Critical Reasoning Consider the terms vague, ambiguity and generality as they relate to our textbook reading for this week. How are vagueness, ambig

Critical Reasoning
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Page i

Twelfth Edition

Critical
Thinking

Brooke Noel Moore
Richard Parker
California State University, Chico

with help in Chapter 12
from Nina Rosenstand and Anita Silvers

Page ii

CRITICAL THINKING, TWELFTH EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright 2017 by
McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous
editions 2015, 2012, and 2009. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in
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Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Moore, Brooke Noel, author. | Parker, Richard (Richard B.), author.
Title: Critical thinking / Brooke Noel Moore, Richard Parker, California

State University, Chico; with help in chapter 12 from Nina Rosenstand and

Anita Silvers.
Description: Twelfth Edition. | Dubuque, IA : McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016021518 | ISBN 9781259690877 (alk. paper) | ISBN

1259690873 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Critical thinking.
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Page iii

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12

Brief Contents

Dont Believe Everything You Think 1
Two Kinds of Reasoning 32
Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Clear Writing 64
Credibility 93
Rhetoric, the Art of Persuasion 132
Relevance (Red Herring) Fallacies 173
Induction Fallacies 195
Formal Fallacies and Fallacies of Language 220
Deductive Arguments I: Categorical Logic 242
Deductive Arguments II: Truth-Functional Logic 284
Inductive Reasoning 338
Moral, Legal, and Aesthetic Reasoning 390

