Product Description

The habits and attitudes associated with critical thinking are transferable to consumer, medical, legal, and general ethical choices. When our surgeon says surgery is needed, it can be life sustaining to seek answers to the critical questions encouraged in Asking the Right Questions…

This popular book helps bridge the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information, and the greater challenge of critical analysing the things we are told and read. It gives strategies for responding to alternative points of view and will help readers develop a solid foundation for making personal choices about what to accept and what to reject.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206618 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From the Back Cover

This highly popular text helps students to bridge the gap between simply memorizing or blindly accepting information and the greater challenge of critical analysis and synthesis.  It teaches them to respond to alternative points of view and develop a solid foundation for making personal choices about what to accept and what to reject.

While the structure  of this new edition remains the same, for the sake of currency and relevance about two-thirds of the practice passages are new, as well as many of the longer illustrations and the final critical thinking case.  Also, this eighth edition  has been revised to emphasize the positive value of critical thinking as a means to autonomy, curiousity, reasonableness, openness, and better decisions.

About the Author
Neil Browne lectures at bowling Green State University.

Customer Reviews

Reading the Right Books
Of the hundreds of books I have digested over the years, none to date have delivered as profound an impact on my ability to analyze, reason, or even listen, as Asking the Right Questions. Unlike books that merely teach facts, this book goes beyond instruction and delivers a robust set of skills that, when practiced, are not easily lost or forgotten.

The title aptly describes the lessons to be learned between the covers. The reader is confronted with the Herculean task of learning how to listen to a speaker or author. Once the content of the message is understood, the reader is then provided with specific questions that are intended to help the listener critique the speaker's conclusions. The lesson does not stop there, however. The reader is consistently reminded to turn the skills of critique inward, so that we apply the same standards of criticism to our own thought.

Why are any of the skills taught in Asking the Right Questions important? The lessons learned are invaluable for anyone who wants to be a critical participant in our economy or democracy. More specifically, however, Browne and Keeley give us a set of questions that are not restricted to any one discipline. Instead, the questions can be used, not only in everyday conversations, but can be broadly applied to many different domains (i.e. politics, science, or the humanities).

If you are searching for a book that challenges you to become a more critical consumer of information, then delve into this readable guide to critical thinking.

Don't be a sponge!
After reading ARQ and making its content an active part of my life, I was plucked from the world of passive sponges and dropped into the world of eager learners "panning for gold." I have never looked back.

This book has had a tremendous impact on my learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. I have learned not to simply accept the facts presented to me, but to question them in a systematic and logical fashion. Additionally, I now see the immense value of questioning both the convictions I agree with most intensely and those I disagree with most intensely. This critical thinking process enables me to understand the values and assumptions that shape my person.

I would highly recommend ARQ to anyone wishing to learn the skills of an active, life-long learner.

A must for anyone who wants to be a smarter thinker!
This book has been a tremendously positive influence on my life as well as on the lives of those to whom I have recommended it! Before studying "Asking the Right Questions," I was well educated, but nevertheless my thinking was often muddled and illogical. As a graduate student, this book helped me to better define my own ideas as well as understand the ideas of others. I learned how to engage in truly meaningful discourse with others about ideas and principles because I could apply a more rational approach. Differences of opinion became engaging rather than destructive or unproductive. This book and its philosophy gives me hope in the idea of the "democracy of ideas."

As a college professor, I use this book in all of my classes and require students to purchase it. We work on one skill a week as we learn the course content. Students regularly report that having a class focused around critical thinking is a unique and highly valuable experience. While I find it sad and disturbing that few college students are exposed to such skills regularly, I find it encouraging the ARQ provides an effective forum to help me teach these skills. The book is engaging, with many current examples and vivid illustrations. The reading level is appropriate for anyone in high school or higher. And because the content and skills are ones that are pertinent to any individual or college major or profession, it can be integrated into virtually any course. I especially think it would be an excellent foundation for the first-year seminars that are so popular on college campuses.

While I use this book in a classroom setting, it is one that an individual can easily benefit from. I recommended it to my mom, who said, "This book taught me more about evaluating ideas on tv, from politicians, and from other books than anything else I've ever done or read!" She found the examples and exercises quite engaging and helpful.

The ideas and philosophy of "Asking the Right Questions" have the potential to profoundly change an individual by making them a better, smarter thinker! I think it should be required reading for all of us.