Editorial Reviews:
Synopsis
The purpose of critical thinking, according to this text, is rethinking: that is, reviewing, evaluating, and revising thought. The approach of the book is pragmatic and pluralistic: truth is viewed in terms of public confirmation and consensus, rather than with regard to naive realism, relativism, or popular opinion. The value of empathy and legitimacy of diverse points of view are stressed. Nevertheless, it is necessary to use specific linguistic, logical, and evidential standards in order to evaluate thought. The primary elements of critical thinking are: proper definition, paraphrasing, reconstruction, empathy, analysis of arguments, evaluation of reasoning, brainstorming, imagination, problem solving. The opening chapters of the text provide a thorough discussion of linguistic standards of meaning. A detailed examination of logical inference and informal fallacies follows. The final chapters of the book cover standards of evidence and problem solving.
