Introducing Logic and Critical Thinking

Ryan Byerly T.

Description

This robust, clear, and well-researched textbook for classes in logic introduces students to both formal logic and to the virtues of intellectual inquiry. Part 1 challenges students to develop the analytical skills of deductive and inductive reasoning, showing them how to identify and evaluate arguments. Part 2 helps students develop the intellectual virtues of the wise inquirer. The book includes helpful pedagogical features such as practice exercises and a concluding summary with definitions of key concepts for each chapter. Resources for professors and students are available through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.

Sujets

• Philosophy of religion
• Christian theology
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 août 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493410804
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2017 by T. Ryan Byerly
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1080-4
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011
Visit www.bakeracademic.com/professors to access study aids and instructor materials for this textbook.
Contents
Cover i
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Preface for Instructors ix
Part 1: The Skills of Reasoning 1
1. Introduction to Arguments 3
1.1 Arguments vs. Nonarguments 6
1.1.1 Statements: The Building Blocks of Arguments 6
1.1.2 The Construction of Arguments: Premise and Conclusion Indicators 8
1.1.3 Arguments vs. Nonarguments 10
1.1.4 Summary 14
Exercise 1.1 14
1.2 Evaluating Arguments 16
1.2.1 Evaluating Arguments in Two Steps 17
1.2.2 Key Evaluative Features: Validity, Invalidity, Soundness, Unsoundness 18
1.2.3 Key Evaluative Features: Strength, Weakness, Cogency, Uncogency 20
1.2.4 Relationships between Key Evaluative Features 22
1.2.5 Summary 23
Exercise 1.2 23
2. Deductive Logic 25
2.1 Famous Forms Method 26
2.1.1 Identifying Argument Forms 26
2.1.2 Famous Valid Argument Forms 29
2.1.3 Using the Famous Forms Method Effectively 33
2.1.4 Summary 35
Exercise 2.1 36
2.2 Counterexample Method 38
2.2.1 Identifying Argument Forms 39
2.2.2 Providing Good Counterexamples 43
2.2.3 Using the Counterexample Method Effectively 47
2.2.4 Summary 47
Exercise 2.2 48
2.3 Venn Diagram Method 50
2.3.1 Evaluating Categorical Syllogisms with Venn Diagrams 50
2.3.2 Transforming Arguments into Categorical Syllogisms 58
2.3.3 Summary 60
Exercise 2.3 60
2.4 Proof Method 63
2.4.1 The Symbols of the Proof Method 63
2.4.2 Constructing Proofs 66
2.4.3 Summary 80
Exercise 2.4 80
2.5 Expanded Proof Method with Predicates and Quantifiers 84
2.5.1 New Symbols of the Expanded Proof Method 85
2.5.2 New Inference Rules of the Expanded Proof Method 88
2.5.3 Summary 96
Exercise 2.5 96
3. Inductive Logic 101
3.1 Statistical Syllogism 103
3.1.1 Identifying Statistical Syllogisms 103
3.1.2 Evaluating Statistical Syllogisms for Strength 105
3.1.3 Summary 108
Exercise 3.1 108
3.2 Induction by Enumeration 110
3.2.1 Key Features of Induction by Enumeration 111
3.2.2 Evaluating Induction by Enumeration for Strength 112
3.2.3 Combining Induction by Enumeration and Statistical Syllogism 116
3.2.4 Summary 120
Exercise 3.2 120
3.3 Arguments from Authority 124
3.3.1 Authorities, Assertion, and What Is Asserted 124
3.3.2 Evaluating Arguments from Authority 127
3.3.3 Complex Arguments Using Arguments from Authority 129
3.3.4 Summary 132
Exercise 3.3 132
3.4 Arguments from Analogy 135
3.4.1 Identifying Arguments from Analogy 135
3.4.2 Evaluating Arguments from Analogy 137
3.4.3 Summary 140
Exercise 3.4 141
3.5 Inference to the Best Explanation 143
3.5.1 Key Features of Inferences to the Best Explanation 143
3.5.2 Evaluating Inferences to the Best Explanation 146
3.5.3 Summary 148
Exercise 3.5 149
Part 2: The Virtues of Inquiry 151
4. Internal Virtues 153
4.1 Love of Intellectual Excellence 154
4.1.1 The Imperatives of Loving Intellectual Excellence 155
4.1.2 Vices of Intellectual Motivation 158
4.1.3 Summary 162
Exercise 4.1 163
4.2 Intellectual Courage and Caution 164
4.2.1 Navigating Obstacles to Inquiry 165
4.2.2 Courage, Caution, and Opposing Vices 169
4.2.3 Summary 172
Exercise 4.2 172
4.3 Introspective Vigilance 174
4.3.1 Bad Patterns of Inquiry and Their Remedies 174
4.3.2 Vigilance, Aloofness, and Arrogance 178
4.3.3 Summary 179
Exercise 4.3 179
5. Virtues of Intellectual Dependence 181
5.1 Trust 182
5.1.1 The Nature and Value of Trust 182
5.1.2 Credulity, Condescension, and Injustice 184
5.1.3 Summary 186
Exercise 5.1 187
5.2 Interpretive Charity 188
5.2.1 The Nature and Value of Interpretive Charity 189
5.2.2 Interpretive Stinginess and Interpretive Face Blindness 192
5.2.3 Summary 194
Exercise 5.2 195
5.3 Intellectual Empathy 196
5.3.1 The Nature of Intellectual Empathy 197
5.3.2 Obstacles to Intellectual Empathy 199
5.3.3 Summary 201
Exercise 5.3 201
6. Virtues of Intellectual Dependability 203
6.1 Intellectual Generosity 203
6.1.1 The Foundations and Key Features of Intellectual Generosity 204