Page v

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Contents

Preface xiv

Acknowledgments xx

About the Authors xxiv

Dont Believe Everything You Think 1

Beliefs and Claims 4

Objective Claims and Subjective Claims 4

Fact and Opinion 5

Relativism 6

Moral Subjectivism 6

Issues 6

Arguments 7

Cognitive Biases 14

Truth and Knowledge 20

What Critical Thinking Can and Cant Do 20

A Word About the Exercises 21

Recap 21

Additional Exercises 23

Two Kinds of Reasoning 32

Arguments: General Features 32

Conclusions Used as Premises 33

Unstated Premises and Conclusions 33

Two Kinds of Arguments 34

Deductive Arguments 34

Inductive Arguments 36

Chapter 3

Page vi

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 37

Telling the Difference Between Deductive and Inductive Arguments 37

Deduction, Induction, and Unstated Premises 38

Balance of Considerations 40

Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE) 41

What Are Not Premises, Conclusions, or Arguments 41

Pictures 42

If . . . then . . . Sentences 42

Lists of Facts 42

A because B 43

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos 43

Techniques for Understanding Arguments 48

Clarifying an Arguments Structure 49

Distinguishing Arguments from Window Dressing 51

Evaluating Arguments 52

Recap 52

Additional Exercises 53

Clear Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Clear

Writing 64

Vagueness 65

Ambiguity 67

Semantic Ambiguity 68

Grouping Ambiguity 68

Syntactic Ambiguity 68

Generality 70

Defining Terms 75

Purposes of Definitions 75

Kinds of Definitions 76

Tips on Definitions 77

Writing Argumentative Essays 79

Good Writing Practices 80

Essay Types to Avoid 81

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Page vii

Page viii

Persuasive Writing 82

Writing in a Diverse Society 82

Recap 83

Additional Exercises 84

Credibility 93

The Claim and Its Source 95

Assessing the Content of the Claim 96

Does the Claim Conflict with Our Personal Observations? 96

Does the Claim Conflict with Our Background Information? 99

The Credibility of Sources 102

Interested Parties 102

Physical and Other Characteristics 103

Expertise 105

Credibility and the News Media 109

Consolidation of Media Ownership 109

Government Management of the News 109

Bias Within the Media 111

Talk Radio 113

Advocacy Television 113

The Internet, Generally 114

Blogs 117

Advertising 118

Three Kinds of Ads 118

Recap 121

Additional Exercises 122

Rhetoric, the Art of Persuasion 132

Rhetorical Force 133

Rhetorical Devices I 134

Euphemisms and Dysphemisms 134

Weaselers 134

Downplayers 135

Chapter 6

Page ix

Rhetorical Devices II 137

Stereotypes 137

Innuendo 138

Loaded Questions 139

Rhetorical Devices III 141

Ridicule/Sarcasm 141

Hyperbole 141

Rhetorical Devices IV 142

Rhetorical Definitions and Rhetorical Explanations 142

Rhetorical Analogies and Misleading Comparisons 143

Proof Surrogates and Repetition 147

Proof Surrogates 147

Repetition 148

Persuasion Through Visual Imagery 150

The Extreme Rhetoric of Demagoguery 152

Recap 155

Additional Exercises 156

Relevance (Red Herring) Fallacies 173

Argumentum Ad Hominem 174

Poisoning the Well 175

Guilt by Association 175

Genetic Fallacy 175

Straw Man 176

False Dilemma (Ignoring Other Alternatives) 177

The Perfectionist Fallacy 178

The Line-Drawing Fallacy 178

Misplacing the Burden of Proof 179

Begging the Question (Assuming What You are Trying to Prove) 181

Appeal To Emotion 182

Argument from Outrage 182

Scare Tactics 182

Appeal to Pity 184

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Page x

Other Appeals to Emotion 184

Irrelevant Conclusion 186

Recap 188

Exercises 188

Induction Fallacies 195

Generalizations 195

Generalizing from Too Few Cases (Hasty Generalization) 196

Generalizing from Exceptional Cases 198

Accident 199

Weak Analogy 200

Mistaken Appeal to Authority 202

Mistaken Appeal to Popularity (Mistaken Appeal to Common Belief) 202

Mistaken Appeal to Common Practice 203

Bandwagon Fallacy 203

Fallacies Related to Cause and Effect 205

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc 205

Cum Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc 209

Slippery Slope 211

Untestable Explanation 212

Line-Drawing Again 212

Recap 213

Exercises 213

Formal Fallacies and Fallacies of Language 220

Three Formal Fallacies: Affirming the Consequent, Denying the Antecedent,

and Undistributed Middle 220

Affirming the Consequent 220

Denying the Antecedent 221

The Undistributed Middle 222

The Fallacies of Equivocation and Amphiboly 224

The Fallacies of Composition and Division 225

Confusing Explanations with Excuses 227

Chapter 9

Page xi

Confusing Contraries and Contradictories 229

Consistency and Inconsistency 230

Miscalculating Probabilities 231

Incorrectly Combining the Probability of Independent Events 231

Gamblers Fallacy 232

Overlooking Prior Probabilities 233

Faulty Inductive Conversion 233

Recap 235

Additional Exercises 236

Deductive Arguments I: Categorical Logic 242

Categorical Claims 244

Venn Diagrams 245

Translation into Standard Form (Introduction) 246

