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Critical Thinking
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Critical Thinking
A computer-assisted introduction to critical thinking, informal logic, and logic.
Critical Thinking includes:
- Critical Thinking [etext]
- Critical Thinking Software [practice and exam modes]
- Self-Defense: A Student Guide to Writing Position Papers [etext]
NEW VERSION 3.0
LOADED WITH GREAT NEW FEATURES:
-- Highlight and post notes in the etexts
-- Instant drag and drop installation for both PCs and Macs
-- Additional exercises in the CT Software, now totaling over 3600
-- Email capabilities for practice and exam scores
-- Over a dozen in-class exercise worksheets for homework or discussion
-- Excel Progress Log to record due dates and exam scores
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The Critical Thinking etext, CT Software, and the Self-Defense writing guide etext are all included on a single CD, in dual-platform format for Windows and Macs. Texts are also available in paperback.
Critical Thinking CD version
ISBN 0-9712355-1-1
Critical Thinking CD with texts also in paperback
ISBN 0-9712355-0-3
Self-Defense: A Student Guide to Writing Position Papers
[when purchased separately]
ISBN 0-9712355-2-X
FOR LATEST PRICES: Please click the FAQs About Critical Thinking link below.
TO ORDER OR REQUEST AN EXAM COPY: Please click the FAQs About Critical Thinking link below.
kpossin@winona.edu
507.452.0537
The Critical Thinking Lab
24847 County 17
Winona, MN 55987
USA
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SPECIAL OFFER TO UNIVERSITIES AFFECTED BY HURRICANES KATRINE AND RITA:
We are making all our overstock of the Critical Thinking CD Version 2.0 available for course adoption FREE OF CHARGE. Quantities are limited and instructors must contact us directly, to coordinate the distribution of CDs to the students. We'd love to help, so please email us at kpossin@winona.edu.
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What do reviewers say about CT?
"Critical Thinking is the best intro to logic software around. I think the exercises are wonderful...so good, so deep,...and the course as a whole looks great." -- Patrick Grim, The Group for Logic & Formal Semantics, SUNY at Stony Brook
"The materials are superb--you deserve five stars for both the texts and the CD." -- Jefferson White, University of Maine
"Kevin Possin (Winona State University) has developed a program for students in critical thinking courses with an aim of giving them as much assisted practice as they need to master informal logic skills.... Having sampled the program, I say that this project should be...put into the hands of as many...undergraduate students as possible. Developing and maintaining critical thinking skills is essential to our national health. Dr. Possin has produced a means to that end." -- Jon Dorbolo (Ed.), APA Newsletter: Philosophy and Computers, Fall 2003, Vol. 03, #1
What's covered in CT?
- Argument identification
- Anatomy of an argument
- Cogency conditions
- Use and abuse of definitions
- Use and abuse of language
- Informal fallacies
- Categorical logic
- Propositional logic
- How to critically assess and write a position paper
What's special about the CT Software?
- Real life exercises
- Easy to use
- Over 3,600 exercises
- Attractive interface
- Immediate feedback for students
- No grading for instructors
- Reliability
- For Windows and Mac
- No need to be online
- Email capabilities
How can I use the CT Software?
- Self-paced practice exercises
- Homework assignments
- Proof of competencies
- Practice exams
- Unit exams
- Cumulative final exams
- CT is completely scalable
What teaching/learning style can I use with the CT Software?
ANY:
- Traditional classroom format
- Computer-assisted homework
- Computer-assisted exams
- Completely computer-assisted courses
- Work to competency
- Independent study
- Distance learning
What's special about the CT etexts?
- Conversational style
- Lots of humor
- Students enjoy its informality
- Lots of examples
- Hands-on directions
- No need to be online
- No extra reader to purchase
- Able to highlight and insert notes
- They're fun
PLEASE VISIT THE REST OF OUR SITE BY CLICKING THE LINKS BELOW.
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TEST YOUR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Take the DIAGNOSTIC QUIZ
Answers are listed at the bottom of this page, after the POP QUIZ. Don't Peek!
