Primary Navigation
Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.
Book Contents Navigation
Preface
§1 Understanding Critical Thinking
§2 The Process of Critical Thinking
§3 Why Critical Thinking Matters
INTERACTIVE EXERCISES
§4 Critical Thinking Basics
§5 Love of Knowledge
Works Cited and Recommended References
Practice Exercises: Chapter 1
§1 Identifying the Obstacles
§2 Psychological Obstacles
§3 Philosophical Obstacles
§4 Technical Fundamentals
§5 The Ethics of Belief and Implicit Bias
Practice Exercises: Chapter 2
§1 Understanding Logic
§2 Deductive Reasoning
§3 Inductive Reasoning
§4 Common Logical Patterns
§5 Meta-Reflection and Practice
§6 Visualizing Logic
Practice Exercises: Chapter 3
§1 The Nature of Informal Fallacies
§2 Fallacies of Irrelevant and Inadequate Support
§3 Fallacies of Critique and Defense
§4 The Power of Clarity
§5 The Persuasive Power of Error
Practice Exercises: Chapter 4
§1 The Architecture of Visual and Analogical Persuasion
§2 Advertising Tactics
§3 Political Advertising and Media Manipulation
§4 The Construction of Identity and Consumption
§5 The Social Impact
Practice Exercises: Chapter 5
§1 The Nature of Causal Arguments
§2 Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
§3 Aristotle’s Four Causes
§4 Mill’s Methods of Discovery
§5 Causal Fallacies and Confusions
Practice Exercises: Chapter 6
§1 The Nature of Inductive Strength
§2 Generalization and Sampling
§3 Probabilistic Reasoning
§4 Statistical Pitfalls
Practice Exercises: Chapter 7
§1 The Logic of Probability
§2 Statistical Generalizations
§3 The Tyranny of the Average
§4 Risk and Decision Theory
Practice Exercises: Chapter 8
§1 Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE)
§2 Practice: Assessing Conspiracy Theories
§3 The Problem of Induction
Practice Exercises: Chapter 9
§1 The Nature of Truth
§2 Epistemology: How We Come to Know
§3 Knowledge vs. Mere True Belief
§4 Reasonable Beliefs and Defeaters
§5 Reasonable Beliefs and the Ethics of Belief
Practice Exercises: Chapter 10
§1 Judging Scientific Theories
§2 Problems with Objectivity
§3 Demarcation: Science vs. Pseudoscience
§4 Values in Science
§5 Scientific Revolutions and Paradigm Shifts
Practice Exercises: Chapter 11
§1 Evidence: Experience vs. Testimony
§2 Experts and Consensus
§3 Mitigated Skepticism and Fake News
§4 Strong Objectivity
§5 Case Study: Extraordinary Claims
Practice Exercises: Chapter 12
§1 What Morality Is and Is Not
§2 Action-Based Ethical Theories
§3 Agent-Based Ethical Theories
§4 Practice: Applied Ethics
Works Cited & Recommended References
Practice Exercises: Chapter 13
§1 What Can Philosophy Do for You?
§2 Existentialism: Existence Precedes Essence
§3 Aesthetics: The Value of the Beautiful
§4 Practice: Experiments in Consciousness
Works Cited and Recommended Resources
Practice Exercises: Chapter 14
Review Questions
Chapter 1. Introducing Critical Thinking and Philosophical Inquiry
Previous/next navigation
How to Think For Yourself Copyright © 2023 by Rebeka Ferreira is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.