Asking the Right Questions, A Guide to Critical Thinking, 8th Ed

Index 211
need for evidence to support, 104-105.
See also Evidence
vs. opinion, 104
Fallacies, 83-102
Ad Hominem argument, 85-86, 94, 101
appeal to popularity (Ad populem
argument), 89, 101-102
appeal to (questionable) authorities, 89-90
assumptions (questionable), 85-88
begging the question, 96-97
casual oversimplification, 142
clues for locating/assessing, 98
common, 88-97
confusion of cause and effect, 146-147
defined, 85
either-or (false dilemma), 91-92, 101
emotional language, 90-91, 128
equivocation, 88-89
explaining by naming, 93-94
faulty analogy, 133
glittering generalities, 94-95
hasty generalization, 108
importance of identifying, 102
name-calling, 84, 94
neglect of a common cause, 148-149
perfect solution (rejecting partial solutions
searching for perfect solutions), 88
post hoc, 147-148
practice exercises, 99-102
red herring, 95, 96
rejecting reasoning because of, 97
slippery slope, 87
straw person fallacy, 91, 101-102
tricks (three common reasoning), 84
wishful thinking (confusing "what should
be" with "what is"), 92-93, 101
your own writing/speaking and, 99
False dilemma (fallacy), 91-92
Fundamental attribution error, 149
Generalities, glittering (fallacy), 94-95
Generalizing:
fallacy of hasty generalization, 108
from research sample, 123-124
Groups:
rival causes for differences between,
144-145
and value assumptions, 61
If-clauses, productivity of, 186-187
Incomplete reasoning, inevitability of,
168-169
Inference, 18-19
Information, omitted, 167-179
benefits accruing to author, 171
clues for finding common kinds of, 170-171
comparisons, 170-171
context of quotes/testimonials, 171
counterarguments, 170
deception of, 159-161
definitions, 170
fact-gathering procedures, 170
importance of detecting, 168, 179
inevitability, 168-169
negative view, 174-175
origin of "facts", 171
practice exercises in detecting, 176-178
questions that identify, 170
that remains missing, 175-176
value preferences/perspectives, 171
your writing/speaking and, 176
Interpretations, different. See Causation, rival
causes
Intuition as evidence, 107-108, 113
Issue, 15-23
importance of identifying, 23
kinds of (descriptive/prescriptive), 16-17
not explicitly stated, 17-18
practice exercises in identifying, 22-23
search for, 17-19
in your own writing/speaking, 21
Language:
complexity of, and ambiguity, 38-39
emotional, 90-91
loaded, 46-48
political, and ambiguity, 47
precision in (research study), 119
Mean/median/mode, 156-158.
See also Statistics
Meaning, discovering and clarification of
(identifying ambiguity), 37-52
Mill, John Stuart, 10
Missing Information. See Information, omitted
Name-calling (fallacy), 84, 94
Negative view (missing information), 174-175
Omitted information. ^Information,
omitted
Opinion vs. fact, 104
Overgeneralization, 124, 127
Panning-for-gold style of thinking,
3-7,11,36
Paul, Richard, 10
Perfect solution, search for, 88
Personal observation/experience as evidence,
108-109, 117-118
dangers of appealing to as evidence, 108
importance of evaluating, 136
practice in evaluating claims supported
by, 134—136. See also Testimonials
as evidence
Political language, ambiguity in, 47
Post hoc fallacy, 147-148
Prescriptive (ethical/moral) issues/
arguments, 117
reasoning in, 30, 56
value assumptions/conflicts in, 58-59, 66