Invitation to Critical Thinking

Unit I: THE BASICS.
1. Critical Thinking.
The Importance of Critical Thinking. What Is Critical Thinking? Obstacles to Critical Thinking. Looking Ahead: Issues and Disputes. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
2. Language.
What Is Language? Functions of Language. Meaning in Language. Definitions. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
Unit II: ARGUMENT.
3. Argument.
Argument Identification. Argument Analysis. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
4. Argument Analysis I: Representing Argument Structure.
The Goal of Argument Analysis. Elementary Procedures. Intermediate Challenges. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
5. Argument Analysis Ii: Paraphrasing Arguments.
Paraphrasing. Advanced Applications. Additional Exercises.
Unit III: DEDUCTIVE REASONING.
6. Evaluating Deductive Arguments I: Categorical Logic.
Deductive and Inductive Reasoning. Argument Form. Categorical Logic. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
7. Evaluating Deductive Arguments Ii: Truth Functional Logic.
Truth Functional Analysis of Logical Operators. Argument Forms. Testing for Validity with Truth Tables. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
Unit IV: INDUCTIVE REASONING.
8. Evaluating Inductive Arguments I: Generalization and Analogy.
Assessing Inductive Strength. Reasoning by Analogy. Glossary. Exercises.
9. Evaluating Inductive Arguments Ii: Hypothetical Reasoning and Burden of Proof.
Presumption and the Burden of Proof". Reasoning Hypothetically. Causal Reasoning. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
Unit V: EVALUATING WHOLE ARGUMENTS.
10. Evaluating Premises: Self-Evidence, Consistency, Indirect Proof.
Necessary Truths. Contingent Claims. Beyond "Self-Evidence". Glossary. Additional Exercises.
11. Informal Fallacies I: Assumptions, Language, Relevance, Authority.
Fallacious Assumptions. Fallacies of Language. Fallacies of Relevance. Fallacious Appeals to Authority. Glossary. Additional Exercises.
12. Informal Fallacies Ii: Inductive Reasoning.
Polling, Probability and Statistics. Analogy and Burden of