6.1.2 Vices Opposed to Intellectual Generosity 209
6.1.3 Summary 210
Exercise 6.1 211
6.2 Communicative Clarity 213
6.2.1 Confusing Words and Grammar 213
6.2.2 Confusing Structures 217
6.2.3 Summary 220
Exercise 6.2 221
6.3 Audience Sensitivity 222
6.3.1 Four Features of an Audience 222
6.3.2 Vices Opposed to Audience Sensitivity 226
6.3.3 Summary 228
Exercise 6.3 228
Appendix: Argument Forms and Proof Rules 231
Notes 234
Glossary of Key Terms 237
Bibliography 244
Back Ad 245
Back Cover 246
Preface for Instructors
I t has become increasingly common for both Christian and non-Christian colleges and universities to offer and even require what we might call courses in “Logic and ”—courses the formal titles of which typically begin with the words “Logic and” and end with something after the “and.” Often what is included after the “and” is “Critical Thinking,” though this is not universal. In any case, the expectation is that in courses of these kinds, students will learn about logic and they will learn about something else. What else they learn appears to vary widely from one institution to another and from one instructor to another.
When I have taught courses of this kind, I have thought that a very suitable subject to include for my students—in addition to logic—would be an introduction to intellectual virtues. The course would provide them both with the reasoning skills of formal logic and with an opportunity to reflect on, and even attempt to cultivate, virtues of inquiry. One problem I faced as an instructor, however, was that I could not find a single textbook that combined these subjects in the way I had in mind. That is why I’ve written Introducing Logic and Critical Thinking . My hope and expectation is that there are other instructors like me who would like to structure their courses in “Logic and ” in this way and who would appreciate a single textbook that enables them to do so.
Some unique features of this textbook are designed to aid with instructional use. First, instructors should note that part 1 of the text, which significantly outstrips part 2 in length, intentionally includes a very substantial introduction to a wide range of techniques in deductive and inductive logic. It is my expectation that many instructors will use only sections of part 1. For some courses in “Logic and ,” a more thorough introduction to the methods of deductive and inductive logic is necessary, while for other courses a less thorough introduction is sufficient. I have attempted to write the text in such a way that instructors will not face significant difficulty in selecting sections from part 1 to cover at their discretion. For example, sections 2.4 and 2.5 might be considered too advanced for some introductory logic courses, as these sections introduce methods utilized in symbolic logic. Since these sections deal with relatively discrete methods, instructors can skip these sections and focus instead on the other methods discussed in chapter 2. At the same time, some instructors might welcome having a brief introduction to symbolic logic that could be used in a course with philosophy majors or honors students who seek a more thorough introduction to the discipline than many introductory logic texts provide.
Second, instead of having a separate section on informal fallacies, as is often the case with introductory textbooks, the approach I have taken is to discuss many of the most common informal fallacies in the context of the discussion of virtues of inquiry. For example, in the section on the virtue of trust in others, I discuss the ad hominem fallacy; in the section on the virtue of interpretive charity, I discuss the straw man fallacy; in the section on the virtue of introspective vigilance, I discuss the post hoc and slippery slope fallacies; and in the sections on the virtues of communicative clarity and audience sensitivity, I discuss the fallacies of equivocation , amphibole , and begging the question . Thus rather than discussing these informal fallacies in isolation, which can make them seem abstract, I have situated my discussion of these fallacies within the context of a broader discussion of intellectual virtues. Discussing them within the context of intellectual virtues allows the explanation for why these fallacies are problematic to be more strikingly illuminated.
A third feature worth highlighting about the textbook is that part 2, concerned with the virtues of inquiry, contains practice exercises . These consist of vignettes that briefly describe the way in which a character or group of characters conducts an inquiry. Students are asked to reflect on whether the character or characters do or do not display a particular virtue, and to defend their answers. In some cases, they are asked to offer recommendations about how the character could have conducted her inquiry more virtuously. For some examples included in these exercises, reasonable disagreement about how to evaluate the example is to be expected. From my vantage point, the primary purpose