your students, especially the incoming fresh- men. Last semester I found that our freshmen typically read at no more than 9th or lOth grade levels; and the reading office warned against using texts written at levels more than one or two levels above the students. So I then measured the reading levels of our lower-level philosophy texts (the same office can tell you how to do this). Nearly all of them were 12th level and higher (Plato was a 9 notable exception). Small wonder that we hear students complaining that our texts are unreadable! Of course, reading level mea- surement is far from an exact science; but it's a lot more reliable than most faculty are willing to admit. Comparing the reading levels of your students and your texts can be ~ite illuminating - and may well point toward a change of text. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY In the last issue of the newsletter, we promised to publish this annotated bibliog- raphy of recently published texts suitable for courses on informal logic. We wish to make the following ~servations. First, we had to draw the line somewhere in our-Tnter- pretation of "recent" and we decided to in- clude texts published during 1976 and after. Thus a great many worthy texts are not in- cluded in our list and we wish to call attention to this point. Thus we make no pretense to offering a complete list nor do we wish to cast aspersions on earlier texts. 'We hope the authors of such pre-1976 texts will understand. Second, we have attempted to make our annotat~ons simply informative, asking ourselves: What would I want to know about this text if I were hearing about it * Barry, Vincent E. Practical L~gic. New York: Holt, Rinehart and W~nston, 1976. Pp. 384 + xvi. Cloth. PL contains some formal material, princi- pally dealing with syllogistic and Venn dia- grams. Much of the material to illustrate informal fallacies is drawn from real rather than fabricated examples. There are exer- cises with each chapter, and selected exer- cises are answered at the end of the book. Some special features of the book are the chapters on knowledge (2) and normative rea- soning (9). Contents. 1. Argument, Language and Re- ality: the argument, the sound argument, persuasive language. 2. Knowledge: belief * for the first time? Thus the bibliography makes no attempt to evaluate the texts. Third, we have included only texts which are e~ther exclusively or primarily devoted to informal logic. This makes sense, since the list is being published as an aid to those teaching courses or sections of courses on informal logic. Fourth, we would like to acknowledge the ass~stance of Professor Philip A. Pecorino (Department of Social Sciences, Queensburg Community College) for his help in the preparation of this bibliOg- raphy. If any of our readers know of any texts which ought to have been included but are not, we would ask that you inform us and we will remedy the oversight in the next issue. * and truth, the primary sources of knowledge: senses and reason, a secondary source of knowledge; authority. 3. Induction: the analogy, causation, hypothesis. 4. More on Induction: generalizations, concealed evi- dence and questionable claims. 5. Deduction: categorical propositions, standard-form categorical syllogisms. 6. Testing for Va- lidity: Venn diagrams, the rules of validity, the non-standard-form syllogism. 7. Recon- structing Arguments: translating categorical propositions into standard form, the enthy- meme, reconstruction and validity. 8. In- formal Fallacies: emotive language, appeal to authority, two-wrongs-make-a-right, the red herring and straw man fallacies, begging the question, invincible ignorance, the appeal to humor or ridicule, evaluating argu- ments: a four step procedure. 9. Normative Reasoning: aesthetic statements, ethical statements. ,I Baum, Robert. Ed. Ethical Arguments for Analysis. Brief Ed~t~on. New York-:-- Holt, R~nehart and Winston, 1979. Pp. 220 + xii. Paperback. Those familiar with Baum's longer work of the same title will welcome this Brief Edi- tion which contains numerous examples of arguments in ordinary language selected pri- marily from newspapers and magazines. They are grouped according to topic, and the Introduction contains useful remarks about the basic points of argument interpretation and analysis. Each section is prefaced by a brief and useful backgrounder to the issue dealt with in the upcoming examples. Contents. Introduction. 1. Interpersonal relat~ons. 2. "Victimless Crimes". 3. Sex- ual morality. 4. Censorship. 5. Gun Con- trol. 6. Animals and vegetables. 7. Abor- tion and sterilization. 8. Murder or mercy? 9. Corporate rights and responsibilities. 10. Civil disobedience. 11. Punishment vs. rehabilitation. 