Translating Claims in Which the Word Only or the Phrase The

Only Occurs 246

Translating Claims About Times and Places 247

Translating Claims About Specific Individuals 249

Translating Claims that Use Mass Nouns 250

The Square of Opposition 252

Existential Assumption and the Square of Opposition 252

Inferences Across the Square 253

Three Categorical Relations 254

Conversion 254

Obversion 254

Contraposition 255

Categorical Syllogisms 262

The Venn Diagram Method of Testing for Validity 264

Existential Assumption in Categorical Syllogisms 267

Categorical Syllogisms with Unstated Premises 267

Real-Life Syllogisms 268

The Rules Method of Testing for Validity 272

Recap 274

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Page xii

Additional Exercises 274

Deductive Arguments II: Truth-Functional Logic

284

Truth Tables and Logical Symbols 285

Claim Variables 285

Truth Tables 285

Symbolizing Compound Claims 291

If and Only If 292

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions 294

Unless 295

Either . . . Or 295

Truth-Functional Argument Patterns (Brief Version) 298

Three Common Valid Argument Patterns 298

Three Mistakes: Invalid Argument Forms 302

Truth-Functional Arguments (Full Version) 305

The Truth-Table Method 305

The Short Truth-Table Method 308

Deductions 313

Group I Rules: Elementary Valid Argument Patterns 314

Group II Rules: Truth-Functional Equivalences 319

Conditional Proof 327

Recap 330

Additional Exercises 330

Inductive Reasoning 338

Argument from Analogy 338

Evaluation of Arguments from Analogy 339

Three Arguments from Analogy 341

Other Uses of Analogy 342

Generalizing from a Sample 347

Evaluation of Arguments That Generalize from a Sample 348

Three Arguments That Generalize from a Sample 349

Chapter 12

Page xiii

Scientific Generalizing from a Sample 350

The Statistical Syllogism 351

Causal Statements And Their Support 359

Forming Causal Hypotheses 359

Weighing Evidence 361

Confirming Causal Hypotheses 372

Calculating Statistical Probabilities 377

Joint Occurrence of Independent Events 377

Alternative Occurrences 377

Expectation Value 378

Calculating Conditional Probabilities 379

Causation in the Law 380

Recap 381

Additional Exercises 382

Moral, Legal, and Aesthetic Reasoning 390

Value Judgments 391

Moral Versus Nonmoral 392

Two Principles of Moral Reasoning 392

Moral Principles 394

Deriving Specific Moral Value Judgments 394

Major Perspectives in Moral Reasoning 397

Consequentialism 397

Duty Theory/Deontologism 398

Moral Relativism 400

Religious Relativism 402

Religious Absolutism 402

Virtue Ethics 402

Moral Deliberation 405

Legal Reasoning 410

Justifying Laws: Four Perspectives 411

Aesthetic Reasoning 414

Eight Aesthetic Principles 414

Using Aesthetic Principles to Judge Aesthetic Value 417

Evaluating Aesthetic Criticism: Relevance and Truth 419

Why Reason Aesthetically? 420

Recap 422

Additional Exercises 423

Appendix: Exercises from Previous Editions 426

Glossary 450

Answers, Suggestions, and Tips for Triangle Exercises 459

Credits 482

Index 483

Page xiv

Page xv

Page xvi

Critical Thinking . . . Skills for the
course. Skills for life.

More Engaging

Moore & Parker are known for fresh and lively writing. They rely on their own
classroom experience and on feedback from instructors in getting the correct
balance between explication and example.

Examples and exercises are drawn from todays headlines.
Students learn to apply critical thinking skills to situations in a wide variety of
areas: advertising, politics, the media, popular culture.
I love the sense of humor of the authors, the very clear and elegant way they

make critical thinking come alive with visuals, exercises and stories.
Gary John, Richland College

[Before reading this chapter] most students dont realize the extent of product

placement and other similar attempts at subtle manipulation.
Christian Blum, Bryant & Stratton, Buffalo

More Relevant

Moore & Parker spark student interest in skills that will serve them throughout
their lives, making the study of critical thinking a meaningful endeavor.

Boxes show students how critical thinking skills are relevant to their day-to-day
lives.
Striking visuals in every chapter show students how images affect our
judgment and shape our thinking.

The variety [in the exercises] was outstanding. [They] will provide ample
opportunity for the students to put into practice the various

logical principles being discussed.
Ray Darr, Southern Illinois University

Page xvii

More Student Success

Moore & Parker provide a path to student success, making students active
participants
in their own learning while teaching skills they can apply in all their courses.

Learning objectives link to chapter sections and in turn to print and online
activities, so that students can immediately assess their mastery of the
learning objective.

Exercises are dispersed throughout most chapters, so that they link tightly with
the concepts as they are presented.
Students have access to over 2,000 exercises that provide practice in applying
their skills.

