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An Introduction To Reasoning is a set of three text-books, in critical reasoning, (introductory) logic, and scientific reasoning. It ...
• is free
• can be excerpted, e.g. if you want to teach/study truth tables but not truth trees
• can be modified as desired – the book is made available under a CC BY-NC-SA license
• includes a wide range of topics in critical reasoning and logic, including scientific reasoning. For details of coverage, see below.
• includes two sets of exercises after every section or every few sections, with answers to selected exercises of set 1
In brief, this means: you can change it, keep an attribution to Cathal Woods on it, don't sell it
Answers to additional problems and supplementary exercises for use in quizzes and exams are available to instructors by e-mailing cathalwoods at gmail
The book is made available for free under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.
• for instructors: answer book and exercise sets 3 (and 4) — e-mail cathalwoods at gmail dot com for access
Get The Book (at Google Drive): An Introduction To Reasoning
If you have a Google account, (sign in and) add the material to your 'My Drive' for easier future reference – click 'Add to Drive' in the top right (then click 'Open in Drive' to go Drive). Note that it might take a few minutes for all of the files to show up in your Drive. If you see empty folders at first, wait patiently (or hit 'Reload' obsessively).
If you don't have a Google account, you can sign up here. If don't want one, you'll have to 'Open' and then 'Download as' (in the File menu) each file individually.
There is also a folder of other Free Reasoning Books.
Also available to instructors is a folder of supplementary exercises and answers – e-mail cathalwoods at gmail dot com for access.
Looking for predicate logic? Try P. D. Magnus's ForAllX, or Rob Loftis's remix ForAllX-Lorain County Remix
Brief Contents
Everyday Inferences – Sources, Character, Motives
Everyday Inferences – Emotional Reasons For Practical Conclusions
Everyday Inferences – Syntax, Basic Logic
Evaluation Using Warrants
Diagramming Reasoning – Basic
Diagramming Reasoning – Complex Reasoning
Diagramming Reasoning – Dialogue
Diagramming Reasoning – Extended Dialogue
Diagramming Reasoning – Very Long Passages
Real-World Reasoning
(Classifying, Analyzing, And Basic Evaluation)
Classifying & Analyzing
Spotting Reasons & Target
Reasoning vs. Non-Reasoning
Justifying Belief vs. Explaining
Breaking Up Conjunctions
Rewriting Sentences As Propositions
Putting Reasoning In Standard Form
Reasoning Substitutes
Problems With Meaning
Evaluation
Two Criteria Of Evaluation
Ignoring Confidence Indicators
Venn Diagram Method (Categorical Logic)
Propositional & Categorical Reasoning
(Valid inference)
Validity & Non-validity
Logically Structured Propositions
Necessary & Sufficient Conditions
Big 8 Method
Logical Symbols
Method Of Derivation/Proof
Truth Functions
Truth Table Method
Truth Tree Method
Analogy
Inductive & Scientific Reasoning
(Inference from experience)
Valid, Strong, & Weak
Association
Explanation-Building (including
INUS Conditions)
Experimental Methods
Induction
Causation
Inference To A Cause & To An Effect
Inference To The Best Explanation
Detailed Contents (with links to Parts and Chapters)
Classifying 1 (flag words; reasoning vs. non-reasoning)
Classifying 2 (justifying belief vs. explaining; inferring vs. arguing)
Analyzing 1 (propositions; conjunctions)
Analyzing 2 (standard form; rewriting sentences; things to omit)
Reasoning Substitutes (various ways not to reason, or to short-circuit reason-giving, by claiming the reasons are obvious, pointing imprecisely at reasons, shifting the burden of proof, appealing to ignorance, abusing flag words, begging the question)
Problems With Meaning – (imprecise language, euphemism, metaphor, vagueness, weasel words, ambiguity)
Two Criteria Of Evaluation – (soundness; valid-strong-weak; ignoring confidence indicators)
Everyday Inferences – Sources, Character, Motives (sources, character, motives: argument from authority; various ad hominems)
Everyday Inferences – Emotional Reasons For Practical Conclusions (Decision-making)
Everyday Inferences – Reasoning With Properties, Parts, & Relations (Identity/difference, part-whole, symmetricality, chain (with relations), transitivity)
Everyday Inferences – Reasoning With Classes & Propositions (chain (with classes), instantiation, affirming the antecedent, chain (with propositions), elimination)
Warrants – (Adding warrants/missing premises, sincerity & charity)
Diagramming - Basic (Standard form and diagramming of single-target reasoning)
Diagramming - Complex (Multiple targets, either from a single set of reasons or in sequence)
Diagramming - Dialogue(Objections, objections to objections, support for objections)
Diagramming - Very Long Passages
Propositional & Categorical Reasoning (P&C)
Validity & Non-Validity (Note: there is a section on valid-strong-weak (and soundness) in RW's Two Criteria)
Logical Structure Of Propositions (Negations, Conjunctions, Disjunctions, Conditionals)
Necessary & Sufficient Conditions
Big 8 Method (Single-step derivation using 8 basic rules)
Method Of Derivation (Multi-step derivation)
Categorical Reasoning (Very rudimentary introduction)
Inductive & Scientific Reasoning (I&S)
Valid, Strong, Weak (Note: there's a separate section on valid-not valid in P&C, and a quick section on valid-strong-weak and soundness in RW's Basic Evaluation.)
Causation, Causal Explanation & Causal Inferences (Causation & Causal Explanation, Inference to a Cause, Inference to an Effect)
Analogy & Inference To The Best Explanation (Hypothesis development when at a loss)
Experimental Methods (Controlled, Randomized, Prospective, Retrospective, Natural)
Induction (Generalization, Instantiation and Induction to a Particular)
Problems In Induction (Problem of Induction, New Riddle of Induction, Lottery Paradox. Philosophical appendix - No Exercises.)
Association Diagrams & Cross-Tabulations (Association, Cross-Tabulations, Present-Present Fallacy)
Explanation-Building (including INUS Conditions)