Good Reasoning Matters!: A Constructive Approach to Critical Thinking (Leo Groarke and Christopher Tindale)

Philosophers who are more sensitive to the rhetorical dimensions of argumentation are starting to write critical thinking texts that reflect this appreciation.

This text focuses on the essential structure of good arguments and then uses these criteria to identify failures of good reasoning.

Different sections of the book examine the most common problems with bad reasoning, including slanting, bias, propaganda, vagueness, ambiguity, and a common failure to consider opposing points of view.

Also included is an analysis of visual argumentation (how images can express argumentative content) which is very interesting and rare for a critical thinking text.

The book is not a textbook on rhetoric, but rather is a textbook on good reasoning that is informed by an appreciation for the rhetorical dimensions of argumentation. Consequently it avoids making many mistakes (e.g. about the nature of fallacies) that plague standard logic-oriented critical thinking texts.