The Art of Questioning An Introduction to Critical Thinking

With a systematic approach to critical thinking, this volume begins with issues concerning words, examines techniques for evaluating explanations and arguments, and concludes by applying all the skills to reading essays and writing argumentative essays. With examples and exercises that show the scope to which critical thinking skills can and should be applied, this volume recognizes the difference in learning styles with a reader friendly approach. The volume addresses the use of language arguments, checking the evidence through observations, testimony and values and obligations, categorical syllogisms, propositional arguments, inductive arguments, fallacies and large-scale applications. For individuals interested in an exhaustive treatment of critical thinking and writing.

Dan Flage provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to critical thinking in his text The Art of Questioning. It begins with simple issues at the level of words and concludes with large-scale applications, applying all the skills discussed in this book to reading and writing essays. Throughout, there is a commitment to intellectual rigor and student-friendliness. Each topic begins with relatively simple and straightforward cases and moves systematically to the kinds of messy cases found in ordinary language.

• Contains over 1,200 exercises and discussion questions drawn from diverse sources and covering numerous distinct topics
• Draws examples and exercises from a wide range of fields- both timeless classic and contemporary issues, such as the events of September 11.
• Includes solutions to the odd-numbered exercises, which gives students immediate feedback on their work.
• Contains unique chapters on evaluation of essays (Chapter 32) and writing argumentative essays (Chapter 33) that pull together all the individual skills honed in the earlier chapters.