Table of Contents
Each chapter concludes with “Warm-Up Excercises,” “Applications,” and “Composition or Speech Excercise.”
To the Instructor.
I. BE AWARE.
1. Developing Your Thinking: An Overview.
What Is Thinking?
The Importance of Thinking.
Brain and Mind at Work.
The Production Phase.
The Judgment Phase.
Good Thinking Is a Habit.
The Structure of This Book.
Getting the Most from Your Efforts.
Using Feelings to Advantage.
Learning to Concentrate.
Coping with Frustration.
Making Discussion Meaningful.
Preliminary Thinking Strategies.
Sample Exercises and Responses.
2. Establish a Foundation.
Free Will versus Determinism.
What Is Truth?
What Is Knowing?
Ways of Knowing.
Experience.
Observation.
Report.
The Problem of Remembering.
What Are Opinions?
Expressions of Taste.
Expressions of Judgment.
Debating Moral Questions.
The Basis of Moral Judgment.
Dealing with Dilemmas.
3. Broaden Your Perspective.
Becoming an Individual.
Habits That Hinder Thinking.
The Mine-Is-Better Habit.
Face Saving.
Resistance to Change.
Conformity.
Stereotyping.
Self-Deception.
Overcoming Bad Habits.
4. Be a Critical Reader.
Critical Reading Defined.
Making Important Distinctions.
The Distinction Between the Person and the Idea.
The Distinction Between Matters of Taste and Matters of Judgment.
The Distinction Between Fact and Interpretation.
The Distinction Between Literal and Ironic Statements.
The Distinction Between an Idea's Validity and the Quality of Its Expression.
The Distinction Between Language and Reality.
A Strategy for Critical Reading.
Step 1: Skim.
Step 2: Reflect.
Step 3: Read.
Step 4: Evaluate.
Expressing Your Judgment.
A Sample Evaluation.
II. BE CREATIVE.
5. The Creative Process.
Key Facts About Creativity.
Characteristics of Creative People.
Applying Creativity to Problems and Issues.
Taking a Novel Approach
Devising or Modifying a Process or System.
Inventing a New Product or Service.
Finding New Uses for Existing Things.
Improving Things.
Inventing or Redefining a Concept.
Stages in the Creative Process.
The First Stage: Searching for Challenges.
The Second Stage: Expressing the Problem or Issue.
The Third Stage: Investigating the Problem or Issue.
The Fourth Stage: Producing Ideas.
6. Search for Challenges.
The Importance of Curiosity.
How Curiosity Is Lost.
Regaining Your Curiosity.
Six Helpful Techniques.
Be Observant.
Look for Imperfections.
Note Your Own and Others' Dissatisfactions.
Search for Causes.
Be Sensitive to Implications.
Recognize the Opportunity in Controversy.
7. Express the Problem or Issue.
Distinguishing Problems from Issues.
Expressing Problems.
Expressing Issues.
When Problems Become Issues.
Guidelines for Expressing Problems and Issues.
Benefits of Careful Expression.
It Helps You Move Beyond the Familiar and Habitual.
It Keeps Your Thinking Flexible.
It Opens Many Lines of Thought.
A Sample Problem.
A Sample Issue.
8. Investigate the Problem or Issue.
What to Look for.
Eyewitness Testimony.
Unpublished Report.
Published Report.
Expert Opinion.
Experiment.
Statistics.
Survey.
Observational Study.
Research Review.
Your Personal Experience.
The Experiences of People You Know.
Using the Library.
Using the Internet.
Maintaining a Questioning Perspective.
Managing an Interview.
Avoiding Plagiarism.
Conducting Your Own Research.
The Survey.
The Observational Study.
Keeping Creativity Alive.
9. Produce Ideas.
Stimulating Your Imagination.
Force Uncommon Responses.
Use Free Association.
Use Analogy.
Look for Unusual Combinations.
Visualize the Solution.
Construct Pro and Con Arguments.
Construct Relevant Scenarios.
Aiming for Originality.
Withholding Judgment.
Overcoming Obstacles.
Thinker's Block.
Vagueness and Confusion.
Inflexibility.
How Insight Occurs.
A Sample Problem.
A Sample Issue.
III. BE CRITICAL.
10. The Role of Criticism.
Why Criticism Is Necessary.
Focus on Your Ideas.
Overcoming Obstacles to Critical Thinking.
Applying Curiosity.
Avoiding Assumptions.
Refining Your Solutions to Problems.
A Sample Problem.
Refining Your Positions on Issues.
A Sample Issue.
Taking Action on the Issue.
11. Refine Your Solution to the Problem.
Three Steps in Refining.
Step 1: Working Out the Details.
Step 2: Finding Imperfections and Complications.
Step 3: Making Improvements.
Two Sample Problems.
The First Problem.
The Second Problem.
12. Evaluate Your Argument on the Issue.
Errors Affecting Truth.
Either/Or Thinking.
Avoiding the Issue.
Overgeneralizing.
Oversimplifying.
Double Standard.
Shifting the Burden of Proof.
Irrational Appeal.
Errors Affecting Validity.
A Special Problem: The Hidden Premise.
Recognizing Complex Arguments.
Steps in Evaluating an Argument.
The Case of Parents Protesting TV Programs.
The Case of the Mentally Impaired Girls.
13. Refine Your Resolution of the Issue.
Step 1: Deciding What Action Should Be Taken.
Step 2: Recognizing and Overcoming Difficulties.
Should Children Pledge Allegiance?
Should the Miranda Rule Be Abolished?
IV. COMMUNICATE YOUR IDEAS.
14. Persuading Others.
Understanding Why People Reject Ideas.
Knowing Your Audience.
Anticipating Your Audience's Objections.
The Brainstorming Technique.
The Imaginary-Dialogue Technique.
Presenting Your Ideas to Advantage.
Respect Your Audience.
Begin with the Familiar.
Select the Most Appropriate Tone.
Emphasize the Evidence for Your View.
Answer All Significant Objections.
The Importance of Timing.
15. Writing and Speaking Effectively.
Characteristics of Effective Writing.
A Step-by-Step Approach to Composition.
Planning.
Drafting.
Revising.
Editing.
Developing a Readable Style.
A Sample Composition.
The Challenge of Effective Speaking.
Types of Speeches.
Organizing Your Material.
Sample Outline and Speech.
Practicing the Delivery.
Appendix. The Fundamentals of Formal Logic.
Three Basic Principles.
Formal Argument.
Common Errors in Syllogisms.
The Undistributed Middle.
Illicit Process.
Affirming the Consequent.
Denying the Antecedent.
Converting a Conditional.
Negating Antecedent and Consequent.
Solutions to Sample Problems.
The Three Glasses Problem.
The Young Girl/Old Woman Problem.
The Vase and Faces Problem.
Notes.
Index.
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