12. International relations. Crossley, David J., and Wilson, Peter A. How to Argue, An Introduction to Logical TlUnlITng. New York: Random HOUse, 1979. Pp. 288 + xii. Paperback. This text is in the informal logic tradi- tion and in the lineage of Beardsley's Thinking Straight and Weddle's Argument. It covers many of the standard topics such as the distinction of deduction from induction, language and meaning, explanation, causation, fallacies, the dilemma and reductio but it offers the somewhat innovat~ve provision of a method or technique utilizing the acronyms SCORE, for locating and structuring the argu- ments of others or preparing one's own argu- ments (to know the SCORE and prepare to SCORE), and FATE, for evaluating arguments (determining their FATE). The text supplies examples and exercises which are appropriate, adequate, manageable and contemporary and in addition, offers a glossary with a short list of fallacies, a briefly annotated bibliog- raphy, and an index, all of which are quite clear and should prove quite helpful to students. 10 Engel, S. Morris. With Good Reason, An Introduction to InIOrmar-Fa11ac~es:- New York: St. Martin's Press, 1976. Pp. 154 + xii. Paperback. The core of this text is the informal fal- lacies that are the subject of part two. Part one consists of two preparatory chapters, presenting the fundamentals of argument in nontechnical terms, plus those aspects of language, such as ambiguity, that can contri- bute to muddled thinking and muddled com- munication. Part two presents informal fal- lacies grouped under three headings: fal- lacies of ambiguity, fallacies of presump- tion, and fallacies of relevance. The ex- amples and the exercises are drawn from the mass media, from literature, from philosophic sources, and occasionally the author has in- vented arguments to illustrate his point. The book also contains reprints of S. I. Hayakawa's, "The Story of A-Town and B-Ville: Second Semantic Parable," and Max Shulman's, "Love is a Fallacy". Facione, Peter A., and Scherer, Donald. LogiC and Logical Thinking, A Modular Approa~ New York: McGraw=H~ll BOO~ Company, 1978. Pp. 495 + xii. Paperback. A unique feature of this text is its modular approach and the fact that the in- structional objectives are clearly stated at the beginning of each unit. There are com- prehensive self-quizzes which the student can use to gauge his or her understanding. The text has four parts and covers really more territory than would normally come under an informal logic course. Part I is material about language and argument, and includes chapters on what logic is about, definitions and their uses, and the key concepts of logic. Part II develops formal logic skills: prop- ositional logic, the syllogism, predicate .logic (contemporary methods). Part III treats illogical thinking, with a chapter on formal fallacies, and two chapters on in- formal fallacies--called "fallacies of con- tent": false assumptions, and "no-progress" fallacies. Part IV deals with logical think- ing, and has chapters on arguments and proofs, proof strategies, a system of natural deduc- tion for propositional logic, and elementary research design (inductive arguments) . Flew, Antony. Thinking straiiht. Buffalo, N. Y.: Prometheus Books, 977. Pp. 127. Paperback. First 'published in Great Britain in 1975 ~der the title Thinking about Thinking, Flew's book is really a br~ef manual on the sorts of mistakes that people often commit with advice on how to detect and avoid them. There are illustrations of the various fal- lacies, but no exercises. Flew's examples tend to corne from philosophical sources or British ones. Contents. 1. The basic equipment. 2. If/ then and All/none. 3. Evasion and falsifi- cation. 4. Motives and Grounds. 5. Minding our Language. 6. Figuring. 1. A chapter of errors. 8. The final foreword. Fogelin, Robert J. Understanding ~guments, An Introduction to Informal L~ghc. New YOrk: Harcourt Brace Jovanov~c , Inc., 1978. Pp. 351 + xiv. Paperback. (Note: Cf. Informal Logic Newsletter, Vol. 'I, No. 2, 10-11 for an expos~tory review of this text.) Fogelin's text has at least three dis- tinctive features. It introduces the idea of argument via an account of language, speech acts, and-COnversational implicatives drawn from Austin and Grice. It offers a novel, extremely interesting model and set of tech- niques for critically analyzing arguments from an informal point of view. And close to half the book consists of examples of actual extended argurnents--drawn from a variety of types of sources. Part I contains chapters on the nature of language, the nature of arguments and argu- mentation, the technique for analyzing and evaluating arguments, some fallacies of clarity and relevance, and other uses of arguments. The first part ends with two chapters on formal logic, covering, roughly, propositional logic and syllogistic. Part II consists of examples of argument drawn from different realms of discourse, each chapter containing two to four extended texts. There are specimens from: issues of public concern, legal reasoning, moral debate, scientific arguments, theological debate and philosophical arguments. The appendix con- tains Austin's "Performative Utterances" and Grice's, "Logic and Conversation" reprinted unabr idged • 11 Girle, Roderic A.; Halpin, Terence A.; Miller, Corinne L.; and Williams, Geoffrey H. Inductive and Practical Reasoning. East Br~sbane, Queensland: Rotecoge, 1978. Pp. 226. Paperback. Written as a text for students at the senior secondary school level in Queensland, Australia, this book is suitable for a fresh- man or introductory informal logic course in North America. The authors use the theme of dialogue to allow for argument in the nar- rower sense of premises and a conclusion and at the same time