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Rating:  Summary: Good explanations, but bias abounds. Review: Starting on page 97, the book talks about the "We don't ban cars" argument in regards to the gun control debate. The authors call this a questionable analogy because "Handguns serve few legitimate purposes in private hands; AK-47s and the like, none at all; restricting their use would make relatively little difference in most of our lives."In addition, solutions for the end-of-chapter exercises had no given solutions, making it difficult for study in a politics class like the one I'm taking with this book. While the book is an enjoyable read, the biases of the authors leave a bad aftertaste, leading me to only give the book two stars instead of what would be maybe four. For casual readers who aren't using this as a textbook, I'm sure that better books are out there.
Rating:  Summary: Good explanations, but bias abounds. Review: Starting on page 97, the book talks about the "We don't ban cars" argument in regards to the gun control debate. The authors call this a questionable analogy because "Handguns serve few legitimate purposes in private hands; AK-47s and the like, none at all; restricting their use would make relatively little difference in most of our lives." In addition, solutions for the end-of-chapter exercises had no given solutions, making it difficult for study in a politics class like the one I'm taking with this book. While the book is an enjoyable read, the biases of the authors leave a bad aftertaste, leading me to only give the book two stars instead of what would be maybe four. For casual readers who aren't using this as a textbook, I'm sure that better books are out there.
Rating:  Summary: Whats The Deal With Not Answering The Questions? Review: The book itself is great and easy to understand. Just about anyone is able to pick this book up, read it, understand the arguments, and then realize when and where fallacious reasoning is used. My only problem comes with the exercises the book gives. While it is nice that questions and arguments are given where you are supposed to find the fallacy or determine whether it is a good or bad argument, at the same time, out of 28 questions, the book only gives the answers to four questions (in a given exercise at the end of the third chapter). It would be nice if a book that cost over $50.00 gave answers to all the exercise questions it asked, so that people like me, who learn easier by seeing the answer and question together, will have examples to learn and check answers. Besides that, its a great book.
Rating:  Summary: excellent text on logic Review: There is a bit of bias here, but it's mostly obvious and the author is quick to point out that he isn't trying to be free of bias - he's trying to teach you to spot it in others so that you can reach good conclusions. All in all, it's an excellent primer on logic and reason, and high school / college students would do well to read this book before trying to sort out what they read/hear/see on TV/newspapers/magazines/books.
Rating:  Summary: excellent text on logic Review: This is an excellent book, with no axe to grind--other than promoting clear thinking. It covers a lot of ground, is accessible, yet not superficial. I have used it in class for years in its various editions, and the examples, discussion, and even cartoons are always of the best quality. Students love this book, and for good reason. Of course, Kahane always annoys adherents of astrology, etc. Maybe that was it.
Rating:  Summary: What was the previous reviewer thinking of? Review: This is an excellent book, with no axe to grind--other than promoting clear thinking. It covers a lot of ground, is accessible, yet not superficial. I have used it in class for years in its various editions, and the examples, discussion, and even cartoons are always of the best quality. Students love this book, and for good reason. Of course, Kahane always annoys adherents of astrology, etc. Maybe that was it.
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