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Critical Thinking and Communication: The Use of Reason in Argument, 5/E
Edward S. Inch, Pacific Lutheran University
Barbara Warnick, University of Washington
Danielle Endres, University of Washington

ISBN-10: 0205453546
ISBN-13: 9780205453542

Publisher: Allyn & Bacon
Copyright: 2006
Format: Paper; 408 pp
Published: 07/18/2005

Suggested retail price: $96.80
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Relating common theoretical models to true-to-life examples from law, ethics, education, and business, the authors stress the importance of argumentation in everyday life as they build student competence and critical awareness.

Critical Thinking and Communication encourages students to develop skills in both constructing and refuting arguments. Through exercises and examples, students learn how to create individual arguments, extend argument cases, and understand how arguments are designed and how to interpret them. The text allows students to conceptualize argumentation in the larger framework of verbal and written interaction, from public speaking and debating to interpersonal, intercultural, and small group communication.

  • Blends new and traditional theories that bind historically valid and proven methods with our current understanding of how arguments we encounter regularly work.
  • Focuses on the logical and rhetorical perspectives of argument, grounding students in the theoretical roots of argumentation.
  • Emphasizes informal arguments and reasoning, stressing the ways in which arguments are used every day whether in relationships or more formal venues, such as debates or legislative assemblies.
  • Offers flexibility in its organization—after reading Chapters 1 and 2 with the basic concepts, the remaining chapters can be used as appropriate to meet specific course objectives.
  • Explains and illustrates the Toulmin model to help students avoid confusion when the model is applied to argument analysis.
  • Offers a more comprehensive understanding of how arguments work in cultures that have different assumptions and beliefs about the arguing process (narrative approaches and cooperative argument are discussed in Ch. 2).
  • Includes redesigned examples to illustrate how argumentation works in our daily lives.
  • Provides boxed explanations and examples to better highlight and clarify key material for students.
  • Discusses conducting research on the World Wide Web (including sites and domains that are stable and reliable sources of information) and using online databases (Lexis Nexis, Research Library Complete, and Expanded Academic Index) in ways that can be used by students in a range of educational institutions and settings.

  • The Fifth Edition has been extensively reorganized to make it even easier to use.  The new organization provides a broad conceptual framework for understanding argument (Chs. 1-3) before examining the elements of arguments.  In addition, “Communicating Arguments” is now the last section of the text.  However, each unit is written as a ‘stand-alone’ section, so instructors may teach the units in any order they desire. 
  • Each chapter begins with an extended case study to illustrate key concepts discussed in the chapter.  The case students are drawn from contemporary issues ranging from politics to economics to personal-interest issues, showing students how issues that affect them are argued in the public arena regularly. 
  • The Fifth Edition has an updated and extended treatment of argument theory.  There is more coverage on how argumentation is placed in the field of critical thinking and how it works in a critical context for inquiry and advocacy.  In addition, there is a new section on arguments as “co-orientational,” to demonstrate that is dependent on the relationship between arguer and receiver. 
  • The discussion about how cultures and languages affect our ability to produce and understand argument has been enhanced, to help students employ strategies for working cooperatively with diverse audiences. 

Preface.

I. BUILDING A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.

1. Arguments and Argumentation, and Critical Thought.

The Process of Critical Thought.

Argumentation and Arguments.

Argument Contexts.

 

2. How Arguments Work: Developing a Co-Orientation.

Perspectives on Argument.

Arguer-Based Approaches.

Co-Orientational Approach.

 

3. Argument Analysis and Criticism.

Benefits of Argument Analysis.

An Approach for Analysis.

Understanding Fallacies.

Types of Fallacies. 

II. PARSING ARGUMENTS.

4. Argument Claims and Propositions.

The Nature of Claims and Propositions.

Formulating a Proposition.

Classification of Claims.

 

5. Evidence: The Foundation for Arguments.

The Nature of Evidence.

Types of Evidence.

Evaluating Fact and Opinion Evidence.

Evaluating Statistical Evidence.

Presenting Evidence.

Research Strategies for Locating Evidence.

 

6. Reasoning.

Formal Logic and Practical Reasoning.

Reasoning as Inference Making.

III. ARGUING EXTENDED CASES.

7. Arguing about Facts and Case Construction.

Arguing about Facts, Values, and Policies.

Relating Facts, Values and Policies.

Issue Mapping.

Principles of Case Construction.

Stock Issues in Fact-Based Cases.

Principles of Refutation.

The Issues Brief.

 

8. Arguing about Values.

Values and Value Systems.

The Process of Value Change.

Values and Argumentation.

Stock Issues for Value Arguments.

The Issues Brief.

 

9. Arguing about Policies.

Policy Arguments and Policy Systems.

Stock Issues in Policy Arguments.

Issues Brief.

Alternative Formats for Arguing Policies.

Alternative Formats for Refuting Policy Arguments.

IV. COMMUNICATING ARGUMENTS.

10. Culture and Language.

Culture and Argumentation.

Language and Argumentation.

 

11. Arguers, Recipients, and Ethics.

The Nature of Argument Recipients.

The Audience and Argumentation.

The Arguer and Argumentation.

Ethics and Argumentation.

Developing an Ethical Code.

 

 

Appendix A: Intercollegiate Debate.

 

Appendix B: Answers to Selected Exercises.

Critical Thinking and Communication encourages students to develop skills in both constructing and refuting arguments. Through exercises and examples, students learn how to create individual arguments, extend argument cases, and understand how arguments are designed and how to interpret them. The text allow students to conceptualize argumentation in the larger framework of verbal and written interaction, from public speaking and debating to interpersonal, intercultural, and small group communication.

Updated material includes:

  • The new edition has been extensively reorganized to make it even easier to use. The new organization provides a broad conceptual framework for understanding argument before examining the elements of arguments.
  • Each chapter begins with an extended case study to illustrate key concepts discussed in the chapter. The case students are drawn from contemporary issues ranging from politics to economics to personal interest issues, showing students how issues that affect them are argued in the public arena regularly.
  • The text features an updated and extended treatment of argument theory. There is more coverage on how argumentation is placed in the field of critical thinking and how it works in a critical context for inquiry and advocacy.
  • The discussion about how cultures and languages affect our ability to produce and understand argument has been enhanced, to help students employ strategies for working cooperatively with diverse audiences.
Praise for Critical Thinking and Communication

“The materials are covered effectively but succinctly, and, I would say, clearly and unambiguously. There is always a tightrope for any author to walk in the balance between thoroughness and brevity. This book strikes that balance quite gracefully.”
—C. Thomas Preston, Jr., University of Texas – Brownsville

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