An appeal to students -- What is an argument? what is a good argument? -- Definitions and criteria of critical thinking -- Writing argumentative papers -- Viewpoint, bias, and fairness : from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty -- Questioning culturally conditioned assumptions -- Overgeneralization, stereotyping and prejudice -- Questioning centrisms, authoritarianism, rationalization, compartmentalization -- Semantics in rhetoric and critical thinking -- Avoiding oversimplification and recognizing complexity -- Some key terms in logic and argumentation -- Logical and rhetorical fallacies -- Causal analysis -- Uses and misuses of emotional appeal -- Thinking critically about political rhetoric -- Thinking critically about mass media -- Special interests, conflict of interest, special pleading -- Varieties of propaganda -- Advertising and hype -- A case study : analyzing arguments about the rich, the poor and the middle class -- Assignments for collecting and evaluating opposing viewpoints -- Documentation -- Research resources.
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