Page 200 - Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, 2nd Ed
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FURTHER READING 187

           Excellent introduction to, and then extended discussion of, the way that social
        and cultural theorists have developed more sophisticated understandings of
        'knowledge' as a product of social and cultural forces in the past fifty years.
        Morton, Adam, Philosophy in Practice, Blackwell, Oxford, 1996.
           Covers many issues relating to both epistemology and other aspects of philos-
        ophy (such as identity, ethics, and so on); particularly useful for its discussions of
        certainty and doubt.
        Schirato, Tony and Yell, Susan, Communication and Culture: An Introduction,
           Sage, London, 2000.
          A very comprehensive treatment of the way meaning is generated by context,
        intertextuality, and discourse within culture and society. This book, unlike many
        critical thinking texts, is grounded in the insights of post-structuralist
        philosophy and will significantly assist your understanding of the way 'objective'
        truth is a construct of social processes as much as it is a property of objects in
        the world.
        Stefik, Mark, Internet Dreams: Archetypes, Myths, and Metaphors, MIT Press,
           Cambridge, Mass., 1996.
          An eclectic collection of primary and secondary analysis of the early days of the
        Internet. Used here for the work of Licklider but an interesting commentary on
        why technologies of information and communication do not substitute for
        reasoning in our search for information.


        Further reading on reasoning

        Bowell, Tracy and Kemp, Gary, Critical Thinking: A Concise Guide, Routledge,
           London, 2002.
          Alternative book to the larger reasoning textbooks listed below: good concise
        explanations and advice.
        Browne, M. Neil and Keeley, Stuart M., Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to
           Critical Thinking, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 2003 (7th edn).
          An excellent book that organises its ideas around the key concept of analytical
        questioning, which I deploy in chapters 8 and 9.
        Cederblom, Jerry and Paulsen, David W., Critical Reasoning, Wadsworth,
           Belmont, CA, 2000 (5th edn).
          A large reasoning textbook that contains an excellent discussion of the problems
        and advantages of relying on experts and authorities.
        Dowden, Bradley H., logical Reasoning, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1998.
          Another textbook with a particularly good chapter on explanations and on
        causal reasoning.
        Little, J. Frederick, Groarke, Leo A., and Tindale, Christopher W., Good
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