The Logic of Real Arguments SECOND EDITION

This new and expanded edition explains a distinctive method for analyzing and evaluating arguments. It features many examples, ranging from newspaper articles to extracts from classic texts, and from easy passages to much more difficult ones. It will enable students to think critically about sustained, theoretical arguments commonly encountered in the course of their studies, including arguments about the natural world, society, policy, and philosophy. First Edition Pb (1988): 0-521-31341-4

This new and expanded edition of The Logic of Real Arguments explains a distinctive method for analysing and evaluating arguments. It discusses many examples, ranging from newspaper articles to extracts from classic texts, and from easy passages to much more difficult ones. It shows students how to use the question 'What argument or evidence would justify me in believing P?', and also how to deal with suppositional arguments beginning with the phrase 'Suppose that X were the case.' It aims to help students to think critically about the kind of sustained, theoretical arguments which they commonly encounter in the course of their studies, including arguments about the natural world, about society, about policy, and about philosophy. It will be valuable for students and their teachers in a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, law and the social sciences.

Preface to first edition; Preface to second edition; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. A general method of argument analysis; 3. A first example - from Thomas Malthus; 4. Reasoning about nuclear deterrence; 5. An example from John Stuart Mill; 6. Arguments about God's existence; 7. How do your mind and body interact?; 8. Suppose for the sake of argument that ...; 9. An example from Karl Marx; 10. Evaluating scientific arguments: some initial examples; 11. Philosophical assumptions; Appendix: Elementary formal logic; Exercises.

This new and expanded edition of The Logic of Real Arguments explains a distinctive method for analysing and evaluating arguments, using examples ranging from newspaper articles to extracts from classic texts. It will be valuable for students in a wide range of disciplines including philosophy, law and the social sciences.

Alec Fisher was Director of the Centre for Research in Critical Thinking at the University of East Anglia, until his retirement in 1999. He is the author of Critical Thinking: An Introduction (Cambridge, 2001), which has already been translated into several languages. He continues to lecture and conduct workshops on reasoning and critical thinking skills all over the world.