The Elements of Reasoning

Ronald Munson is Professor of Philosophy of Science and Medicine at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a nationally acclaimed bioethicist. After receiving his Ph.D. from Columbia University, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology at Harvard University and a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Medical School.Munson has served as a bioethicist for the National Eye Institute and the National Cancer Institute, as an editor for the AMERICAN JOURANAL OF SURGERY, and as a member of the Washington University Human Studies Committee. Munson’s other books include RAISING THE DEAD: ORGAN TRANSPLANTS, ETHICS, AND SOCIETY, THE WOMAN WHO DECIDED TO DIE: CHALLENGES AND CHOICES AT THE EDGES OF MEDICINE, REASONING IN MEDICINE, and ELEMENTS OF REASONING, 7e (with Andrew Black). He is also the author of the novels NOTHING HUMAN, FAN MAIL, NIGHT VISION, and THE HARVARD GAME. Andrew Black was educated at University College, London, and University of Massachusetts, Amherst, from which he received his Ph.D. He taught at Dartmouth College and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and is currently Teaching Professor at University of Missouri–St. Louis, where he has taught since 1999. He has published in the areas of history of philosophy and epistemology and is the writer and presenter of the educational television series Great Philosophers.

• Preface.Briefing.Basic Assumptions.Organization.Using This Book.1. RECOGNIZING ARGUMENTS.What Is an Argument? Three General Considerations. Recognizing Arguments. Multiple Conclusions and Complex Arguments. Exercises.2. ANALYZING ARGUMENTS.Showing the Structure of Arguments. Strategies of Analysis. Two Special Problems. Analyzing a Complex Argument: An Example. Exercises.3. EVALUATING ARGUMENTS.Deductive Arguments. Exercises. Nondeductive Arguments. Complex Arguments. Exercises. Overall Argument Evaluation. Exercises.4. SOME VALID ARGUMENT FORMS.Sentential Form. Exercises. Valid Argument Forms. Two Invalid Argument Forms. Exercises. Using the Forms to Show Validity. Exercises. Conditionals. Equivalent Forms. Exercises. Using Inference and Equivalence Rules. Deductive Proof Strategies. Exercises.5. MORE VALID ARGUMENT FORMS: CATEGORICAL REASONING AND VENN DIAGRAMS.Categorical Statements. Exercises. Categorical Syllogisms. Exercises.6. CAUSAL ANALYSIS.Basic Causal Relationships. Contributing Factors as "Causes." Causal Explanations. Testing Causal Claims. Experimental Trials. Exercises.7. ARGUMENT BY ANALOGY AND MODELS.Analogical Arguments. Models. Evaluating Analogical Reasoning. Exercises.8. ERRORS IN REASONING: FALLACIES.Fallacies in Supporting a Claim. Fallacies of Criticism and Response. Exercises.9. DEFINITION.Definition of "Definition." Two Types of Definition. Methods of Definition. Standards of Definition. Working Out a Definition. Exercises.10. VAGUENESS AND AMBIGUITY.Vagueness. Ambiguity. Exercises.11. REASONABLE BELIEFS.Granted Claims and Acceptable Beliefs. New Claims, Background Beliefs, and Rationality. Exercises.12. RULES FOR WRITING.Structure. Style. Exercises: Some Answers, Hints, and Comments.Index.