Reasoning Errors 224 I Know What I Think—Don’T Confuse Me with Facts
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
SIXTH EDITION Becoming a Critical Thinker A User-Friendly Manual Sherry Diestler Contra Costa College Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo In loving memory of Anne and Al Goldstein. And for John, Zachary, Nicole, Semaje, Stuart, Jenna, Laura, and Amy, may we continue their legacy of discernment and compassion. Editorial Director: Craig Campanella Operations Specialist: Christina Amato Editor in Chief: Dickson Musslewhite Art Director: Anne Bonanno Nieglos Executive Editor: Ashley Dodge Interior and Cover Designer: Ximena Tamvakopoulos Project Manager, Editorial: Kate Fernandes Cover Image: © Michael Krabs/imagebroker/Alamy Development Editor: Maggie Barbieri Director, Digital Media: Brian Hylan Director of Marketing: Brandy Dawson Digital Media Editor: Rachel Comerford Senior Marketing Manager: Laura Lee Manley Full-Service Project Management and Composition: Director of Production: Lisa Larkowski Douglas Bell, PreMediaGlobal Managing Editor: Maureen Richardson Printer/Binder: R.R. Donnelley & Sons Project Manager, Production: Shelly Kupperman Cover Printer: Lehigh/Phoenix Senior Operations Supervisor: Mary Fischer Text Font: Sabon 10/12 Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on pages 483–484. Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2005, 2001, 1998, 1994 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Education, 75 Arlington Street, Suite 300, Boston, MA 02116 or Pearson Education, 1 Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights re- served. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Higher Education, Rights and Contracts Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458, or fax your request to 201-236-3290. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Diestler, Sherry. Becoming a critical thinker : a user friendly manual / Sherry Diestler.—6th ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-205-06345-1 1. Critical thinking—Textbooks. I. Title. B809.2.D54 2012 370.15’2—dc23 2011021583 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Student Edition ISBN-10: 0-205-06345-4 ISBN-13: 978-0-205-06345-1 Instructor’s Review Copy ISBN-10: 0-205-06363-2 ISBN-13: 978-0-205-06363-5 Books a la Carte ISBN-10: 0-205-06389-6 ISBN-13: 978-0-205-06389-5 Brief Contents Preface xiii 1 Foundations of Arguments 2 Who Is a Critical Thinker, and When Do You Need to Be One? 2 Values and Ethics 36 What Price Ethics, and Can You Afford Not to Pay? 3 Reality Assumptions 74 It’s Eleven O’Clock. Do You Know Where Your Assumptions Are? 4 Inductive Arguments: Statistical and Causal Generalizations 120 Prove It to Me—What Are the Statistics? 5 Inductive Generalizations: Controlled Studies and Analogies 170 Who Said So, and Who Are They Anyway? 6 Reasoning Errors 224 I Know What I Think—Don’t Confuse Me with Facts. 7 The Power of Language 274 What’s in a Name? 8 Suggestion in Media 320 Is What You See What You Get? Do You Really Want It? 9 Fair-Mindedness 400 It’s You and Me, Kid, and I’m Not So Sure About You. 10 Persuasive Speaking 442 What’s Your Point? How Do You Sharpen It? Credits 483 Index 485 iii This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface xiii 1 Foundations of Arguments 2 Who Is a Critical Thinker, and When Do You Need to Be One? The Structure of Argument 4 The Issue 5 The Conclusion 8 The Reasons 9 A Decision-Making Method 12 Individual or Class Exercise: Making a Decision 15 Humor as Argument 15 Chapter Review 16 Summary 16 Checkup 16 Exercises 17 “Educational Ticket” 19 “War on Drugs Fails: We Need New Approach” 19 “Drugged Driving” 19 Articles for Discussion 21 “16-Year-Old Sailor Was Already Off Course” 21 “LeBron James’ Decision a Cruel Blow to His Hometown” 25 “Roundup: NBA Team Owner Backs LeBron James’ Decision” 27 “Onstage and Backstage: Two Jobs. One Actor. What Do You Choose?” 