Hands-on, practical, and one might say, even patient with the students
learning as it emphatically repeats concepts and slowly progresses them step by

step through the process.
Patricia Baldwin, Pitt Community College

There are a lot of exercises, which provides nice flexibility. The . . . mix of

relatively easy and more challenging pieces . . . is useful in providing some
flexibility for

working in class.
Dennis Weiss, York College of Pennsylvania

Page xviii

H

Changes to the 12th Edition

aving arrived at an even dozen editions, we still have our original goal
constantly in mind: helping teach students to think and reason critically and
make better decisions and making life a bit easier for instructors of critical

thinking courses. We invite both students and instructors to get in touch with us with
any ideas they have that might help us pursue these goals.

As usual, this edition updates names and events in examples and exercises in the
hope that they will be familiar to the current crop of students. As weve mentioned
before, what to many of us instructors are recent events are obscure history to many
new freshmen. Other changes are as follows.

CHAPTER-SPECIFIC CHANGES

Chapter 1 begins with a fuller accounting of what we take critical thinking to be. It
also goes into a bit more depth regarding cognitive biases that affect our thinking.
Chapter 2 contains a revised section on inference to the best explanation (IBE).
Chapter 3 is somewhat leaner, but still makes a wealth of points about the
important concepts of vagueness and generality and it contains a revised account of
several types of definitions.
Chapter 4 gets the usual updating here and there plus a new section on credibility
in social media.

Page xix

Chapter 5 gets updating, new photos, and a subsection on significant mention
under the innuendo heading.
Chapter 6 is left largely unchanged aside from some new examples and photos.
Chapter 7 is also much the same as the previous version, although fallacious
appeals have been changed to mistaken appeals; why use a word students have
trouble spelling when there is one they dont?
Chapter 8 was new in the previous edition. It gets updated this time around,
including a replacement of the section entitled Overlooking False Positives with
an easier to understand Faulty Inductive Conversion section.
Chapter 9 gets a bit of reformatting to make examples stand out more easily. Also,
existential assumption gets its own subsection so it will be more difficult to miss.

Chapter 10 now makes the electrical circuit box a bit less distracting
and adds a couple of new exercises to aid in learning to symbolize
claims. But the biggest change from the previous edition is the reinsertion of a
section that gives a briefer version of truth-functional arguments. This allows an
instructor (like Moore) to deal quickly with this subject or (like Parker) to deal with
it in much more detail by going on to the longer treatment that completes the
chapter.
Chapter 11 has the sections on analogies and generalizations fine-tuned, while the
section on causal hypotheses remains in its previous pristine form.
Chapter 12 has been left alone aside from a bit of updating of examples.

Vladimir Putin asks Hillary Clinton if she can get him a copy
of Moore/Parker.

Page xx

W
Acknowledgments

e, Moore and Parker, feel about this textbook the way people usually feel
about their children. It has been a wonderful thing to watch it grow up
through these (now) dozen editions, although it has caused us the occasional

pain in the backside along the way. Those painsoften in the form of criticism in
reviews and correspondence from adoptershave usually been growing pains,
however, and they have contributed to the improvement of the book. We are pretty
pleased with the book, as proud parents are wont to be, but we realize that there are
always thingssmaller and smaller things, we hopethat can be changed for the
better. We hope this edition incorporates changes of just that sort. Many of them are
listed below.

The online accompaniment to the text continues to expand and, we trust, become
more and more useful to adopters and their students. The preceding pages briefly
describe LearnSmart and Connect, the principal components of the online material.
These programs promise help for the student and an easier and more productive time
for the instructor. We hope you find they live up to this promise.

Having escaped from the mysterious clutches of Mark Georgiev, former KGB
operative and our editor a couple of editions ago, we have been blessed by guidance
this time around from the gentle hands of Penina Braffman, Brand Manager; Anthony
McHugh, Product Developer; Jane Mohr, Content Project Manager; as well as Erin
Guendelsberger, Reshmi Rajeesh, and the ansrsource team, Development Editors,
who encourage us even when we dont quite toe the McGraw-Hill line.

