Reasoning, tested by doubt, is argumentation. We do it, hear it, and judge it every day. We do it in our own minds, and we do it with others. What is effective reasoning? And how can it be done persuasively? These questions have been asked for thousands of years. Argumentation teaches how to reason, how to persuade others that what you think is right, and how to judge and answer the arguments of others.

Tools of Thinking will help you cut through deception and faulty reasoning to get closer to the essence of a matter. You explore the ideas of some of the greatest philosophers who ever lived: Plato, Aristotle, René Descartes, Isaac Newton, David Hume, and John Stuart Mill, among others. You also review the rudiments of logic, and how to recognize some notoriously egregious—and common—errors of thought.