Table Of ContentCMYK
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What is ‘humptydumptying’?
Do ‘arguments from analogy’ ever stand up? T
How do I know when someone is using ‘weasel words’? h
What is a ‘politician’s answer’? i
What’s the difference between a ‘red herring’ and a n
‘straw man’? k
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n
This superb book, now in its third edition, will help anyone who
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wants to argue well and think critically. Using witty and topical
examples, this fully-updated new edition includes many new entries f
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and updates to the whole text.
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New entries include: m
• principle of charity
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• lawyer’s answer
• least worst option t �
• poisoning the well o
• sentimentality Z �
• sunk cost fallacy
• weasel words
• ‘you would say that wouldn’t you’
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will defi nitely give you the power to tell a good one from a bad one. E
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Nigel Warburton is Senior Lecturer at The Open University and io
a bestselling author. His other books include The Basics of Essay n
Writing; Philosophy: The Basics, fourth edition; Philosophy: The Classics,
third edition; Philosophy: The Essential Study Guide;The Art Question N
and Freedom, all published by Routledge. ig
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www.virtualphilosopher.org l W
a Thinking from A to Z
PHILOSOPHY/STUDY SKILLS rb
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t
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n Third Edition
www.routledge.com
Printed in Great Britain
Cover image: © Photolibrary
Nigel Warburton
Thinking from A to Z,
3rd Edition
How do politicians win arguments? By not giving a direct answer to a
direct question. The politician’s answeris 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 third edition,will give 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 herringand a straw man.
This updated third edition includes new entries on:
principle of charity sentimentality
lawyer’s answer sunk cost fallacy
least worst option weasel words
poisoning the well ‘you would say that wouldn’t you’
Nigel Warburtonis the author of Philosophy:The Basics(4th edition),
Philosophy: The Classics (3rd edition), Philosophy: The Essential
Study Guide, Freedom, The Art Question and The Basics of Essay
Writing,and is editor of Philosophy:Basic Readings(2nd edition).
R
O
Thinking
U
from
A to Z
T
L
3rd Edition
E
If you can’t say it clearly,you don’t
understand it yourself.
John Searle
D
Nigel Warburton
■
G
E
First published 1996 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
by Routledge A catalog record for this book has
270 Madison Ave,New York, been applied for.
NY10016
Second edition published 2000
This edition published 2007
Routledge is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group,an informa
business
©1996,2000,2007 Nigel Warburton
Typeset in Times and Frutiger
by Florence Production Ltd,
Stoodleigh,Devon
All 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
ISBN10:0–415–43371–1
permission in writing from the
publishers. ISBN13:978–0–415–43371–6
In memory of Matthew (1958–93)
C
o
Contents
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t
e
Acknowledgements viii n
Introduction ix
Thinking from A to Z 1
t
s
vii
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, Richard Mascall, 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
Website:www.nigelwarburton.com
Weblog:www.nigelwarburton.typepad.com
viii
Introduction
This book is an introduction to critical thinking. It provides some of the
basic tools for clear thinking on any issue. The techniques and topics
discussed can be applied to any area in which clear thought is required:
they have direct applications in most academic disciplines and in any
facet of life in which people present reasons and evidence in support of
conclusions.
There are four main sorts of entry. First, there are those which
deal with common moves in argument such as the companions in guilt
move. Then there are those which focus on seductive reasoning errors
such as the correlation = cause confusionand the Van Gogh fallacy.
There are entries on techniques of persuasion and avoidance,such as
the no hypotheticals move and the politician’s answer. And, lastly,
there are those which examine psychological factors which can be
obstacles to clear thought, such as wishful thinking. Not all of the
entries fit neatly into these categories,but most of them do. Each entry
contains a short account of a topic,usually followed by examples. The
examples are partly there to help you see how the particular move or
ix