The guidance of the following reviewers of current and previous editions and
others who have written to us has been invaluable:

Keith Abney, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
James Anderson, San Diego State University
Benjamin Arah, Bowie State University
Sheldon Bachus
Patricia Baldwin, Pitt Community College
Monique Bindra
Tim Black, California State University, Northridge
Charles Blatz, University of Toledo

Page xxi

Christian Blum, Bryant & Stratton, Buffalo
K. D. Borcoman, Coastline College/CSUDH
Keith Brown, California State University, East Bay
Rosalie Brown
Lee Carter, Glendale Community College
Jennifer Caseldine-Bracht, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne
Lynne Chandler-Garcia, Pikes Peak Community College
David Connelly
Anne DArcy, California State University, Chico
Michelle Darnelle, Fayetteville State University
Ray Darr, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
William J. Devlin, Bridgewater State University
Paul Dickey, Metropolitan Community College
Sandra Dwyer, Georgia State University
Jeffrey Easlick, Saginaw Valley State University
Aaron Edlin, University of California, Berkeley
Dorothy Edlin
Noel Edlin
Ellery Eells, University of WisconsinMadison
Ben Eggleston, University of Kansas
Geoffrey B. Frasz, Community College of Southern Nevada
Josh Fulcher
Rory Goggins
Geoffrey Gorham, University of WisconsinEau Claire
Joseph Graves, North Carolina A&T University
Dabney Gray, Stillman College
Patricia Hammer, Delta College
Anthony Hanson, De Anza College
Rebecca Hendricks
Judith M. Hill, Saginaw Valley State University
Steven Hoeltzel, James Madison University
Steven R. Huizenga, Central Ohio Technical College
J. F. Humphrey, North Carolina A&T University
Amro Jayousi
Gary John, Richland College
Sunghyun Jung
Allyn Kahn, Champlain College
David Kelsey, Coastline Community College
David Keyt, University of Washington

Page xxii

Paulina Kohan
William Krieger, California State UniversityPomona
Michael LaBossiere, Florida A&M University
Sunita Lanka, Hartnell College
Bill Lawson
Marisha Lecea, Western Michigan University
Marion Ledwig, University of NevadaLas Vegas
Vern Lee, University of Phoenix
Terrance MacMullon, Eastern Washington University
Andrew Magrath, Kent State University
Alistair Moles, Sierra College
Ralph J. Moore, Jr.
Jeffry Norby, Northcentral Technical College
Eric Parkinson, Syracuse University
Steven Patterson, Marygrove College
Carmel Phelan, College of Southern Nevada
Jamie L. Phillips, Clarion University
Domenick Pinto, Sacred Heart University
Ayaz Pirani, Hartnell College
Ed Pluth, California State University, Chico
Scott Rappold, Our Lady of Holy Cross College
N. Mark Rauls, College of Southern Nevada
Victor Reppert, Glendale Community College
Matthew E. Roberts, Patrick Henry College
Greg Sadler, Fayetteville State University
Matt Schulte, Montgomery College
Richard Scott, Glendale Community College
Laurel Severino, Santa Fe Community College
Mehul Shah, Bergen Community College
Robert Shanab, University of Nevada at Las Vegas
Steven Silveria
Robert Skipper, St. Marys University
Aeon J. Skoble, Bridgewater State University
Taggart Smith, Purdue UniversityCalumet
Richard Sneed, University of Central Oklahoma
Alan Soble, Drexel University
Chris Soutter
James Stump, Bethel College
Lou Suarez

Susan Vineberg, Wayne State University
Michael Ventimiglia, Sacred Heart University
Helmut Wautischer, Sonoma State University
Dennis Weiss, York College of Pennsylvania
Linda L. Williams, Kent State University
Amy Goodman Wilson, Webster University
Christine Wolf
Wayne Yuen, Ohlone College
Marie G. Zaccaria, Georgia Perimeter College

Over the years, our Chico State colleague Anne Morrissey has given us more
usable material than anybody else. Shes also given us more unusable material, but
never mind. Weve also had fine suggestions and examples from Curtis Peldo of Chico
State and Butte College; Dan Barnett, also of Butte College, has helped in many ways
over the years.

