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This accessible and engaging book reveals the essential elements of critical and creative thinking that drive achievement in academic, professional, and personal spheres. Moving seamlessly from the foundations of critical understanding to the art of persuasion, leading scholar Robert DiYanni expertly guides readers past common obstacles toward a more complete intellectual toolkit.
This compelling guide is an indispensable companion to
Reading Literature and
Writing that Matters. Part One offers a clear and concise overview of essential aspects of critical thinking and understanding, including what knowledge is, how we acquire it, and how we can use it productively. Part Two explores argument and persuasion, including essential elements of argumentation and how to construct effective arguments. Part Three introduces types of logical fallacies, along with cognitive biases and various blocks to thinking-and how to overcome them. Part Four describes practical thinking tools and techniques to develop readers' creative thinking skills. It also features a host of exercises and questions throughout.
The result is a more confident, capable thinker equipped to meet challenges with clarity and innovation. Whether you're navigating complex decisions, solving persistent problems, or analysing texts, this book is the essential guide to honing your critical thinking skills.
List of contents
Preface; Acknowledgments;
Part I: Critical Thinking; 1. Why We Need Critical Thinking; 2. How We Acquire Knowledge; 3. Decisive Thinking-Making Good Decisions;
Part II: Argument & Persuasion; 4. Argument Basics-Claims & Evidence / Assumptions & Implications; 5. Key Aspects of Argument-Causality & Correlation / Authority & Analogy, 6. Rhetoric-Its Dangers and Its Uses;
Part III: Obstacles to Productive Thinking; 7. Inductive Thinking Fallacies; 8. Cognitive Biases and Thinking Blocks;
Part IV: Pathways to Creative Thinking; 9. Some Lateral Thinking Tools; 10. Creative Thinking Strategies and Techniques;
Part V: Thinking with Some Master Thinkers; 11. Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir; 12. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore; 13. Susanne K. Langer and Jerome S. Bruner; 14. Richard Feynman and Daniel Kahneman; Appendix A: Varieties of Future Thinking; Appendix B: Thinking About Artificial Intelligence; References; Index
About the author
Robert DiYanni is Professor of Humanities at New York University, USA where he serves on the faculties of the School of Professional Studies and the Stern School of Business, following a decade in the College of Arts and Science. His publications include
The Pearson Guide to Critical and Creative Thinking (2014),
Critical and Creative Thinking: A Brief Guide for Teachers (2015), and
Critical Reading Across the Curriculum (with Anton Borst; 2017).
