Critical Thinking: An Introduction to the Basic Skills

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

“Critical thinking” is really “logic” dressed up in modern
guise, with some psychology added. Some have called it “applied
logic,” “critical evaluation,” “modes of reasoning,” or even
“crithink.” Whatever the name, it appears to be half-psychology,
half-philosophy. Specific chunks of this book cover the reasoning
process; the logical fallacies of “begging the question,”
“inconsistencies,” “false dichotomy,” and “equivocation”;
and induction and deduction, meaning, arguments, definition, relevance,
adequacy, and “red herrings.”

An important section deals with how to influence people by arguing
falsely, and another section deals with arguing back. It is one thing to
listen to something and decide what is happening, but a
follow-up—talking back to the presenter—is needed. Thus, the book
includes 20 self-tests and some classroom or small-group discussion
questions. The only thing missing is a section on how to find
contradictory facts to support or refute arguments.

This sort of book is useful for anyone, including journalists, who must
understand how they are (usually) misled and manipulated. Indeed, one
wishes we could all read and learn from critical-thinking texts,
dictionaries, grammar books, and books that tell us where to find
information. Every problem in the world can be traced back to
miscommunication problems—of contradiction, misunderstanding, jargon,
and misinformation. This introductory school text is also suitable for
trade bookstores and libraries.