Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning

By Francis Watanabe Dauer

A demanding introduction to logic and critical thinking, this book offers more traditional means of teaching the art of reasoning at a time when the field has become almost mathematical. Francis Dauer has rethought the framework for teaching reasoning in general and formal logic in particular, the desired epistemological context, and the role of the fallacies. The result is a coherent and very readable work, informed by Dauer's extensive experience teaching and writing on the subject.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195048849
• ISBN13: 9780195048841
• Release Date: April 1989
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 560 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 1.6" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Impressive and novel approach to Critical Thinking

In my opinion, it is the best introduction to critical thinking. I was a teaching assistant for Dauer a few years back and I continue teaching the subject with essentially the same approach. Dauer goes much deeper into the structure of traditional fallacies. Although it makes a more difficult learning experience, the benefits of knowing why X is a fallacy, what reasoning process took place, etc., far outweighs the burdens. In addition to discussing first order logic (and making it more accessible with geometric representations of argument forms), Dauer develops a novel method for evaluating claims. The three independent approaches are put together in a comprehensive matrix of critical evaluations. There's always room for improvement in any text. Nevertheless, this one motivates me to ammend it (in particular with more up-to-day examples) rather than rewrite it.