with numerous pedagogical features, this accessible text assists students with analysis, reconstruction, and evaluation of arguments and helps them become independent, analytical thinkers. Introductory students are exposed to the basic principles of reasoning while also having their appetites whetted for future courses in philosophy.

Teaching and Learning Experience

Improve Critical Thinking - Abundant pedagogical aids -- including exercises and study questions within each chapter -- encourage students to examine their assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence, assess their conclusions, and more!

Engage Students - Chapter and section outlines, summaries, illustrative examples, special-emphasis boxes and key terms present new ideas in manageable-sized units of information so students can digest each concept before moving on to the next one, and ensure students key-in on crucial points to remember.

Support Instructors -Teaching your course just got easier! You can create a Customized Text or use our Instructor’s Manual, or PowerPoint Presentation Slides. Plus, this concise textbook contains only as much material as you can cover in a course, creating an affordable alternative you can assign with confidence to a cost-conscious student population. Additionally, each chapter in How to Think Logically is designed as a self-contained unit so that you can choose the combination and order of chapters according to the needs of your courses; making the text a flexible base for courses in logic, critical thinking, and rhetoric.

CONCISE PRINCIPLES OF REASONING

The authors' clear and direct writing style makes technical concepts in logic easier to understand without compromising rigorous treatment and thorough coverage.

IMPROVE CRITICAL THINKING

Abundant pedagogical aids -- including exercises and study questions within each chapter -- enable students to learn logic by applying what they’ve studied. Additionally, sample responses are provided where appropriate, and answers to selected exercises appear at the back of the book. (ex. p. 365)

ENGAGE STUDENTS

Each chapter starts with a chapter outline listing the learning objectives, and then concludes with a chapter summary that reinforces the concepts presented. (ex. p. 3)
Numerous section summaries appear within each chapter to ensure students key in on crucial points to remember. (ex. p. 27)
Illustrative examples and special-emphasis boxes throughout the text present new ideas in manageable-sized units of information, so students can digest each concept before moving on to the next one. (ex. p. 35)
At the end of each chapter is a list of Key Terms, which are defined in the glossary at the end of the book. (ex. p. 23)

SUPPORT INSTRUCTORS

How to Think Logically contains only as much material as you can cover in a course, creating an affordable alternative you can assign with confidence to a cost-conscious student population.
Each chapter in How to Think Logically is designed as a self-contained unit so that you can choose the combination and order of chapters according to the needs of your courses; making the text a flexible base for courses in logic, critical thinking, and rhetoric.
Instructor’s Manual with Tests (0205155340): For each chapter in the text, this resource provides a detailed outline, list of objectives, discussion questions, and suggested readings. In addition, test questions in multiple-choice, true/ false, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer formats are available for each chapter; the answers are page-referenced to the text. For easy access, this manual is available within the instructor section of MyReligionLab for How To Think Logically, 2/e, or at www.pearsonhighered.com/irc.
PowerPoint Presentation Slides for How To Think Logically, 2/e(0205155383): These PowerPoint slides help you convey anthropology principles in a clear and engaging way. For easy access, they are available at www.pearsonhighered.com/irc.

Found in this section:

Overview of Changes
Chapter-by-Chapter Changes

1. Overview of changes

CONCISE PRINCIPLES OF REASONING

The program of the book has been simplified so that it does much better, and more economically, what instructors need it to do: namely, serve as a text for teaching students how to develop critical reasoning skills. The ‘Philosopher’s Corner’ features of the first edition have been taken out, following the consensus of reviewers, who said that they almost never had time in a 15-week semester to use them if they were teaching the logic too. In this new edition, references to philosophical theories have been minimized and woven into topics of informal logic. In this way, the overall length of the book has been kept about the same as in the first edition, and the price of the book has been kept low.

IMPROVE CRITICAL THINKING

Whole sections have been rewritten to make them more precise and user-friendly – helping students examine their assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence, assess their conclusions, and more! Enhanced topics include inductive arguments, compound propositions, and informal fallacies.

ENGAGE STUDENTS

Many new examples, of varying degrees of difficulty, have been incorporated in the book’s account of informal fallacies. First-edition examples have been brought up to date, while retaining the liberal use of humor throughout.
Exercise sections in all chapters have been greatly expanded and supplemented by additional exercises, so that students can now get more practice in what they’re learning. As a result, they will now have more assignments to work on in class or as homework. (ex. p. 14)

SUPPORT INSTRUCTORS

New! Create a Custom Text: For enrollments of at least 25, create your own textbook by combining chapters from best-selling Pearson textbooks and/or reading selections in the sequence you want. To begin building your custom text, visit www.pearsoncustomlibrary.com. You may also work with a dedicated Pearson Custom editor to create your ideal text—publishing your own original content or mixing and matching Pearson content. Contact your Pearson Publisher’s Representative to get started.

2. Chapter-by-Chapter Changes

Chapter 1: What Is Logical Thinking? And Why Should We Care?

Has been reworked to present a better introduction to argument, the central topic of the book. The treatment of non-arguments now includes entries for explanations, conditionals, and fictional discourse.

