External

Logical Reasoning

The goal of this book is to improve your logical-reasoning skills also called "critical thinking skills." They are a complex weave of abilities that help you get someone's point, generate reasons for your own point, evaluate the reasons given by others, decide what or what not to do, decide what information to accept or reject, explain a complicated idea, apply conscious quality control as you think, and resist propaganda.

Philosophy Humanities

Author: Bradley H. Dowden
Publisher: California State University Sacramento
Source: LibreTexts
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Language: EN

Read online Download PDF (open licence)

Contents· 206 sections

01: How to Reason Logically
1.01: 1.1
1.02: Facing a Decision as a Critical Thinker
1.03: Advice for Logical Reasoners
1.04: Examples of Good Reasoning
1.05: Review of Major Points
1.06: Glossary
1.07: Exercises
02: Claims Issues and Arguments
2.01: What is a Statement
2.02: What is an Argument
2.03: What is the Issue
2.04: What is a Proof
2.05: Indicators
2.06: Rewriting Arguments in Standard Form
2.07: Conditionals and the Word If
2.08: Deductively Valid and Inductively Strong
2.09: Uncovering Implicit Premises
2.10: Locating Unstated Conclusions
2.11: Detecting Obscure Argumentation
2.12: Descriptions and Explanations
2.13: Review of Major Points
2.14: Glossary
2.15: Exercises
03: Writing with the Appropriate Precision
3.01: Being Ambiguous
3.1.01: Context and Background Knowledge
3.1.02: Disambiguation by Machine
3.1.03: Semantic Disagreements
3.1.04: Equivocation
3.02: Being Too Vague
3.03: Being Too General
3.04: Being Pseudoprecise
3.05: Improper Operationalization
3.06: Creating Helpful Definitions
3.6.01: Different Definitions for Different Purposes
3.6.02: How to Avoid Errors when Creating Definitions
3.07: Review of Major Points
3.08: Glossary
3.09: Exercises
04: How to Evaluate Information and Judge Credibility
4.01: The Principles of Charity and Fidelity
4.02: When Should You Accept Unusual Statements
4.03: Assessing a Source's Credibility
4.04: Seeking a Second Opinion
4.05: Trust Me I Know It on Good Authority
4.06: Suspending Belief
4.07: Getting Solid Information about Whom to Vote For
4.08: Fake News and Misinformation
4.09: Review of Major Points
4.10: Glossary
4.11: Exercises
05: Obstacles to Better Communication
5.01: Not Realizing What You Are Saying
5.02: Abusing Rules of Grammar
5.03: Over-Using Euphemisms
5.04: Unintended Innuendo
5.05: Disobeying Rules of Discourse
5.06: Not Sticking to the Issue and Not Treating It Fairly
5.6.01: Not Accepting the Burden of Proof
5.6.02: Diverting Attention from the Issue
5.07: Giving Too Many Details
5.08: Re-defining the Issue
5.09: Covering Up the Reasons That Favor Your Opponent
5.10: Review of Major Points
5.11: Glossary
5.12: Exercises
06: Writing to Convince Others
6.01: Writing with Precision and to Your Audience
6.1.01: The Introduction
6.1.02: The Middle
6.1.03: The Ending
6.1.04: Digressions
6.02: Improving Your Writing Style
6.03: Proving Your Conclusion
6.04: Creating Counterarguments
6.05: Review of Major Points
6.06: Glossary
6.07: Exercises
07: Defending Against Deception
7.01: Deception Is All Around Us
7.02: Exaggeration and Lying
7.03: Telling Only Half the Truth
7.04: Telling the Truth While Still Misleading
7.05: Saying Little with Lots of Words
7.06: Persuading Without Using Reasons
7.07: Deceiving with Loaded Language
7.08: Using Rhetorical Devices
7.09: Review of Major Points
7.10: Glossary
7.11: Exercises
08: Detecting Fallacies
8.01: Ad Hominem Fallacy
8.02: Fallacy of Circular Reasoning
8.03: Straw Man Fallacy
8.04: False Dilemma Fallacy