1. If capital punishment deterred murders, it would be justified. But since it does not deter such crimes, does it follow that it isn't justified? Yes _____ No _____
2. Suppose it is true that if Clyde studies philosophy tonight, he will flunk his math test tomorrow, and if he studies math instead, he will flunk his philosophy exam. Suppose it is also true that he cannot study for both exams (not enough time). Does it follow that Clyde is going to flunk at least one of his exams tomorrow? Yes _____ No _____
3. My spoon is dry, and my spoon would be wet if I had stirred my coffee. And I would not have stirred my coffee unless I had put sugar in it. So, I must not have sugared my coffee, right? Yes _____ No _____
4. In order for an argument to be cogent, its premises must be true. Yes _____ No _____
5. Police: Sorry, but only people with a special ZZ permit can park here. Driver: Well, since I have a ZZ permit, that means I can park here. Is the driver in the right? Yes _____ No _____
6. If someone's argument begs the question, it still remains a valid argument. Yes _____ No _____
7. Mary says she won't sleep with Clyde unless they are married. Clyde agrees to get married. But, on their honeymoon, Mary still refuses to sleep with Clyde. Did Mary break her promise? Yes _____ No _____
8. Lincoln's famous quotation, "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time," is a cogent argument. Yes _____ No _____
9. As we all know, spheres cast curved shadows, and the Earth casts a curved shadow on the moon during lunar eclipses. Does this prove that the Earth is spherical? Yes _____ No _____
10. The president of IBM certainly has influence. Yet, he was unable to enroll his daughter at Whatsamatta University. Therefore, it is false, as some people have been suggesting, that only persons with influence can get their children enrolled at Whatsamatta U. Yes _____ No _____
11. If the truth of statement A implies the falsity of statement B, then the falsity of A implies the truth of B. Yes _____ No _____
12. Life is meaningless if there is no God. But life is not meaningless. This entails that there must be a God. Yes _____ No _____
13. If it is true that on a clear day you can see across the Mississippi River (to the other side), does it follow that if one can see across the Mississippi River it is a clear day? Yes _____ No _____
14. Suppose George knows that Susan stole the money. He wants to protect her, though. And so, when the police come to question him, the conversation goes as follows:
Police: Do you know who stole the money?
George: Well, I'm not absolutely sure it was Blackie, but I know it was either he or Susan.
Did George lie to the police? Yes _____ No _____
15. The difference between deductive arguments and inductive arguments is that deductive arguments go from general premises to specific conclusions, whereas inductive arguments go from specific premises to general conclusions. Yes _____No _____
16. The famous argument "All men are mortal, and Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal," is a syllogism. Yes _____ No _____
17. Slippery Slope arguments are fallacious. Yes _____ No _____
18. Criticism by Reductio ad absurdum is fallacious, but criticism by Ad hominem is not. Yes _____ No _____
19. Using vague terms in one's premises to aid in the inference to one's conclusion is equivocation. Yes _____ No _____
20. Vagueness is not the same as ambiguity. Yes _____ No _____
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POP QUIZ TIME: When the police officer told the driver, in #5 above, "Sorry, but only people with a special ZZ permit can park here," the driver thought "Well, since I have a ZZ permit, that means I can park here." But, as it turns out, the driver is incorrect in thinking that this follows. Congratulations if you got this one right! Now, can you explain WHY the driver's inference was faulty? Hint: it hinges on one little word.
CHECK BACK LATER for the ANSWER and a new POP QUIZ.
PREVIOUS QUIZ: What fallacy was committed in #2 on the Diagnostic Quiz given above, if you answered that it indeed follows that Clyde is going to flunk at least one of his exams tomorrow?
ANSWER: This is one way to commit the fallacy of False Dichotomy. It is natural to assume the implicit premise that Clyde will study for one exam or the other, but that He cannot study for both. But this is restricting Clyde's options unjustifiably: Perhaps he would do better not studying at all and just take the exams with a clear head; that is a possibility that renders the argument invalid. So, by virtue of this possibility, it does NOT follow that Clyde is going to flunk one of his exams tomorrow. The fallacy of False Dichotomy is often called either-or reasoning. One is guilty of misrepresenting the situation as having fewer options or possibilities than it in fact does. For example, thinking things must be all or nothing or thinking people are either friends or foe, these are all popular ways setting up false dichotomies.
Answers to the DIAGNOSTIC QUIZ:
1. No
2. No
3. No
4. No
5. No
6. Yes
7. No
8. No
9. No
10. No
11. No
12. Yes
13. No
14. No
15. No
16. Yes
17. Yes
18. No
19. No
20. Yes
How well did you do?
20-19 WOW! You are good!
18-17 Your intuitions are great, but do you know why your answers are right?
16-15 You could still use some practice, and CT could help.
14-10 CT could help a lot.
9-? CT could help a way lot!
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PLEASE VISIT THE REST OF OUR SITE BY CLICKING THE LINKS BELOW.
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