The Critical Thinking Toolkit

The Critical Thinker s Toolkit is a comprehensive compendium that equips readers with the essential tools and methods for clear, analytical, logical thinking and critique in a range of scholarly contexts and everyday situations. Following the proven format of The Philosopher s Toolkit and The Ethics Toolkit, it contains concise, easily digestible entries, see also recommendations that connect topics, and recommended reading lists. This guide takes an expansive approach by exploring concepts from other disciplines typically excluded from discussions of critical thinking. In addition to basic logic, the authors cover evidence and justification from philosophy, cognitive biases and errors from psychology, race and gender from sociology and political science, tropes and symbols from rhetoric, and much more. Exercises and real life examples at the end of each chapter allow readers to apply new critical thinking and reasoning skills. Ideal for beginning to advanced students, as well as general readers, this is a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to critical thinking. The Critical Thinker s Toolkit gives readers the knowledge they need to become discerning, engaged, and empowered thinkers in the world today.

Galen Foresman is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, USA.  His research interests include ethics, philosophy of punishment, philosophy of religion, and philosophy as it applies to pop culture.  He is the author of several book chapters and the editor of Supernatural and Philosophy (Wiley Blackwell, 2013).

Peter S. Fosl is Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Chair of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Transylvania University, USA. A David Hume Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, his research interests include skepticism and the history of philosophy, as well as, topics in politics and religion. He is author or editor of many books, including The Big Lebowski and Philosophy (Wiley Blackwell, 2012), The Philosopher s Toolkit (second edition, Wiley Blackwell, 2010), and The Ethics Toolkit (Wiley Blackwell, 2007). He is also Editor–in–Chief of the Open Access academic journal, CogentOA: Arts & Humanities.

Jamie Carlin Watson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Broward College, USA. His primary research is in the social epistemology of epistemic advantage and expertise, especially as they influence testimony in practical fields such as medicine and business. He has published articles in journals such as Episteme and Journal of Applied Philosophy, and he is the co–author of Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well, 2nd ed., What s Good on TV? Understanding Ethics Through Television (Wiley Blackwell, 2011), and Philosophy Demystified (2011).