M. Browne, Bowling Green University
Stuart M. Keeley, Bowling Green State University
©2018 | Pearson
| Format | Electronic Book |
| ISBN-13: | 9780137501731 |
| Availability |
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For courses in argument, linguistics, and composition - or in any course where critical thinking is key.
Think critically, analyze objectively, and judge soundly when you know the right questions to ask.
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking bridges the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information, and the greater challenge of critical analysis and synthesis. Authors M. Neil Browne and Stuart Keeley teach students to think critically by exploring the components of arguments - the issues, conclusions, reasons, evidence, assumptions, and language - and showing how to spot fallacies, manipulations, and faulty reasoning. They demonstrate how to respond to alternative points of view and make the best personal choices about what information to accept or reject.
Now in its 12th Edition, this current and concise text greatly extends the understanding of critical thinking to writing and speaking. Additionally, the updated practice passages and exercises, as well as an enhanced visual program, add to this book's appeal in a variety of courses and disciplines.
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Preface
1. The Benefit and Manner of Asking the Right Questions
The Noisy, Confused World We Live In
Experts Cannot Rescue Us, Despite What They Say
The Necessity of Relying on Our Mind
Critical Thinking to the Rescue
The Sponge and Panning for Gold: Alternative Thinking Styles
Weak-Sense and Strong-Sense Critical Thinking
The Importance of Practice
Critical Thinking and Other People
Primary Values of a Critical Thinker
Keeping the Conversation Going
Creating a Friendly Environment for Communication
Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers
2. What Are the Issue and the Conclusion?
Kinds of Issues
Searching for the Issue
Searching for the Author's or Speaker's Conclusion
Clues to Discovery: How to Find the Conclusion
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
3. What Are the Reasons?
Initiating the Questioning Process
Words That Identify Reasons
Keeping the Reasons and Conclusions Straight
Reasons First, Then Conclusions
Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
4. What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?
The Confusing Flexibility of Words
Locating Key Terms and Phrases
Checking for Ambiguity
Determining Ambiguity
Context and Ambiguity
Ambiguity, Definitions, and the Dictionary
Limits of Your Responsibility to Clarify Ambiguity
Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
5. What Are the Value and Descriptive Assumptions?
General Guide for Identifying Assumptions
Value Conflicts and Assumptions
From Values to Value Assumptions
Typical Value Conflicts
The Communicator's Background as a Clue to Value Assumptions
Consequences as Clues to Value Assumptions
More Hints for Finding Value Assumptions
The Value of Knowing the Value Priorities of Others
Values and Relativism
Identifying and Evaluating Descriptive Assumptions
Illustrating Descriptive Assumptions
Common Descriptive Assumptions
Clues for Locating Assumptions
Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
6. Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?
A Questioning Approach to Finding Reasoning Fallacies
Evaluating Assumptions as a Starting Point
Discovering Other Common Reasoning Fallacies
Looking for Diversions
Sleight of Hand: Begging the Question
Summary of Reasoning Errors
Expanding Your Knowledge of Fallacies
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
7. The Worth of Personal Experience, Case Examples, Testimonials, and Statements of Authority as Evidence
Fact or Opinion?
The Need for Dependable Evidence
Sources of Evidence
Personal Experience as Evidence
Case Examples as Evidence
Testimonials as Evidence
Appeals to Authority as Evidence
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
8. How Good Is the Evidence: Personal Observation and Research Studies?
Personal Observation as Evidence
Biased Surveys and Questionnaires
Research Studies as Evidence
General Problems with Research Findings
Generalizing From the Research Sample
Generalizing From the Research Measures
When You Can Most Trust Expert Opinion
Research and the Internet
Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
9. Are There Rival Causes?
When to Look for Rival Causes
The Pervasiveness of Rival Causes
Detecting Rival Causes
The Cause or a Cause
Multiple Perspectives as a Guide to Rival Causes
Confusing Causation with Association
Confusing "After This" with "Because of This"
Explaining Individual Events or Acts
Evaluating Rival Causes
Rival Causes and Your Own Communication
Exploring Potential Causes
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
10. Are Any Statistics Deceptive?
Unknowable and Biased Statistics
Confusing Averages
Measurement Errors
Concluding One Thing, Proving Another
Deceiving by Omitting Information
Using Statistics in Your Writing
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
11. What Significant Information Is Omitted?
The Benefits of Detecting Omitted Information
The Certainty of Incomplete Reasoning
Questions That Identify Omitted Information
But We Need to Know the Numbers
The Importance of the Negative View
Omitted Information That Remains Missing
Writing and Speaking as Critical Thinkers
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
12. What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?
Dichotomous Thinking: Impediment to Considering Multiple Conclusions
Grey Thinking: Two Sides or Many?
Productivity of If-Clauses
The Liberating Effect of Recognizing Alternative Conclusions
Summary
Practice Exercises
Sample Responses
13. Speed Bumps Interfering with Your Critical Thinking
The Discomfort of Asking the Right Questions
Thinking Too Quickly
Stereotypes
Mental Habits That Betray Us
Halo Effect
Belief Perseverance
Availability Heuristic
Answering the Wrong Question
Egocentrism
Wishful Thinking: Perhaps the Biggest Single Speed Bump on the Road to Critical Thinking
Final Words
Index
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Professor M. Neil Browne has taught critical thinking, great ideas, economics, and law at Bowling Green State University for five decades. During that time, he authored 55 books and 170 professional research articles in multiple disciplines. In addition, he consulted and trained - focusing heavily on critical thinking - the faculty, corporate managers, and government leaders at some of the nation's most prestigious institutions. He has recently been asked to keynote the International Critical Thinking Conferences in Turkey and China.
Browne created the Honors Scholars Learning Community at Bowling Green, with the single focus of enhancing the critical thinking and ethical reasoning of the university's most outstanding students. Critical thinking has also been a core element of his success as a coach of Intercollegiate Mock Trial, Intercollegiate Mediation, and Intercollegiate Model Arab League teams.
Stuart Keeley received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Illinois, and enjoyed a flourishing 30-year career as a psychology professor at Bowling Green State University. His undergraduate and graduate teaching focused on abnormal psychology and clinical assessment. He also taught critical thinking to freshmen for many years. In 2000, the Bowling Green State University Trustees awarded him the title of Distinguished Teaching Professor of Psychology.
In addition to Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, Keeley has published numerous other books,including Striving for Excellence in College; Asking the Right Questions in Abnormal Psychology; and Psychology on the Internet: Evaluating Online Resources. His dozens of research articles in psychology and higher education have centered around pedagogy, community mental health training, and decision making. Now in his retirement, he continues to be an avid listener and reader, as well as an accomplished author.
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