xx, 578 pages : 26 cm The power of critical thinking: effective reasoning about ordinary and extraordinary claims, fifth edition, explores the essentials of critical reasoning, argumentation, logic, and argumentative essay writing while also incorporating important topics that most other texts leave out, such as "inference to the best explanation," scientific reasoning, evidence and authority, visual reasoning, and obstacles to critical thinking - Publisher's note Includes bibliographical references and index Part One: basics -- The power of critical thinking -- Obstacles to critical thinking -- Making sense of arguments -- Part Two: reasons -- Reasons for belief and doubt -- Fallacies and persuaders -- Part Three: arguments -- Deductive reasoning: propositional logic -- Deductive reasoning: categorical logic -- Inductive reasoning -- Part Four: explanations -- Inference to the best explanation -- Judging scientific theories -- Critical thinking in morality and the law -- Appendix A: essays for evaluation -- Appendix B: answers to exercises -- Appendix C: answers to self-assessment quizzes -- Appendix D: critical thinking and writing