Page 10 - Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, 2nd Ed

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION ix

vast scale, with far too little critical analysis to support it. It is precisely at the
junction between 'knowledge as something one knows' and 'knowledge as a
function of communication' that most of us need assistance in sharpening up our
thinking skills.
My work in Applied Reasoning 200 has not only helped my own development
as a critical thinker but has given me the opportunity to test ideas and approaches
on a captive audience. So, my first debt of gratitude is to all the students who have,
in so many ways, contributed to the writing of this book. Applied Reasoning 200
also became the focal point for a series of collegia! relationships from which I have
benefited enormously. For their assistance, insights (and perseverance with often
impractical ideas), my thanks are extended to Patrick Bertola, Gina Koczberski,
Des Thornton, and especially, Eamon Murphy, all of Curtin University. Thanks
also to Will Christensen, Dennis Taylor, and Roy Jones for their positive
encouragement as heads of academic departments. I also owe a debt of gratitude to
Richard Bosworth, who some years ago, when I began to study at university, first
taught me that critical enquiry involves asking about the 'who', 'when', 'why', and
'how', as well as the 'what' that was the staple of high school study. Michelle Forster
and Emma Rooksby provided invaluable research assistance and general help; both
are fine young philosophers. Thanks, as well, to my publisher, Jill Lane, and editor,
Lucy Davison, of Oxford University Press. Finally, I could not have written this
book without the unstinting support and reassurance of my wife Jane and step-
daughter Verity; most of all, they remind me that a person cannot live on logic
alone and confirm in my mind that life must be lived, not just with analytical
reserve, but also with passion and commitment.
Matthew Allen
Perth
September 1996

Preface to Second Edition

I have been fortunate enough to find that I was right to assume that a practical
book on critical thinking skills set in the context of communication would be both
popular and necessary. I continue to be involved in teaching critical thinking in the
unit Applied Reasoning, which is now a part of some courses of study through
Open Learning Australia (REAl 1—visit http://www.ola.edu.au), and is being
revived on campus at Curtin University. I have also realised that, in writing Smart
Thinking, I myself learnt as much as I would hope for its readers and so, in the end,
it was an easy decision to produce a new edition.
This second edition reflects the experiences of teaching with Smart Thinking
over the years since it was first published. In revising it, I have found that much of
what I had originally written remains valuable, and that students have learnt from