Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Critical Thinkingis a much-needed guide to thinking skills and above all to thinking critically for oneself. Through clear discussion, students learn the skills required to tell a good argument from a bad one.
Key features include:
*jargon-free discussion of key concepts in argumentation
*how to avoid confusions surrounding words such as 'truth', 'knowledge' and 'opinion'
*how to identify and evaluate the most common types of argument
*how to spot fallacies in arguments and tell good reasoning from bad
*topical examples from politics, sport, medicine, music
*chapter summaries, glossary and exercises
Critical Thinkingis essential reading for anyone, student or professional, seeking to improve their reasoning and arguing skills.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface to the first edition (p. vii)
• Preface to the second edition (p. ix)
• Introduction and preview (p. x)
• Chapter 1 Why should we become critical thinkers? (p. 1)
• Beginning to think critically
• Aspects of meaning
• Standard form
• Identifying conclusions and premises
• Arguments and explanations
• Intermediate conclusions
• Linguistic phenomena
• Chapter 2 Logic: deductive validity (p. 43)
• The principle of charity
• Truth
• Deductive validity
• Conditional propositions
• Deductive soundness
• The connection to formal logic
• Argument trees
• Chapter 3 Logic: inductive force (p. 80)
• Inductive force
• 'All', 'most' and 'some'
• Soft generalisations
• Inductive soundness
• Probability in the premises
• Arguments with multiple probabilistic premises
• Inductive force in extended arguments
• Conditional probability in the conclusion
• Evidence
• Inductive inferences
• A programme for assessment
• Chapter 4 Rhetorical ploys and fallacies (p. 113)
• Rhetorical ploys
• Fallacies
• Further fallacies
• Chapter 5 The practice of argument-reconstruction (p. 168)
• Extraneous material
• Defusing the rhetoric
• Logical streamlining
• Implicit and explicit
• Connecting premises
• Covering generalisations
• Relevance
• Ambiguity and vagueness
• More on generalisations
• Practical reasoning
• Balancing costs, benefits and probabilities
• Explanations as conclusions
• Causal generalisations
• A shortcut
• Chapter 6 Issues in argument assessment (p. 226)
• Rational persuasiveness
• Some strategies for logical assessment
• Refutation by counterexample
• Avoiding the 'who is to say?' criticism
• Don't merely label the position
• Argument commentary
• A complete example
• Commentary on the commentary
• Chapter 7 Truth, knowledge and belief (p. 261)
• Truth and relativity
• True for me, true for you
• Truth, value and morality
• Belief, justification and truth
• Justification without arguments
• Knowledge
• Justification failure
• Knowledge and rational persuasiveness