Works Cited and Recommended References

Works Cited

The following sources provided the theoretical frameworks for the analysis of abductive reasoning, the criteria of adequacy, and the limits of inductive logic.

• Chalmers, Alan F. What is This Thing Called Science? 4th ed., University of Queensland Press, 2013. (Primary source for the Probabilistic Reformulation of induction).

• Harman, Gilbert H. “The Inference to the Best Explanation.” The Philosophical Review, vol. 74, no. 1, 1965, pp. 88–95. (The seminal academic text defining IBE).

• Hume, David. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. 1748. (The foundational text for Hume’s Dilemma and the Problem of Induction).

• Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press, 1962. (Primary source for the concept of Conservatism and paradigm shifts in science).

• Lipton, Peter. Inference to the Best Explanation. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2004. (A comprehensive modern expansion of abductive logic).

• Peirce, Charles Sanders. Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. Harvard University Press, 1931–1958. (The original source for the concept of Abduction).

• Russell, Bertrand. The Problems of Philosophy. Williams and Norgate, 1912. (Source for the story of the Inductive Chicken/Turkey).

• Schick, Theodore, and Lewis Vaughn. How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age. 8th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2019. (The primary source for the T.E.S.T. Method and the Criteria of Adequacy).

• Thagard, Paul R. “The Best Explanation: Criteria for Theory Choice.” The Journal of Philosophy, vol. 75, no. 2, 1978, pp. 76–92. (A key resource for the formalization of Simplicity, Scope, and Testability).

Recommended References

The following materials offer deeper explorations into the philosophy of science, the psychology of belief, and the logical deconstruction of conspiracy theories.

Philosophy of Science & Induction

• Okasha, Samir. Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. (An excellent, accessible overview of how IBE functions in scientific discovery).

• Popper, Karl. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. (The essential text for the concept of Falsifiability—the heart of the Testability criterion).

• Salmon, Wesley C. The Foundations of Scientific Inference. (A technical deep-dive into the attempts to solve Hume’s Problem).

Evaluating Conspiracy Theories & Weird Claims

• Barkun, Michael. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. (Examines the structural logic and social impact of “shadow-government” theories).

• Quassim, Cassam. Conspiracy Theories. Polity Press, 2019. (A philosophical investigation into why people find flawed explanations more compelling than mundane ones).

• Shermer, Michael. Why People Believe Weird Things. (Explores the cognitive biases, such as Confirmation Bias, that lead people to ignore the Criteria of Adequacy).

Practical Critical Thinking

• Carroll, Robert Todd. The Skeptic’s Dictionary. (A practical, A-to-Z resource applying the T.E.S.T. method to hundreds of supernatural and pseudoscientific claims).

• Vaughn, Lewis. The Power of Critical Thinking. Oxford University Press. (The textbook foundation for much of the pedagogy used in this course regarding inductive logic).