We thank colleagues at Chico State, who are ever ready with a suggestion, idea, or
constructive criticism; in particular, Marcel Daguerre, Randy Larsen, Becky White,
Wai-hung Wong, Zanja Yudell, and Greg Tropea, whose death in 2010 left us saddened
beyond words. Greg was a dear friend whose deep wisdom and quiet insight
contributed significantly to our thinking over the course of many years. We are also
grateful to Bangs Tapscott, Linda Kaye Bomstad, Ann Bykerk-Kauffman, Sue
Patterson, and Jeffrey Ridenour for contributions both archival and recent.

Last, and especially, we give thanks to two people who put up with us with
patience, encouragement, and grace, Leah Blum and Marianne Moore.

Page xxiii

N
A Note to Our Colleagues

o surprise, reading a book (or taking a course) in critical thinking wont make
anyone a genius. It wont tell you who to vote for or whether to believe in God
or whether to contribute to the Humane Society, But it can, we hope, help

students tell whether a given reason for doing or not doing one of those things is a
good reason. It can help them spot irrelevancies in a discussion, emotional appeals,
empty rhetoric, and bogus argument. Other courses can do these things too, of course.
But speaking generally, other courses are probably not focused so intensely on those
things.

There are differences about how best to go about teaching critical thinking. One of
us, Parker likes to emphasize formal logic. Moore, not quite so much. One thing Moore
and Parker both agree on, and possibly so do many instructors, is that drill and
practice are essential to improving students critical thinking ability. And one thing we
have found is that technology can be helpful in this regard. The personalized digital
reading experience of this text (called SmartBook) questions students as they read,
and the credit they get depends on the proportion of the questions they answer
correctly. (We instructors can also see how long they spent on a reading assignment.)
Additionally, Connect, McGraw-Hills assignment and assessment platform through
which SmartBook is accessed, gives us the means to put a whole lot of exercises online.
And these two things enable us to do even more drilling in class.

If you dont use Connect or LearnSmart, this text contains hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds of exercises of the sort (we think) that can be applied directly
to the world at large. And they are all answered in the Instructors Manual. The
explanatory material found in the text is (we hope) both concise and fairly readable for
even first-year university students.

If you use this text or the online peripherals, we would appreciate hearing from
you. We both can be contacted through McGraw-Hill Education, or via the philosophy
department at Chico State.

Page xxiv

B
About the Authors

rooke Moore and Richard Parker have taught philosophy at California State
University, Chico, for almost as long as they can remember. Moore has been
that universitys Outstanding Professor, and both he and Parker have received

top academic honors on their campus. Moore has seen several terms as department
chair, and Parker has served as chair of the academic senate and dean of
undergraduate education.

Moore has a bachelors degree in music from Antioch College and a PhD in
philosophy from the University of Cincinnati; Parker did his undergraduate degree at
the University of Arkansas and his PhD at the University of Washington, both in
philosophy.

Moore has finally given up being the worlds most serious amateur volleyball
player. He and Marianne share their house and life with Sparky, as cute a pup as youll
ever see. He has never sold an automobile.

Parker gets around in a 1962 MG or on a Harley softail. He plays golf for fun,
shoots pool for money, and plays guitar for a semiprofessional flamenco troupe. He
lives with Djobi, a hundred-pound Doberman.

Moore and Parker have remained steadfast friends through it all. They are never
mistaken for one another.

