Think Again: How to Reason and Argue by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (PDF)

Description

Our personal and political worlds are rife with arguments and disagreements, some of them petty and vitriolic. The inability to compromise and understand the opposition is epidemic today, from countries refusing to negotiate, to politicians pandering to their base. Social media has produced a virulent world where extreme positions dominate. There is much demonization of the other side, very little progress is made, and the end result is further widening of positions. How did this happen, and what might be done to address it? Walter Sinnott-Armstrong says there is such a thing as a “good” argument: Reasonable arguments can create more mutual understanding and respect, and even if neither party is convinced by the other, compromise is still possible.Think Again shows the importance of good arguments and reveals common misunderstandings. Rather than a means to persuade other people or beat them in an intellectual competition, Sinnott-Armstrong sees arguments as an essential tool for constructive interaction with others. After showing how the failure of good arguments has led us to society’s current woes, he shows readers what makes a good argument.In clear, lively, and practical prose, and with plentiful examples from politics, popular culture, and everyday life, Sinnott-Armstrong explains what defines an argument, identifies the components of good arguments as well as fallacies to avoid, and demonstrates what good arguments can accomplish. Armed with these tools, readers will be able to spot bad reasoning and bad arguments, and to advance their own views in a forceful yet logical way. These skills could even help repair our tattered civic culture.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐In a time when reason and argument seem dead, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong gives us a great introduction to logic and why we should value it. This book teaches about reasoning and arguments and how they are misused. A must read for anyone interested in how we know it is true.

⭐Sinnott-Armstrong is a persuasive writer. He understands the proper way to argue. One does not need to scream emotionally in order to convince people of his/her argument. In fact that is not arguing; it’s screaming emotionally! The book deals a lot in logic and syllogistic reasoning, one of my favorite high school courses. This would have been a five-star rating had the author not gone into excruciating detail on some of his examples. Definitely worth the read if one wants to learn how to argue effectively, and unlearn highly emotional and one-side debating. According to the author arguing is as much a learning process for both arguers as it is a persuasive process.

⭐Great concise writing style

⭐”Part I: Why To Argue” and “Intermission: From Why To How” are quite interesting and insightful. However “Part II: How To Argue” and “Part III: How Not To Argue” are too verbose in explanatory examples to follow without feeling confused and frustrated.

⭐It should be a staple in schools.

⭐Incredible book!

⭐It seems like a platitude to say that our society today desperately needs a review of key ideas in critical thinking. How do we differentiate argument from mere opinion? How do we critically listen and support our argument? What is a valid argument? How do we evaluate arguments? This book could offer a less expensive alternative to very expensive logic and critical thinking textbooks only if it weren’t so shallow and lacking in crucial details. This is below a beginner’s text on critical thinking and is very basic and so obvious as to be uninformative. Although I admire the design and intentions of this book the material only scratches the surface and doesn’t improve on other super basic books on the topic written for the general public. This supports the idea that if one wants to improve critical thinking skills, then the best option is still the classroom, being directed by a competent professional (as this author is). The best books (still) on the topic are by Copi, Hurley, and Layman. Of course, there are older classic logic books that are less accessible but these are still the pricey best. Ya’ get what ya’ pay for, folks! Sorry to say…

⭐When I started reading this book I was disappointed and ready to quit because it begins with a lengthy discussion of what can go wrong if people can’t learn to argue properly. The information was trivial and obvious. However, as the book progressed so did the quality of the presentation. Specifically, the author did a good job of presenting the various components of a valid ad sound argument, as well as the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning. He wrapped up with a list of the most common fallacies, with clear explanations of how they are structured and fail. The information in this book is desperately needed in an age when everyone talks past each other.

⭐The writer is very keen to put across his ultra-left-leaning credentials, which detracts from the text. It is not clearly laid out. He gives his own idiosyncratic names to things, which is not helpful for the point of memorising the book. The first parts of the book are just fillers and totally useless. I would not recommend it, even as an introduction.

⭐I took this professor’s course on Coursera previously, and I was hoping for more in depth information from the book, but there wasn’t much. Overall a very pleasant read that does indeed outline a valuable perspective on reasoning

⭐The text is profound but accessible and provides both a context and rationale as to why we should all be interested in the basic methods of logical argument and reasoning – a ‘bible’ for our times!

⭐A good instructional book but I would have liked to have seen more worked examples. A bit heavy going in places and some worked examples were overworked for me.

⭐An excellent topic, but the execution is a little bit below expectation. The book reads like a good university dissertation. The spark is missing

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