Thinking From A to Z

166 Pages·2000·3.05 MB·English

by  Nigel Warburton

T O
SECOND EDITION
See Jargon, Pseu do -profundity and Smofc
Seing able to spot poor reasoning and diversionary
ploys like these will put more clout behind your
arguments and sharpen your thinking
This brilliant book, now in its second edition, will givt
you the power to tell a good from a bad argument.
Using witty and topical examples, Nigel Warburton
will enable you to distinguish with confidence
between a Red Herring and a Straw Man.
counterexample
truth by adage
thafi a value judgement/
Nigel Warburton is the auth>
althlrdeditionland
l. and editor of PhHoac
9780415222808
Thinking from A tO Z, 2nd Edition
How do politicians win arguments? By not giving a direct answer to
a direct question. The politician's answer is a form of economy with
the truth.
'Mick Jagger and I went to the same primary school; Mick Jagger
turned out to be a great success, so I will too.' Why is this a fallacy?
Where would you find gobbledygook? See jargon, pseudo-
profundity and smokescreen.
Being able to spot poor reasoning and diversionary ploys like these
will put more clout behind your arguments and sharpen your thinking.
This brilliant book, now in its second edition, will give you the power
to tell a good from a bad argument. Using witty and topical exam-
ples, Nigel Warburton will enable you to distinguish with confidence
between a red herring and a straw man.
This new edition includes many new entries and updates to the whole
text, including:
Catch-22 Ockham's Razor 'that's a value
counterexample paradox judgement'
domino effect Socratic fallacy truth by adage
exception that
proves the rule
Nigel Warburton is the author of Philosophy: The Basics (third
edition) and Philosophy the Classics, and editor of Philosophy: Basic
Readings.

Thinking
from
A to Z
2nd Edition
If you can't say it clearly, you don't
understand it yourself.
John Searle
Nigel Warburton
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1996,1998 British Library Cataloguing in
by Routledge Publication Data
2 Park Square, Milton Park, A catalogue record for this book is
Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN available from the British Library.
Simultaneously published in the Library of Congress Cataloging in
USA and Canada Publication Data
W
Thinking from A to Z / Nigel
New York, NY 10016 „. . ? « . . °
Warburton. - 2nd ed.
This edition first published 2000 p. cm.
D^-,^iftfti onni^ \ inn< Includes bibliographical references.
Routledge is an imprint of the ISBN (Ml 5-22282-8 (pbk.)
Reprinted 2001,2003(twice), 2005 ^^fifa _
Taylor A Francis Group KBN1. Reasoning-Dictionaries. 2. Critical
C 2000 Nigel Warburton thinking-Dictionaries. I. Title.
BC177W345 2000
Typeset in Tunes and Frutiger l3.4'3'03-dc21 00-020286
5
by Florence Production Ltd,
Stoodleigh, Devon
Printed and bound in Great Britain
by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
AH rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission ISBN 0-415-22281-8 (pbk)
in writing from the publishers. ISBN 0-415-22280-X (hbk)
In memory of Matthew (1958-93)

Contents
Acknowledgements Vlll
Introduction ix
Thinking from A to Z
Acknowledgements
I am grateful for comments that various people have made on parts
of this book. In particular I want to thank James Cargile, Simon
Christmas, Michael Clark, Shirley Coulson, Jonathan Hourigan, Robin
Le Poidevin, Jonathan Lowe, Lotte Motz, Alex Orenstein, Tom
Stoneham, Anne Thomson, Jennifer Trusted, Jamie Whyte, and several
anonymous readers. My wife Anna's many perceptive criticisms made
this a much better book than it would otherwise have been.
Nigel Warburton
VIII