Page xxv

To: Sherry and Bill; and Sydney, Darby,
Alexander and Levi Peyton Elizabeth, and Griffin
From Richard From Brooke

Page xxvi

This is not entirely a work of nonfiction.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

A

Page 1

1
Dont Believe Everything You
Think

Students will learn to . . .

Define critical thinking
Explain the role of beliefs and claims in critical thinking
Identify issues in real-world situations
Recognize an argument
Define and identify the common cognitive biases that affect critical
thinking
Understand the terms truth and knowledge as used in this book

little before noon on December 14, 2015, a man wearing a black stocking
cap, black gloves, and a green sweat shirt with a four-leaf clover and the
words Get Lucky printed on the front entered the Sterling State Bank in

Rochester, Minnesota.* He demanded cash and gave the teller a note saying he
was armed. Police officers arrived and followed the mans tracks in the snow to
the parking lot of a Comfort Inn nearby, but by then the man had driven off in a
car.

The next day, a reporter from KIMT-TV had set up in front of the bank to

Page 2

update the story, and right then and there the same man tried to rob the same
bank again. When the teller saw the man he yelled out, Thats the robber! and
the reporter called the police. This time when the police followed the suspects
footprints they spotted his vehicle and apprehended him.

Now, educators will disagree about what exactly critical thinking is, but there
will be no disputing that, whatever it is, Get Lucky wasnt doing it. First of all,
robbing banks isnt necessarily the best way to make a living. But if you insist on
robbing a bank, then probably you dont want to leave footprints to your car, and
probably you dont want to try to rob the bank when a TV crew is filming it. Among
other things, critical thinking involves considering the possible outcomes of an
action.

Among what other things? Speaking generally, if we just think or do stuff,
thats not thinking critically. Critical thinking kicks in when we evaluate
beliefs and actionswhen we critique them. On the one hand, there is good, old-
fashioned thinking. Thats what we do when we form opinions, make judgments, arrive
at decisions, develop plans, come to conclusions, offer hypotheses, and the like. On the
other hand, there is critical thinking. Thats what we do when we rationally evaluate
the first kind of thinking. Critical thinking is thinking that critiques. It involves
critiquing opinions, judgments, decisions, plans, conclusions, and reasoning in
general. We engage in it when we consider whether our thinking (or someone elses)
abides by the criteria of good sense and logic.

If you are taking other courses, chances are your instructor will think critically
about the work you turn in. He or she will offer critical commentary on what you
submit. If you want to think critically, you have to do this yourself to your own work.
Try to leave your instructor with nothing to say except, Good job!

It can be the same in the workplace or in the military. You might perhaps be asked
to solve a problem or troubleshoot a situation or come up with a recommendation, or
any number of other things that involve arriving at conclusions. Your colleagues or
friends or supervisors may give you feedback or commentary. They are thinking
critically about your reasoning.

Of course, if you are so brilliant that you never err in your thinking, then you may
not need feedback from others. Unfortunately, there is evidence that people who think
they are experts are more likely to believe they know things they dont really know.*
Anyway, almost everyone makes mistakes. We overlook important considerations,
ignore viewpoints that conflict with our own, or in other ways dont think as clearly as
we might. Most of us benefit from a little critical commentary, and this includes
commentary that comes from ourselves. The chances of reaching defensible
conclusions improve if we dont simply conclude willy-nilly, but reflect on our

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reasoning and try to make certain it is sound.
Being able to think critically can be useful in another way. Others try to influence

what we think and do. There is much to be said for being able to critically evaluate a
sales pitch, whether it comes from a stranger or a friend, or is about kitchen gadgets or
for whom to vote for president. Critical thinking helps us recognize a scam when we
see it.

Some educators equate critical thinking with problem solving or innovative
thinking (thinking outside the box). This is fine, though at a certain point proposed
solutions and possible innovations have to be tested. Thats where critical thinking
comes in.

This is a book in critical thinking because it offers guidance about critiquing
thinking. The book and the course you are using it in, if you are, explain the minimum
criteria

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