A Workbook For Arguments: A Complete Course In ...

5 Copyright 2011 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America For further information, please address Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. P.O. Box Indianapolis, Indiana Cover design by Deborah Wilkes Interior design by Elizabeth L. Wilson Composition by Agnew s, Inc. Printed at Victor Graphics, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Morrow, David R. A workbook for arguments : a complete course in critical thinking / David R. Morrow & Anthony Weston. p. cm. The Workbook contains the entire text of the fourth edition of the Rulebook, while supplementing this core text with extensive further explanations and exercises. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN (pbk.) ISBN (cloth) 1. Critical thinking. 2. Reasoning. 3. Logic. 4. Persuasion (Rhetoric). 5. English language Rhetoric. I. Weston, Anthony, 1954 II. Weston, Anthony, 1954 Rulebook for arguments. III. Title. BF441.M dc Adobe PDF ebook ISBN:

14 Preface A Workbook for Arguments builds on Anthony Weston s Rulebook for Arguments to offer a complete textbook for a course in critical thinking or informal logic. The Workbook contains the entire text of the fourth edition of the Rulebook while supplementing this core text with extensive further explanations and exercises: Homework exercises adapted from a wide range of actual arguments from newspapers, philosophical texts, literature, movies, YouTube videos, and other sources. Practical advice to help students succeed when applying the Rulebook s rules to the examples in the homework exercises. Suggestions for further practice that outline activities students can do by themselves or with classmates to improve their critical thinking skills or that point them to online resources to do the same. Detailed instructions for in-class activities and take-home assignments designed to engage students in critical thinking. A new appendix on mapping arguments that introduces students to this vital skill in evaluating or constructing complex and multistep arguments. Model responses to odd-numbered exercises, including commentaries on the strengths and weaknesses of selected model responses as well as further discussion of some of the substantive intellectual, philosophical, or ethical issues raised by the exercises. A Rulebook for Arguments will continue to be available in its original brief and slim format, while in this greatly expanded version it can now be used, for the first time, as a full-scale textbook in its own right. The Rulebook first appeared in 1986 twenty-five years ago. When it first came out, we had no idea how much interest there would be in such a book, a little rule-based handbook for argumentation on the model of Strunk and White s classic The Elements of Style. It turned out there was a great deal of interest! Since then the Rulebook has gone through four xiii

21 xx Introduction How to use the Workbook Throughout Part 1 of this book, you will notice that some passages have a shaded bar beside them. The passages with the sidebar come from Anthony Weston s Rulebook for Arguments. The passages without the sidebar are new to the Workbook for Arguments. The new elements in Part 1 consist mainly of exercise sets designed to help you learn how to apply the lessons from the passages with the sidebars. You can get the main ideas of each chapter by reading just the passages with the sidebars. Before attempting an exercise set, though, be sure to read both the Rulebook text before it and the Tips for success that accompany the exercise set. After you have completed an exercise set or at any rate, after you ve given it your best shot take a look at the model responses for that exercise set. (You ll find the model responses in Part 2.) We strongly encourage you to read them even if you don t need help doing the exercises. The model responses often contain important further discussions. Moreover, part of their aim, considered as a whole, is to paint a wide-ranging and compelling picture of critical intelligence at work. The spirit of critical thinking is just as vital as the letter, so to speak, and in the Workbook you will find both. Every exercise set ends with a suggestion about how to get more practice applying the skills used in that exercise set. Many of these suggestions are most effective if you work in a group. If you find that you consistently want more practice, form a study group with some of your classmates. From time to time, your instructor may have you complete one of the critical thinking activities from Part 3. These activities are designed to be especially enjoyable and engaging and to help you connect the material in this book to your own life. Be sure to find out whether your instructor has any additional or alternative instructions for the activity, or if he or she wants you to complete one of the variations listed at the end of the activity s assignment sheet. Critical thinking is a skill and like most skills, it s a skill that you can always improve, even if you re already good at it. Reading about guidelines for critical thinking, such as the rules presented in this book, is an important part of honing your skill, but there is no substitute for practice. (That could even be Rule 46: Practice, practice, practice.) The aim of this workbook is to give you an opportunity for guidance, practice, and feedback. With some persistence and hard work, you ll find yourself thinking more clearly and more critically than ever.

Description: It is not uncommon for educators to assign semester- or weeks-long projects giving students ample time to plan and execute, only to realize that many students choose to complete the assignment the night before the due date. Although the results may vary in the quality of submissions, the intent of educators to have students synthesize course content over the span of the semester may fall flat. The objective of this session is to present a multi-faceted portfolio project that will meaningfully engage students and synthesize course concepts from the onset. 781b155fdc