The skills of Critical Thinking are important whatever subject you are studying. They enable you to assess what's been said or written by asking the right questions: 'What does this mean?' 'What else could it mean?' 'What other evidence do I need?' With your answers, you can suggest other explanations or scenarios: 'Perhaps it's this rather than that'. As a creative, enquiring thinker, you can then move on to produce well-argued material of your own. This new edition has been totally updated, but it continues in the tradition of the earlier editions in that it is invaluable for all students, whether you're doing a course in Critical Thinking (like the AS-level) or not. It quite simply covers everything you need to become a skilled Critical Thinker.

Contents: Preface to 4th Edition; 1. Giving Claims a Significance; 2. Explanations; 3. Inferences; 4. Assumptions; 5. More Building Up of Arguments; 6. Evaluation of Arguments: Looking at Evidence; 7. Evaluation of Arguments: Weaknesses in Reasoning; 8. Analogies, Hypotheses; Definations and Principles; 9. Credibility of Evidence; 10. Producing Arguments; Resources for further study; Additional information for the exercises; Index.