[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-39832-en":3,"doc-seo-39832-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},39832,4398048950312,"Violet","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/400002538284de19e3c?_k=1778320343897328908",8,"Research & Report","Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking","Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking (Version 1.4) presents a structured toolkit for identifying, reconstructing, and evaluating arguments in everyday and academic contexts. The book contrasts informal evaluation with formal methods, covering validity, soundness, deductive versus inductive reasoning, and handling missing premises. It further introduces propositional and categorical logic using truth tables, proofs, and Venn diagrams, then expands to inductive reasoning, probability, and common statistical fallacies, supplemented by analysis of informal fallacies and evaluative language.","Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking  \nVersion 1.4  \nMatthew J. Van Cleave  \nLansing Community College  \nIntroduction to Logic and Critical Thinking by Matthew J. Van Cleave is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .  \nTable of contents  \nPreface  \nChapter 1 : Reconstructing and analyzing arguments  \n1.1 What is an argument?  \n1.2 Identifying arguments  \n1.3 Arguments vs. explanations  \n1.4 More complex argument structures  \n1.5 Using your own paraphrases of premises and conclusions to  \nreconstruct arguments in standard form  \n1.6 Validity  \n1.7 Soundness  \n1.8 Deductive vs. inductive arguments  \n1.9 Arguments with missing premises  \n1.10 Assuring, guarding, and discounting  \n1.11 Evaluative language  \n1.12 Evaluating a real-life argument  \nChapter 2: Formal methods of evaluating arguments  \n2.1 What is a formal method of evaluation and why do we need them?  \n2.2 Propositional logic and the four basic truth functional connectives  \n2.3 Negation and disjunction  \n2.4 Using parentheses to translate complex sentences  \n2.5 “Not both” and “neither nor”  \n2.6 The truth table test of validity  \n2.7 Conditionals  \n2.8 “Unless”  \n2.9 Material equivalence  \n2.10 Tautologies, contradictions, and contingent statements  \n2.11 Proofs and the 8 valid forms of inference  \n2.12 How to construct proofs  \n2.13 Short review of propositional logic  \n2.14 Categorical logic  \n2.15 The Venn test of validity for immediate categorical inferences  \n2.16 Universal statements and existential commitment  \n2.17 Venn validity for categorical syllogisms  \nChapter 3: Evaluating inductive arguments and probabilistic and statistical fallacies  \n3.1 Inductive arguments and statistical generalizations  \n3.2 Inference to the best explanation and the seven explanatory virtues  \n3.3 Analogical arguments  \n3.4 Causal arguments  \n3.5 Probability  \n3.6 The conjunction fallacy  \n3.7 The base rate fallacy  \n3.8 The small numbers fallacy  \n3.9 Regression to the mean fallacy  \n3.10 Gambler’s fallacy Chapter 4: Informal fallacies  \n4.1 Formal vs. informal fallacies  \n4.1.1 Composition fallacy  \n4.1.2 Division fallacy  \n4.1.3 Begging the question fallacy  \n4.1.4 False dichotomy  \n4.1.5 Equivocation  \n4.2 Slippery slope fallacies  \n4.2.1 Conceptual slippery slope  \n4.2.2 Causal slippery slope  \n4.3 Fallacies of relevance  \n4.3.1 Ad hominem  \n4.3.2 Straw man  \n4.3.3 Tu quoque  \n4.3.4 Genetic  \n4.3.5 Appeal to consequences  \n4.3.6 Appeal to authority Answers to exercises  \nGlossary/Index  \nPreface  \nPreface  \nThis is an introductory textbook in logic and critical thinking. The goal of the textbook is to provide the reader with a set of tools and skills that will enable them to identify and evaluate arguments. The book is intended for an introductory course that covers both formal and informal logic. As such, it is not a formal logic textbook, but is closer to what one would find marketed as a“critical thinking textbook.” The formal logic in chapter 2 is intended to give an elementary introduction to formal logic. Specifically, chapter 2 introduces several different formal methods for determining whether an argument is valid or invalid (truth tables, proofs, Venn diagrams) . I contrast these formal methods with the informal method of determining validity introduced in chapter 1. What I take to be the central theoretical lesson with respect to the formal logic is simply that of understanding the difference between formal and informal methods of evaluating an argument’s validity. I believe there are also practical benefits of learning the formal logic. First and foremost, once one has internalized some of the valid forms of argument, it is easy to impose these structures on arguments one encounters. The ability to do this can be of use in evaluating an argumentative passage, especially when the argument concerns","cbCaifXOY7wEmumq","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifXOY7wEmumq","pdf",8179316,4,1,242,"English","en",105,"# Preface\n# Reconstructing and analyzing arguments\n## Formal methods of evaluating arguments\n## Evaluating inductive arguments and probabilistic fallacies\n## Informal fallacies","[{\"question\":\"What problem does this textbook aim to help readers solve?\",\"answer\":\"It provides tools and skills to identify and evaluate arguments, including both formal and informal methods for judging validity.\"},{\"question\":\"How do formal and informal methods of argument evaluation differ?\",\"answer\":\"Chapter 2 introduces formal methods such as truth tables, proofs, and Venn diagrams, while chapter 1 presents an informal approach for evaluating validity.\"},{\"question\":\"Which topics are covered for inductive reasoning in later chapters?\",\"answer\":\"Chapter 3 focuses on 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