permit discussion of ex- planation, the use of Mill's methods, the recognition of questions and challenges, and some account of the onus of proof. There are, besides the introductory chapter, chapters on induction, probability, Mill's methods, explanation, justifying induction, fallacies and debating and dialogue. In an appendix there is a brief review of the first-order deductive logic of propositions and terms. The many short teaching examples tend to be a bit artificial; the numerous exercises, also using mainly invented ex- amples, are more natural. The exercises tend to be of the problem-solving sort. (Answers at the back of the book.) Johnson, Ralph H., and Blair, J. Anthony. L0 1 ical Self-Defense. Toronto: McGraw- H~ I Ryerson L~m~ted, 1977. Pp. 236 + xvi. Paperback. LSD takes the fallacy approach to infor- mal logic, and attempts to make this approach lively and topical. The introduction pre- sents the idea of argument, and the concept of fallacy as a violation of the standards of good argument: relevance, acceptability and sufficiency of premises. The next six chapters feature about 20 informal fallacies, explaining why they are fallacies, listing conditions for making a case against each one, and illustrating with real (as opposed to invented or artificial) examples from newspapers and magazines'. Chapter eight presents an approach for extracting and portraying the argumentative structure of longer pieces of argumentative prose. The final two chapters are on the news media (how to be an intelligent consumer of the news) and advertising (how to expose the gimmicks in print and TV ads). The text is aimed at a Canadian audience, but it would be usable elsewhere as well. ,I "" '" II' Ii Kahane, Howard. Logic ~ Contemporary Rhetoric, The Use of Reason ~n Everyday L~fe. Second ed~tron. Belmo-nt, california: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1976. Pp. 259 + x. Paperback. There are several changes in the second edition of this landmark text. The exercises have been expanded and improved; a chapter on language has been added, featuring material on the emotive uses of language and on sexism; the section on advertising has been general- ized to cover all advertising; the order of the material has been changed. In addition, the format of the text has been changed, too. The orientation of LCR remains, "an attempt to raise the level of political argument and reasoning by acquainting students with the devices and ploys which drag that level down." The examples, all from actual arguments, thus come from political discourse and contempor- ary public sources. The thirty informal fal- lacies described are divided into those that are fallacies because invalid (chapters one and two), those that are fallacious even if valid (chapter three), and statistical fal- lacies (chapter four). The remaining five chapters cover language (emotive uses and abuses, sexism in language), analyzing arguments (political articles and speeches) advertising (how ads con, and the selling of candidates), news (critique of reporting and news distortion), and textbooks (censorship and distortion). The appendix contains selected answers to exercises; the latter are extensive, following each chapter. Manicas, Peter T., and Kruger, Arthur N. LOitc, The Essentials. New York: McGraw- H~ Bo~Company, 1976. Pp. 495 + xiv. Cloth. This text is designed for an undergraduate course in logic, and hence contains a good deal more material than might be used in a course devoted to informal logic. Part I is titled "First Principles" and contains chap- ters on language and meaning, definition, and the basic concepts of logic. Part II is titled "Formal Logic" and treats elements of the propositional logic, syllogistic, and predicate logic. Part III is titled "Induction and Informal Fallacy" and has separate chapters on induction, probability, and two on informal fallacies. Part IV is called "Applied Logic" and treats scientific method and decision making. There are exer- cises for each chapter with answers to se- lected exercises at the back of the book. A special supplement is "The Workbook: Pro- gress Tests" and contains more ,material to allow students to test their understanding of the text. The text also contains a glos- sary and detailed index. 12 Munson, Ronald. The Way of Words, An Infor- ~ Logic. BostOn: Hougfitoii"'""MiITlrn-- Company, 1976. Pp. 437 + x. Cloth. This text, which divides conveniently into two parts, devotes itself almost totally to informal logic. The first part (Chapters 2- 5) deals with the features of language which are relevant to using it clearly and effec- tively and thus to appraising performances with it. Chapter 2 presents a linguistic theory of meaning; Chapter 3 discusses the flaws of ambiguity and vagueness; Chapter 4 deals with the nature and problems of defini- tion; and Chapter 5 treats of the various uses of language. The second half of the book (Chapters 6-9) focuses on the persuasive use of language: i.e., arguments. In Chap- ter 6, Munson discusses the problem of iden- tifying arguments, and various ways of chal- lenging them. Chapter 7 presents the tra- ditional distinction between inductive and deductive arguments. Chapter 8 is an inven- tory of various fallacies and sophistical moves. Chapter 9 discusses the problems of analogies and reasoning via examples. The last two chapters fall somewhat outside the scope of the text but are useful additions. In Chapter 10, Munson gives the student some excellent advice on how to write logically (i.e., clearly and effectively); Chapter 11 consists of tips on solving logic puzzles. There are ample exercises for each of the chapters; and these are solved (and addi- tional problems presented) in the answer book provided for instructors. Runkle, Gerald. Good Thinking, An Introduc- tion to Logic.