Chapter 2: Thinking Logically and Speaking One’s Mind

A more concise treatment of definition now follows discussions of figurative meaning and indirect use of language. Also added to this chapter are an expanded treatment of sentence types, including speech acts, in connection with the discussion of uses of language, providing a more attractive and timely treatment of this topic.

Chapter 3: The Virtues of Belief

The discussions of contradiction and consistency have been rewritten for greater clarity.

Chapter 4: Tips for Argument Analysis

The section on evaluative reasoning has been expanded into a much improved discussion of moral, legal, prudential, and aesthetic norms and arguments.

IN THIS SECTION:

1.) BRIEF

2.) COMPREHENSIVE

BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF REASONING

Chapter One What Is Logical Thinking? And Why Should We Care?

Chapter Two Thinking Logically and Speaking One’s Mind

Chapter Three The Virtues of Belief

PART II: REASON AND ARGUMENT

Chapter Four Tips for Argument Analysis

Chapter Five Evaluating Deductive Arguments

Chapter Six Analyzing Inductive Arguments

PART III: INFORMAL FALLACIES

Chapter Seven Some Ways an Argument Can Fail

Chapter Eight Avoiding Ungrounded Assumptions

Chapter Nine From Unclear Language to Unclear Reasoning

Chapter Ten Avoiding Irrelevant Premises

PART IV: MORE ON DEDUCTIVE REASONING

Chapter Eleven Compound Propositions

Chapter Twelve Checking the Validity of Propositional Arguments

Chapter Thirteen Categorical Propositions and Immediate Inferences

Chapter Fourteen Categorical Syllogisms

Appendix: Summary of Informal Fallacies

Answers to Selected Exercises

Glossary/Index

COMPREHENSIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF REASONING

Chapter One What Is Logical Thinking? And Why Should We Care?

