Understanding Arguments: An Introduction to Informal Logic

by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Robert J. Fogelin

The proven strengths of this argument text include the philosophy of language, analysis of arguments as they occur in ordinary language, and systematic examination of inductive arguments. The book covers statistical generalizations, statistical syllogisms, and inferences to the best explanation.

Genres: Philosophy, Logic, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Education, Reference, Self Help

576 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (born 1955) is an American philosopher specializing in ethics, epistemology, neuroethics, the philosophy of law, and the philosophy of cognitive science. He is a Professor of Practical Ethics in the Department of Philosophy and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.

Reviews

[AZ ZA]

related to this course:

Think Again: How to Reason and Argue
https://www.coursera.org/course/think...

[Hom Sack · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times abstract, but on the whole easy to understand. Having case examples help immensely. The best part of the book is part five "Areas of Argumentation": legal, moral, scientific, religious, and philosophical reasonings. Some of which is rather detailed and complex, but nevertheless worth the effort. Most interesting is the chapter on scientific reasoning in which convincing arguments are given that natural selection is not entirely true, that not all changes come from evolution but from design (not necessarily from "intelligent design").

[Amal Shoeib · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, The book honestly didn't fulfil my prophecy that It would teach me how to win arguments and to squash people with my strong argumentative claims. Howeve, it taught me that I should never waste my time on invalid o trivial arguments which are petty much most of the arguments going on nowadays. There are usually many fallacies in the premises people usually use to defend their point and I would never recognize them if it wasn't for this book. At some point the book was really childish, but I survived.

[Colin · Rating 1 out of 5]

A terrible mash up of poor grammar and poor logic passed off as a study in Rhetoric. Read Plato instead.

[Rhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

course reading that was pretty awesome. actually enjoyed it :)

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this for an online refresher course in critical thinking. Some chapters can be found for free via google books. So far, I'm not impressed and prefer my old dog eared 8th edition copy of Critical Thinking by Brooke Noel Moore and Richard Parker.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly was not impressed with this book at all...It wasn't bad exactly, but it wasn't great either.

[Luz Cmartinez]

solo quiero leerlo....como lo hago.

[Kåre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helt klar formidling af svært og somme tider kedeligt emne.
Overraskende, så stor udvikling, der åbenbart er og har været i dette helt grundlæggende fag. Også overraskende, at der ikke er konsensus om det hele.
Jeg læser i forbindelse med to coursera kurser. Bogen er grundbog for fire coursera-kurser. Når jeg nu har læst bogen, vil jeg ikke tage to af kurserne.

[Bent Andreassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and important book.

[Noor Sargent · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Highly recommended for a easy introduction to Logic and arguments structure.

[Aarav · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about logic that somehow makes you feel both smarter and deeply aware of how often you’ve fallen for terrible arguments. It’s like a crash course in spotting BS, whether it’s in political debates, online discourse, or your own desperate attempts to justify buying another book you definitely don’t have shelf space for. Read this in tandem with the Duke MOOC

[Koziołek · Rating 3 out of 5]

read that for classes, not really my department but as a coursebook it performs well I guess. As I didn't read it for my pleasure I can't give more than just "liked it" but anyway, I liked it. Pretty easy to get. And the only problem for me is that the book doesn't contain key to the exercises.

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good book on informal reasoning.

The mobile devices digital software chosen by the publisher was horrid, but the material itself was excellent.

[Manni Chen]

want to read

[Lucas Mateus]

Awesome!