~w York: Holt, R~nehart ana-wrnston, 1978. Pp. 352 + xii. Paper- back. "Good thinking is," to quote the author's own words, "both an 'informal' and a 'formal' approach to logic. It is informal in the sense that a great deal of attention is paid to such topics as meaning, ambiguity, equiv- ocation, definition, emotional appeals, and induction. The book also takes a formal approach to logic. It provides a formal analysis of statements and the relations be- tween statements, and it presents a formal account of deductive arguments." (iii) The text proceeds from words to state- ments, then to the relations between state- ments. The various kinds of relationship that statements in arguments can have to one another are then treated in two chapters on deduction and three chapters on induction. These are followed by a chapter on substi- tutes for argument: emotional appeals. The final chapter contains some longer arguments which are fir~t presented and then analyzed. In the append~x, Runkle treats Venn diagrams. There are exercises after every chapter' and each section within a chapter conclude~ with a concise summary of the main points. Scriven, Michael. Reasoning. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1976. Pp. 250 + xviii. Paperback. The backbone of this text is the author's Se~en ~tep ~pproach to Argument Analysis, wh~ch ~s br~efly explained in Chapter 3 and then expanded upon in Chapters 4 through 6. The step~ ~re:, 1) Clarification of Meaning; 2) Ident~f~cat~on of Conclusions; 3) Por- trayal of Structure; 4) Formulation of (Un- stated) Assumptions; 5) Criticism of a) The Premises, and b) The Inferences· 6) Intro- duction of Other Relevant Argum~nts. 7) Over- all Eval ua t ion. ' The first two chapters serve to introduce the subject of the text. "The Nature of Reasoning" (Chapter 1) is an excellent treat- ment of the topic which includes quizzes (some of which are answered in the text). :'Teaching and Learning Reasoning" (Chapter 2) 1S f~ll of provocative ideas about the ped- agog~cal aspects of reasoning courses. In Chapter 7, Scriven devotes sections to special kinds of argumentation: sampling and generalizations; generalizations about indi- viduals; analogy; causal reasoning; dialogues and debates. Chapter 8 "Extensions and Ramif ications" maps som; of the avenues open to those interested in further work in the area. ,There ar7 exercises throughout, some of Wh1Ch are g~ven answers in the text. Scriven's ~ext i~ well-written well-thought out, and h~ghly ~nnovative. But it is also open-ended and the last thing from dogmatic Finally, Scriven deserves mounds of credit' for being bold enough to bring the concept and the word "reasoning" to the fore without worrying about repercussions. Thomas, Stephen N. Practical Reasoning in Natural Langua~e. Englewood Cl~ffs, New Jersey: Prent~ce-Hall, Inc., 1977. Pp. 280 + viii. Paperback. This is a manual-workbook designed to help students learn how to make sense of and eval- uate passages of reasoning as they occur in natural language. It adapts and develops Beardsley's tree-diagramming approach to 13 analyzing arguments and exposing and display- ing the steps and structure of their reason- ing. Thomas provides numerous techniques and practical rules that will help students find their way in the real world of reasoning and argumentation including longer arguments. The material used for illustrating the method and for the plentiful exercises all comes from the natural language setting. In the chapter on the basic evaluation of reasoning, Thomas presents validity as a matter of de- gree (with deductive validity equal to 100% strength), which makes for some interesting analyses. This chapter also treats condi- tionals and other sentential connectives to- gether with valid inferences using them, and a section on how and why to supply suppres- sed premises. There are chapters on prac- tical decision making, on special topics (analyzing muddy reasoning or confused expo- sition, some informal fallacies), and on analyzing long linked arguments and disor- ganized or confused complex reasoning. NOTE: The editors have heard that this valuable text is out of print and not being reprinted. If there is a demand for it, word to that effect should be sent to the publish- ers (who, after all, are subject to market pressures) • Toulrnin, Stephen; Rieke, Richard; and Janik, Allan. An Introduction to Reasoning. New York: Macm~llan Pubrrsh~ng Co., Inc., 1979. Pp. 343 + viii. Cloth. The working premise of this extremely interesting new text is that logic is based on the notion that reasoning is essentially a matter of dialogue, a human transaction, rather than the analysis of arguments in terms of canons