8.05: Fallacy of Faulty Comparison
8.06: Fallacious Appeal to Authority
8.6.01: More about Assessing Credibility
8.6.02: Spotting an Authority's Bias
8.07: Slippery Slope Fallacy
8.08: Genetic Fallacy
8.09: Non Sequitur
8.10: Review of Major Points
8.11: Glossary
8.12: Exercises
09: Consistency and Inconsistency
9.01: Recognizing Inconsistency and Contradiction
9.02: Identifying Self-Contradictions and Oxymorons
9.03: Inconsistency with Presuppositions
9.04: Refuting General Statements by Finding Counterexamples
9.05: Resolving Inconsistencies
9.06: Review of Major Points
9.07: Glossary
9.08: Exercises
10: Deductive Reasoning
10.01: Implying with Certainty vs. with Probability
10.02: Distinguishing Deduction from Induction
10.03: Review of Major Points
10.04: Glossary
10.05: Exercises
11: Logical Form and Sentential Logic
11.01: What is Logic
11.02: Logical Equivalence
11.03: Logical Forms of Statements and Arguments
11.3.01: The Logic of Not
11.3.02: The Logic of And
11.3.03: The Logic of Or
11.3.04: The Logic of If-Then
11.3.05: The Logic of Only Only-If and Unless
11.04: Sentential Logic
11.4.01: Truth Tables
11.4.02: Arguments Logical Consequences and Counterexamples
11.4.03: 3-Valued Logic
11.4.04: History of Sentential Logic
11.05: Review of Major Points
11.06: Glossary
11.07: Exercises
12: Aristotelian Logic and Venn-Euler Diagrams
12.01: Aristotle's Logic of Classes
12.02: Using Venn-Euler Diagrams to Test for Invalidity
12.03: The Logic of Only in Class Logic
12.04: Review of Major Points
12.05: Glossary
12.06: Exercises
13: Inductive Reasoning
13.01: Generalizing from a Sample
13.1.01: Random Sample
13.1.02: Sample Size
13.1.03: Sample Diversity
13.1.04: Stratified Samples
13.1.05: Statistical Significance
13.1.06: Designing a Paired Comparison Test
13.02: Obstacles to Collecting Reliable Data
13.03: Varieties of Inductive Arguments
13.3.01: Argument from Authority
13.3.02: Argument from Analogy
13.3.03: Induction from Past to Future (Prediction).
13.3.04: Appeal to a Typical Example
13.3.05: Argument Based on Signs
13.3.06: Causal Inference
13.3.07: Inference to the Best Explanation
13.04: How New Information Affects an Arguments Strength
13.05: Statistics and Probability
13.06: Review of Major Points
13.07: Glossary
13.08: Exercises
14: Reasoning about Causes and Their Effects
14.01: Correlations
14.02: Significant Correlations
14.03: Causal Claims
14.04: Inferring from Correlation to Causation
14.05: Criteria for a Causal Relationship
14.06: Criteria for Creating Good Explanations
14.07: Assessing Alternative Explanations
14.08: The Scientific Method
14.09: Some Case Studies
14.10: Review of Major Points
14.11: Glossary
14.12: Exercises
15: Scientific Reasoning
15.01: What is Science
15.02: Reviewing the Principles of Scientific Reasoning
15.2.01: Testability Accuracy and Precision
15.2.02: Reliability of Scientific Reporting
15.2.03: Causal Explanations vs. Causal Arguments
15.2.04: Good Evidence
15.2.05: A Cautious Approach with an Open Mind
15.2.06: Discovering Causes Creating Explanations and Solving Problems
15.2.07: Confirming by Testing
15.2.08: Aiming to Disconfirm
15.03: Superstition
15.04: Looking for Alternative Explanations
15.05: Creating Scientific Explanations
15.5.01: Probabilistic and Deterministic Explanations
15.5.02: Fruitful and Unfruitful Explanations
15.06: Testing Scientific Explanations
15.6.01: Designing a Scientific Test
15.6.02: Retaining Hypotheses Despite Negative Test Results
15.6.03: Three Conditions for a Well-Designed Test
15.6.04: Deducing Predictions for Testing
15.07: Detecting Pseudoscience
15.08: Paradigms and Possible Causes
15.09: Review of Major Points
15.10: Glossary
15.11: Exercises