How to Think About Weird Things: Critical Thinking for a New Age - Softcover

Schick, Theodore; Vaughn, Lewis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0073386626 ISBN 13: 9780073386621

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education, 2007

Synopsis

This brief, inexpensive text helps the reader to think critically, using examples from the weird claims and beliefs that abound in our culture to demonstrate the sound evaluation of any claim. The authors focus on types of logical arguments and proofs, making How to Think about Weird Things a versatile supplement for logic, critical thinking, philosophy of science, or any other science appreciation courses.

About this title

From the Publisher:

A section on logic in Chapter 6 explains the nature and function of both deductive and inductive reasoning, and is followed by a case study and exercises for analysis.
A new section focuses on communicating with the dead and cold reading.
Treatment of evolution and creationism has been updated (see Chapter 4), and coverage of intelligent design theory has been expanded.
Many additional exercises, discussion questions, and 'field problems' have been added.
A revised chapter on cognitive relativism covers subjectivism, social constructivism, and conceptual relativism.
The text utilizes a detailed, step-by-step procedure-the SEARCH formula-for evaluating extraordinary claims.
Explanations of vital principles of knowledge, reasoning, and evidence help students sharpen their judgment and problem-solving skills.
Numerous boxes are integrated throughout the text, offering details on various beliefs, assessments by believers and skeptics, and reports of relevant scientific research.
Study questions appear at the end of each chapter.
An appendix contains additional information on informal fallacies.

About the Author:

Theodore Schick received his B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Brown University. He is currently professor of philosophy at Muhlenberg College where he has served as Director of Academic Computing, Director of Freshman Seminars, Director of the Muhlenberg Scholars Program, and Chair of the Philosophy Department. He is the author of Doing Philosophy: An Introduction through Thought Experiments, the editor of The Philosophy of Science: From Positivism to Post-modernism, and has published articles in several fields of philosophy including: philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, meta-philosophy, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. He has also contributed to a number of volumes in Open Courts Philosophy and Popular Culture series as well as Blackwells Philosophy for Everyone series.

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0073386626
• ISBN 13: 9780073386621
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 368