that fix their validity or invalidity. Argumentation is taken to be an "open-textured" activity, and its mastery is the mastery of certain techniques, a critical vocabulary and a mode of analysis. Part I introduces this conception, noting varied uses of language and reasoning, treating arguments as trains of reasoning, and presenting the idea that arguments vary with their "forums"--e.g., law courts, uni- versity seminars, engineering design confer- ences. Part II presents the basic models for argument analysis. The completed, com- plex model--introduced part by part in chap- ters 2-7--breaks arguments into claims (cf., conclusions) and the grounds (facts, evi- dence) supporting them, together with the warrants (justifications of the inference from the ground to the claim), the backing (for the warrants), and modalities and re- buttals (qualifications and prov~so~ -- Part III deals with rational assessment, with two chapters dealing with the general features distinguishing good from bad argu- ments, and the occasions for rational assess- ment, a chapter on how language and cornrnuni- 1,,'1 cation relate to argumentation, and a chapter on informal fallacies. Part IV consists of a series of essays presenting the character- isti~ fe~~ures of reasoning in a variety of spec~al f~elds: legal reasoning, argumenta- tion in science, arguing about the arts rea- soning about management, and ethical re~son­ ing. There are exercises following each chap- ter, ranging from easy to difficult. The ex~rcises tend to be open-ended. A teaching gu~de, presenting a brief rationale to the teacher of each chapter's approach and main points, and suggesting answers to the exer- cises, comes with instructors' copies. Wedd17, ~erry. Argument, ~ ~ to Critical Th~nk~ng. New York: McGraw-Hir! Book Company, 1978. Pp. 192 + xiv. Paperback. A straight "informal logic" text, Argument is deSigned, by topics covered, by example and by exercises, to teach thoughtful rea- soning and assessment of others' reasoning. * 14 * The first chapter introduces the realm of reason--the mechanics of argument, the ecol- ogy of argument, and criteria of good rea- soning. Chapter two discusses fallacies of oversimplification and of "smokescreen". The third chapter treats language: the de- mands good argument makes of language, trad- ing on wordS, and an interesting treatment of definition. Under the rubric "Authority", chapter four discusses not only experts and other sources of authority, but also ad hominem and the use of statistics. Chapter five is on generality: the logic of general statements, and generalizing, sampling, and polls and surveys. Chapter six covers Comparison: analogical reasoning in general, and historical and moral comparisons. The seventh and final chapter is on Cause--the idea of cause, causal arguments and causal reasoning. Once or twice in each chapter there ap- pears a "Quick Check"--a device which enables the reader to check his or her understanding of the material just read (answers are pro- vided). As well there are examples at the end of each chapter which may be used as ex- ercises. "Comments" rather than answers are provided for Some of these. Thirdly, there are "applications", which may be used as exercises, projects or take-offs for dis- cussions. The examples, found throughout the text, are many, non-artificial, and often taken from actual public discourse. * ANALYSIS OF PUZZLE We received the following response to the Woods-Walton "Find the Fallacy" puzzle in the December 1978 (Vol. I, No.2) Newsletter: First of all, it seems to me that in order to commit a fallacy in reasoning, there must be some reason~ng, either explicit or implicit, that is to say, one must have an argument. The "bus service" argument is, in effect, as it is originally stated, really two arguments--or perhaps more properly an argument and its counterargument. It starts with the citizens request (or demand) for more bus service in an outlying suburb. No argument. City Hall responds with Argument 1, which amounts to a denial of the request. The citizens counter with Argument 2. In order to have a petitio, there would have to be a circle with~n one of the argu- ments--or else, one would have to have some sort of situation in which Argument 2 ~- tinued the reasoning of Argument 1. Here, however, that is not the case. So petitio principii does not seem, on the face of th~ngs, a plausible analysis of this example. But what does? It seems to me that there are two possible approaches to take. First, that there is no fallacy--at least none de- tectible given the scant information supplied. possibly some suppressed information could be brought forth to show, say, a Half Truth in City Hall's argument. But we can't say. A second approach seems better: There is a Contrary-to-Fact Argument in #2. It is always difficult to argue convincingly (and soundly) of what "would be" or worse "would have been" without a great deal of supportive material, which is not furnished here; even with such supportive material, the argument is usually weak at best. Presumably (just a guess, since there could be many motives for such a decision) the transportation authority cut back on service because it was underutilized, if such transportation had originally been-