1.1 The Study of Reasoning

1.2 Logic and Reasoning

1.3 What Arguments Are

1.4 Reconstructing Arguments

1.5 Arguments and Non-arguments

1.6 Chapter Summary

1.7 Key Words

Chapter Two Thinking Logically and Speaking One’s Mind

2.1 Rational Acceptability

2.2 Beyond Rational Acceptability

2.3 From Mind to Language

2.4 Indirect Use and Figurative Language

2.5 Definition: An Antidote to Unclear Language

2.6 Chapter Summary

2.7 Key Words

Chapter Three The Virtues of Belief

3.1 Belief, Disbelief, and Non-Belief

3.2 Beliefs’ Virtues and Vices

3.3 Accuracy and Truth

3.4 Reasonableness

3.5 Consistency

3.6 Conservatism and Revisability

3.7 Rationality vs. Irrationality

3.8 Chapter Summary

3.9 Key Words

PART II: REASON AND ARGUMENT

Chapter Four Tips for Argument Analysis

4.1 A Principled Way of Reconstructing Arguments

4.2 Missing Premises

4.3 Extended Arguments

4.4 Types of Reason

4.5 Norms and Argument

4.6 Chapter Summary

4.7 Key Words

Chapter Five Evaluating Deductive Arguments

5.1 Validity

5.2 Soundness

5.3 Cogency

5.4 Chapter Summary

5.5 Key Words

Chapter Six Analyzing Inductive Arguments

6.1 Reconstructing Inductive Arguments

6.2 Some Types of Inductive Argument

6.3 Evaluating Inductive Arguments

6.4 Chapter Summary

6.5 Key Words

PART III: INFORMAL FALLACIES

Chapter Seven Some Ways an Argument Can Fail

7.1 What Is a Fallacy?

7.2 Classification of Informal Fallacies

7.3 When Inductive Arguments Go Wrong

7.4 Chapter Summary

7.5 Key Words

Chapter Eight Avoiding Ungrounded Assumptions

8.1 Fallacies of Presumption

8.2 Begging the Question

8.3 Begging-the-Question-Against

8.4 Complex Question

8.5 False Alternatives

8.6 Accident

8.7 Chapter Summary

8.8 Key Words

Chapter Nine From Unclear Language to Unclear Reasoning

9.1 Unclear Language and Argument Failure

9.2 Semantic Unclarity

9.3 Vagueness

9.4 Ambiguity

9.5 Confused Predication

9.6 Chapter Summary

9.7 Key Words

Chapter Ten Avoiding Irrelevant Premises

10.1 Fallacies of Relevance

10.2 Appeal to Pity

10.3 Appeal to Force

10.4 Appeal to Emotion

10.5 Ad Hominem

10.6 Beside the Point

10.7 Straw Man

10.8 Is the Appeal to Emotion Always Fallacious?

10.9 Chapter Summary

10.10 Key Words

PART IV: MORE ON DEDUCTIVE REASONING

Chapter Eleven Compound Propositions

11.1 Argument as a Relation Between Propositions

11.2 Simple and Compound Propositions

11.3 Symbolizing Compound Propositions

11.4 Defining Connectives with Truth Tables

11.5 Truth Tables for Compound Propositions

11.6 Chapter Summary

11.7 Key Words

Chapter Twelve Checking the Validity of Propositional Arguments

12.1 Checking Validity with Truth Tables

12.2 Some Standard Argument Forms

12.3 Formal Fallacies

12.4 A Simplified Approach to Proofs of Validity

12.5 Chapter Summary

12.6 Key Words

Chapter Thirteen Categorical Propositions and Immediate Inferences

13.1 What Is a Categorical Proposition?

13.2 Venn Diagrams for Categorical Propositions

13.3 The Square of Opposition

13.4 Other Immediate Inferences

13.5 Chapter Summary

13.6 Key Words

Chapter Fourteen Categorical Syllogisms

14.1 What Is a Categorical Syllogism?

14.2 Syllogistic Argument Forms

14.3 Testing for Validity with Venn Diagrams

14.4 Distribution of Terms

14.5 Rules of Validity and Syllogistic Fallacies

14.6 Chapter Summary

14.7 Key Words

Appendix: Summary of Informal Fallacies

Answers to Selected Exercises

Glossary/Index

In This Section:

I. Author Bio

II. Author Letter

I. Author Bio

Gary Seay has taught formal and informal logic since 1979 at the City University of New York, where he is presently professor of philosophy at Medgar Evers College. His articles on moral philosophy and bioethics have appeared in The American Philosophical Quarterly, The Journal of Value Inquiry, The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, and The Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, among other journals. With Susana Nuccetelli, he is editor of Themes from G. E. Moore: New Essays in Epistemology and Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2007), Philosophy of Language: The Central Topics (Rowman & Littlefield, 2007), and Latin American Philosophy: An Introduction With Readings (Prentice Hall, 2004). Gary Seay may be contacted at garys@mec.cuny.edu. For more information about his work, visit http://www.mec.cuny.edu/academic_affairs/libarts_ed_school/phil_rel_dept/seay_bio.asp.

Susana Nuccetelli
is professor of philosophy at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Her essays in epistemology and philosophy of language have appeared in Analysis, The American Philosophical Quarterly, Metaphilosophy, The Philosophical Forum, Inquiry, and The Southern Journal of Philosophy, among other journals. She is editor of New Essays in Semantic Externalism and Self-Knowledge (MIT Press, 2003) and author of Latin American Thought: Philosophical Problems and Arguments (Westview Press, 2002). She is co-editor of The Blackwell Companion to Latin American Philosophy (Blackwell, 2009) and, with Gary Seay, Ethical Naturalism: Current Debates (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming, 2011). Susana Nuccetelli may be contacted at snuccetelli@stcloudstate.edu. For more information about her work, visit http://web.stcloudstate.edu/sinuccetelli/.

II. Author Letter

Dear Colleague,

Now in a new Second Edition, How to Think Logically is a concise and user-friendly textbook for freshman-level logic and critical thinking courses. Focused throughout on arguments and how we may evaluate them, the book is intended to show students how to distinguish between arguments that ought to persuade us and those that should not. It presents students with criteria for assessing both deductive and inductive reasoning, and it does so in a clear writing style much praised by our students. "This book is well written and structured," students have told us again and again over the ten semesters since it first appeared. "It’s easy to understand."

We believe that critical thinking skills are more vital than ever as a component of a liberal education. In a world where college graduates face increasingly fierce competition for jobs, those who are careful reasoners, lucid writers, and clear-headed thinkers are simply better equipped to succeed in any area of specialization. Learning these skills, however, should not be a dry, dull process, but an exercise leavened with humor and down-to-earth examples that students can understand.

How to Think Logically
accomplishes these goals with materials designed specifically for readers who have never encountered philosophy before, and for whom analytical thinking may at first be an unfamiliar exercise. In our courses at the City University of New York, at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, and at the University of Texas Pan American, we have used this book with students from a great number of different nationalities, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds. Invariably, we find that students respond well to its simple format, lively examples, and plain language.

In addition, this textbook comprises only enough material for a standard fifteen-week course (with flexibility to allow instructors options for different approaches); thus students are not paying for material they don’t use. This helps us keep costs down, a welcome feature at a time when students are struggling with soaring tuition and fees!

But at no point does How to Think Logically compromise on logical rigor. The book charts a mainstream course through discussions of natural language, meaning, truth, belief, and definition. It discusses twenty of the most common informal fallacies, explaining what is wrong with each type and how to avoid it. It also includes an expanded treatment of deductive reasoning, both in modern, propositional logic (including the rudiments of symbolic notation and natural deduction) and traditional, syllogistic logic. We believe that this is the book instructors have been looking for. It presents a broad and immensely readable approach to introductory-level logic, yet it does so concisely and at moderate cost.

We are interested in hearing from instructors who adopt our book, since we do value their suggestions for improving it. We want to know what works best in the classroom. So please do email us if you have suggestions or criticisms at garys@mec.cuny.edu and sinuccetelli@stcloudstate.edu. We look forward to learning about your experiences with How to Think Logically.

Sincerely,

Gary Seay and Susana Nuccetelli

City University of New York and St. Cloud State University

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