28 “Talk-Show Host Angers Disabled Community” 29 “Radio Show on Rights of Disabled Defended” 30 Ideas for Writing or Speaking 31 “The Road Not Taken” 33 Films for Analysis and Discussion 33 Similar Films and Classics 34 2 Values and Ethics 36 What Price Ethics, and Can You Afford Not to Pay? “Question Man: Fictional Character You Admire Most?” 38 Value Assumptions and Confl icts 39 “Motivation: About This Billboard” 39 Class Exercise 42 Decision Making: Choosing a Job That Refl ects Your Values and Enhances Your Life 42 “Changing Jobs Takes Guts, Yields Good Life” 43 Ethics––An Important Dimension of Values 44 Ideal Values versus Real Values 47 Ethics in Argumentation 49 Ethical Decision Making 50 “Common Rationalizations: Ethics in Action” 51 v vi Contents Toulmin’s Model: A Method for Discovering Assumptions 53 Backing (Support for the Warrant) 54 Chapter Review 55 Summary 55 Checkup 56 Exercises 56 “Salvation Army Turns Down $100,000 Donation” 60 Articles for Discussion 60 “You Make the Call: Is It Good Baseball Strategy or a Weak Attempt to Win?” 61 “Staffer Gets Subpoenaed” 63 “National Public Radio” 64 “Schools’ Peanut Bans Spark Backlash” 66 “Texas College Admissions Law Under Fire: Kids in Top 10% Get in Automatically” 68 Ideas for Writing or Speaking 70 Films for Analysis and Discussion 72 Similar Films and Classics 73 3 Reality Assumptions 74 It’s Eleven O’Clock. Do You Know Where Your Assumptions Are? Reality Assumptions 75 Detecting Reality Assumptions 77 “Extinct Fox Not Extinct, Found in California” 80 The Importance of Examining Assumptions 83 “Myths and Facts About Suicide” 84 “Himalayan Glaciers Melting Deadline ‘a Mistake’” 86 Class Exercise 87 What Are the Assumptions? 87 Deductive Reasoning 88 Validity in Deductive Arguments 89 Using Toulmin’s Method to Understand Deduction 93 The Uses of Deductive Reasoning 95 Deductive Reasoning Helps Us Discover Reality Assumptions and Test Our Logic 96 Using Deductive Reasoning to Discover Truth and to Make Decisions 97 Class Exercise 101 Using Deductive Reasoning to Combat Prejudice and Stereotyping 101 Using Deduction to Understand Argument and to Argue Constructively 103 Chapter Review 105 Summary 105 Checkup 105 Exercises 106 Articles for Discussion 108 “Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits” 108 “Can Blacks Be Racist?” 111 “Wasted Food, Discovered Souls” 113 “Bearer of Bad News” 115 Ideas for Writing or Speaking 116 Films for Analysis and Discussion 117 Similar Films and Classics 118 Television Shows for Analysis and Discussion 118 Contents vii 4 Inductive Arguments: Statistical and Causal Generalizations 120 Prove It to Me—What Are the Statistics? Inductive Reasoning 121 Statistical Evidence 125 The Many Uses of Statistics 125 “LeBron’s Q Score Takes Huge Hit” 126 “Healthy Work Environments Give Companies a Competitive Edge” 128 How the Research Is Done 132 The Sample Must Be Large Enough 133 The Sample Must Represent the Target Audience 134 The Sample Must Be Random 135 Checklist for Polls and Statistical Studies 135 Questions to Ask About Statistical Reports 136 Using Surveys as Evidence 138 Statistical Generalizations 139 Class Exercise 140 “At a Lecture—Only 12 Percent Listen” 140 The Reporting of Statistical Studies: Truths, Half-Truths, and Distortions 141 Causal Generalizations 142 “Ann Landers” 142 Hume’s Conditions for Cause and Effect 148 Technical Causation 149 Multiple Causes 149 Immediate Causes 151 Mill’s Analysis of Cause and Effect 152 Method of Agreement 152 Method of Difference 153 Using Difference and Similarity Together to Determine Cause 154 Chapter Review 155 Summary 155 Checkup 156 Exercises 156 “What Are the Risk Factors for Breast Cancer?” 157 “Multiple Causes of Suicide” 157 “Self-Segregation: Students Stick with Same-Race Groups” 157 “Why Do People Start to Smoke?” 158 Articles for Discussion 160 “The Meth Epidemic” 160 “Understanding Facebook Addiction: Why Is Social Networking So Addictive? How Did We Get Addicted? 162 “ISU Researcher Studies Consequences of ‘Hooking Up’: Study Focuses on Risk Behavior” 164 “Drugs, Gangs on the Rise in Schools: Survey Shows Increase in Gang Activity and Drug Use in Nation’s Schools” 165 Ideas for Writing or Speaking 167 Longer-Term Writing Assignment 168 Films for Analysis and Discussion 169 Similar Films and Classics 169 viii Contents 5 Inductive Generalizations: Controlled Studies and Analogies 170 Who Said So, and Who Are They Anyway? Research Design 172 Criteria for Evaluating Research Findings 173 Controversy in Research Findings 181 “New Analysis Reasserts Video Games’ Link to Violence” 182 “Study Says Cell Phones Cause Brain Tumors–Are You Safe?” 182 “Sickening Experiment on Human Subjects” 185 Checklist for Making, Evaluating, Repairing, and Refuting Arguments 187 Class Exercise 189 Defending and Refuting Arguments 189 Use of Authority: Expert Testimony 189 “An Opinion with Substance” 191 “Can Math and Science Help Solve Crimes? Researchers Try to Predict and Prevent Crime Using Sophisticated Mathematical Models” 192 Problems with Expert Testimony 193 Reasoning by Analogy 201 Chapter Review 204 Summary 204 Checkup 204 Exercises 205 Articles for Discussion 211 “Food News Blues” 211 “$27 Million to Change NYC Signs from All-Caps”