Product Description

This brilliant book, now in its third edition, gives you the confidence to tell a good argument from a bad one. For everyone who wants to refine their powers of argument, Thinking from A to Z is an indispensable reference tool.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8918 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From the Back Cover

What is ‘humpty-dumptying’?

Do ‘arguments from analogy’ ever stand up?

How do I know when someone is using ‘weasel words’?

What’s the difference between a ‘red herring’ and a ‘straw man’?

This superb book, now in its third edition, will help anyone who wants to argue well and think critically. Using witty and topical examples, this fully-updated new edition includes many new entries and updates the whole text. New entries include:

• Principle of Charity
• Lawyer’s Answer
• Least Worst Option
• Poisoning the Well
• Sentimentality
• Sunk Cost Fallacy
• Weasel Words
• ‘You would say that wouldn’t you’

Thinking from A to Z may not help you win every argument, but it will definitely give you the power to tell a good one from a bad one.

Nigel Warburton is Senior Lecturer at The Open University and a bestselling author. His other books include The Basics of Essay Writing, Philosophy: The Basics, Fourth Edition, Philosophy: The Classics, Third Edition, Philosophy: The Essential Study Guide, The Art Question and Freedom, all published by Routledge.

www.virtualphilosopher.org

PHILOSOPHY/STUDY SKILLS

About the Author

Nigel Warburton is Senior Lecturer at The Open University and a bestselling author. His other books include Philosophy: The Basics, fourth edition, Philosophy: The Classics, third edition, Philosophy: The Essential Study Guide, The Art Question and Freedom, all published by Routledge.

Customer Reviews

Good Reference
If you're looking for something in the same style as Warburton's Philosophy: The Basics (which is highly recommended) you may be a bit disappointed in this book. The style is very much more like a dictionary of thinking. Each entry describes a kind of argument or thought pattern and is cross referenced to others. This makes it a bit difficult to read in a lineary fashion but does aid in it's use as a reference tool. 5 stars for content, 3 stars for format.

Useful Glossary of Philosophical Terminology
Being able to spot poor reasoning and diversionary tactics such as fallacies, gobbledegook, jargon, pseudo-profundity and smokescreens will put more clout behind your arguments and sharpen your thinking. As an introduction to critical thinking, this delightfully concise little book provides some of the basic tools for clear thinking on any issue. The techniques and topics discussed are transferable and can be applied to any area in which clear thought is required: they have direct applications in most academic disciplines and in any facet of life in which people present reasons and evidence in support of conclusions.

Now in its second edition, this book is a set text for the Open University A211 Philosophy and the Human Situation course. It will give you the power to tell a good from a bad argument. Using witty and topical examples, author Nigel Warburton will enable you to distinguish with confidence between a red herring and a straw man. This new edition updates the whole text and includes many new entries, all listed in alphabetical order. However, the next edition should include the following suggested entries: * ergo et sum * I think, therefore I am * Rene Descartes * logic * Betrand Russell * Lateral thinking * Six Thinking Hats * tautology

Clear thinking made clear!
This book should be compulsory preparation for anyone who has to read the output of politicians, consultants, journalists, pundits or experts in any field.

I have not come across a more accessible guide the the rhetoric, sloppy thinking, and pure sophistry that is evident in much factual analysis and opinion today.

Buy at once!