Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, 8th Edition

Preface

 

1      The Benefit of Asking the Right Questions  

Introduction  

Critical Thinking to the Rescue  

The Sponge and Panning for Gold: Alternative Thinking Styles  

An Example of the Panning-for-Gold Approach  

Panning for Gold: Asking Critical Questions  

The Myth of the “Right Answer”  

Thinking and Feeling  

The Purpose of Asking the Question, “Who Cares?”  

Weak-Sense and Strong-Sense Critical Thinking  

The Satisfaction of Using the Panning-for-Gold Approach  

Trying Out New Answers  

Effective Communication and Critical Thinking  

The Importance of Practice  

The Right Questions 

 

2      What Are the Issue and the Conclusion?  

Kinds of Issues  

Searching for the Issue  

Searching for the Author’s or Speaker’s Conclusion  

Clues to Discovery: How to Find the Conclusion  

Critical Thinking and Your Own Writing and Speaking  

Practice Exercises  

 

3      What Are the Reasons?  

Reasons + Conclusion = Argument  

Initiating the Questioning Process  

Words That Identify Reasons  

Kinds of Reasons  

Keeping the Reasons and Conclusions Straight  

Reasons First, Then Conclusions  

“Fresh” Reasons and Your Growth  

Critical Thinking and Your Own Writing and Speaking  

Practice Exercises  

 

4      What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?  

The Confusing Flexibility of Words  

Locating Key Terms and Phrases  

Checking for Ambiguity  

Determining Ambiguity  

Context and Ambiguity  

Ambiguity, Definitions, and the Dictionary  

Ambiguity and Loaded Language  

Limits of Your Responsibility to Clarify Ambiguity  

Ambiguity and Your Own Writing and Speaking  

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

5      What Are the Value Conflicts and Assumptions?  

General Guide for Identifying Assumptions  

Value Conflicts and Assumptions  

Discovering Values  

From Values to Value Assumptions  

Typical Value Conflicts  

The Communicator’s Background as a Clue to Value Assumptions  

Consequences as Clues to Value Assumptions  

More Hints for Finding Value Assumptions  

Avoiding a Typical Difficulty When Identifying Value Assumptions  

Finding Value Assumptions on Your Own  

Values and Relativism  

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

6      What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?  

Illustrating Descriptive Assumptions  

Clues for Locating Assumptions  

Applying the Clues  

Avoiding Analysis of Trivial Assumptions  

Assumptions and Your Own Writing and Speaking  

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

7      Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?  

A Questioning Approach to Finding Reasoning Fallacies  

Evaluating Assumptions as a Starting Point  

Discovering Other Common Reasoning Fallacies  

Looking for Diversions  

Sleight of Hand: Begging the Question  

Summary of Reasoning Errors  

Expanding Your Knowledge of Fallacies  

Fallacies and Your Own Writing and Speaking  

Practice Exercises  

 

        8        How Good Is the Evidence: Intuition, Personal Experience, Testimonials, and Appeals to Authority?  

The Need for Evidence  

Locating Factual Claims  

Sources of Evidence  

Intuition as Evidence  

Dangers of Appealing to Personal Experience as Evidence  

Personal Testimonials as Evidence  

Appeals to Authority as Evidence  

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

9      How Good Is the Evidence: Personal Observation, Research Studies, Case Examples, and Analogies?  

Personal Observation  

Research Studies as Evidence  

Generalizing from the Research Sample  

Biased Surveys and Questionnaires  

Critical Evaluation of a Research-Based Argument  

Case Examples as Evidence  

Analogies as Evidence  

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

10    Are There Rival Causes?  

When to Look for Rival Causes  

The Pervasiveness of Rival Causes  

Detecting Rival Causes  

The Cause or A Cause  

Rival Causes and Scientific Research  

Rival Causes for Differences Between Groups  

Confusing Causation with Association  

Confusing “After this” with “Because of this”  

Explaining Individual Events or Acts  

Evaluating Rival Causes  

Evidence and Your Own Writing and Speaking  

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

11    Are the Statistics Deceptive?  

Unknowable and Biased Statistics  

Confusing Averages  

Concluding One Thing, Proving Another  

Deceiving by Omitting Information  

Risk Statistics and Omitted Information  

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

12    What Significant Information Is Omitted?  

The Benefits of Detecting Omitted Information  

The Certainty of Incomplete Reasoning  

Questions That Identify Omitted Information  

The Importance of the Negative View  

Omitted Information That Remains Missing  

Missing Information and Your Own Writing and Speaking  

Practice Exercises  

 

13    What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?  

Assumptions and Multiple Conclusions  

Dichotomous Thinking: Impediment to Considering Multiple Conclusions  

Two Sides or Many?  

Searching for Multiple Conclusions  

Productivity of If-Clauses  

Alternative Solutions as Conclusions  

The Liberating Effect of Recognizing Alternative Conclusions  

All Conclusions Are Not Created Equal

Summary  

Practice Exercises  

 

14    Practice and Review  

Question Checklist for Critical Thinking  

Asking the Right Questions: A Comprehensive Example  

What Are the Issue and Conclusion?  

What Are the Reasons?  

What Words or Phrases Are Ambiguous?  

What Are the Value Conflicts and Assumptions?  

What Are the Descriptive Assumptions?  

Are There Any Fallacies in the Reasoning?  

How Good Is the Evidence?  

Are There Rival Causes?  

Are the Statistics Deceptive?  

What Significant Information Is Omitted?  

What Reasonable Conclusions Are Possible?  

 

Final Word  

The Tone of Your Critical Thinking  

Strategies for Effective Critical Thinking  

 

Index