Informal Logic: A Handbook for Critical Argumentation

This is an introductory guide to the basic principles of constructing good arguments and criticizing bad ones. It is nontechnical in its approach, and is based on 150 key examples, each discussed and evaluated in clear, illustrative detail. The author explains how errors, fallacies, and other key failures of argument occur. He shows how correct uses of argument are based on sound argument strategies for reasoned persuasion and critical questions for responding. Among the many subjects covered are: techniques of posing, replying to, and criticizing questions, forms of valid argument, relevance, appeals to emotion, personal attack, uses and abuses of expert opinion, problems in deploying statistics, loaded terms, equivocation, and arguments from analogy.

"A fine book on informal logic, also known as `critical thinking'... The treatment of topics throughout is thorough and meticulous; fine analytic distinctions, a large number of real life illustrations, and clear writing enhance the value of the work." Choice

"In a word, Informal Logic: A Handbook for Critical Argumentation is the best book in the field I have come across in recent years." Roy Martinez, Teaching Philosophy

"...the book is well-written and provides easy to follow examples of different arguments and fallacies. For those who find current argumentation and debate books inadequate, Informal Logic fills a void." Thomas Murphy, Argumentation and Advocacy