Turbocharge your reasoning with Critical Thinking

 Just what are the ingredients of a great argument? What is the secret to communicating your ideas clearly and persuasively? And how do you see through sloppy thinking and flim-flam?  If you’ve ever asked any of these questions, then this book is for you!

 These days, strong critical thinking skills provide a vital foundation for academic success, and Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies offers a clear and unintimidating introduction to what can otherwise be a pretty complex topic. Inside, you'll get hands-on, lively, and fun exercises that you can put to work today to improve your arguments and pin down key issues.

 With this accessible and friendly guide, you'll get plain-English instruction on how to identify other people's assumptions, methodology, and conclusions, evaluate evidence, and interpret texts effectively. You'll also find tips and guidance on reading between the lines, assessing validity – and even advice on when not to apply logic too rigidly!

Critical Thinking Skills for Dummies:

• Provides tools and strategies from a range of disciplines great for developing your reflective thinking skills
• Offers expert guidance on sound reasoning and textual analysis
• Shows precisely how to use concept mapping and brainstorming to generate insights
• Demonstrates how critical thinking skills is a proven path to success as a student

Whether you're undertaking reviews, planning research projects or just keen to give your brain a workout, Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies equips you with everything you need to succeed.

Will meat eaters get into heaven? Do trees have rights? Is it ever right to design a baby? What would you do? Would you always do the right thing? Is there a right thing? In this second edition of his thought-provoking and highly engaging introduction to ethics, Martin Cohen brings us eleven brand new ethical dilemmas including:

The Dodgy Donor Clinic

The Famous Footbridge Dilemma

The Human Canonball.

From overcrowded lifeboats to the censor's pen, Martin Cohen's stimulating and amusing dilemmas reveal the subtleties, complexities and contradictions that make up the rich tapestry of ethics. From DIY babies and breeding experiments to 'Twinkies courtroom drama' and Newgate Prison, there is a dilemma for everyone. This book may not help you become a good person, but at least you will have had a good think about it.

"The worst thing about food science, the elephant in the room, is that it's not just the opinions that are changing—but the 'facts' themselves shift too."

Did you know that the great philosophers were the original foodies? To eat or not to eat? That’s an easy question to answer. But what to eat? That’s a deep and profoundly difficult one. Doctors and nutritionists often disagree with each other, while celebrities and scientists keep pitching us new recipes and special diets. No one thought to ask the philosophers—those rational souls devoted to truth, ethics, and reason—what they think. Until now.

Today, there are over one hundred nuclear reactors operating in our backyards, from Indian Point in New York to Diablo Canyon in California. Proponents claim that nuclear power is the only viable alternative to fossil fuels, and due to rising energy consumption and the looming threat of global warming, they are pushing for an even greater investment. Here, energy economist Andrew McKillop and social scientist Martin Cohen argue that the nuclear power dream being sold to us is pure fantasy. Debunking the multilayered myth that nuclear energy is cheap, clean, and safe, they demonstrate how landscapes are ravaged in search of the elusive yellowcake to fuel the reactors, and how energy companies and politicians rarely discuss the true costs of nuclear power plants - from the subsidies that build the infrastructure to the unspoken guarantee that the public will pick up the cleanup cost in the event of a meltdown, which can easily top $100 billion dollars.

This guide covers the main schools of thought from the Ancient Chinese philosophies of Confucius and Lao Tzu, Ancient wisdom from Aristotle, Plato, Zeno and Pythagoras through to those most influential of philosophers studied the world over - Hegel, Marx, Descartes, Kant, Kierkegaard and Wittgenstein to name but a few. It also discusses the big questions such as 'What is truth?', the relationship between philosophy and religion and the problem of morality..

Accessible, well-informed and fully-illustrated, this is a wonderful book for anyone who is keen to know more about the history of philosophers and their theories.

Does Farmer Field really know his prize cow, Daisy, is in the field? When is an unexpected exam not wholly unexpected? Are all bachelors (really) unmarried? Martin Cohen's 101 Philosophy Problems, Fourth Edition introduces philosophy in an entertaining but informative and stimulating way. Using philosophical puzzles, conundrums and paradoxes he skilfully unwraps some of the mysteries of the subject, from what we know - or think we know - to brainteasing thought experiments about ethics, science and the nature of the mind.

For the Fourth Edition there are many new problems, including Maxwell's Moving Magnets, Einstein Changes Train Times, and Zeno's Paradox of Place; as well as two brand new sections including puzzles such as Lorenz's Waterywheel, and the Battle for Fractal Farm, and perplexing ethical dilemmas. The book has been extensively revised to bring it up to date with new developments in philosophy and society.

With an updated glossary of helpful terms and possible solutions to the problems at the end of the book, 101 Philosophy Problems is essential reading for anyone coming to philosophy for the first time.

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• Gives a lively presentation of an "A to Z" of 26 fascinating and influential thought experiments from philosophy and science
  
• Presents vivid and often humorous discussion of the experiments, including strengths and weaknesses, historical context, and contemporary uses
  
• Provides a "how to" section for engaging in thought experiments
  
• Includes illustrations, mini-biographies, and suggestions for further reading.