Preface thinking as an avenue toward improved development of their own thinking, they fastened on critical thinking as a skill and habit. Our students are also reluctant to criticize reasoning because of the social effects of their criticisms Their reluctance often disappears, however, when they begin to sense the positive effect of such criticisms on their own conscious reflection e worked especially hard for this edition to improve the Web site. It is organized by chapter and contains practice passages of varying size and com- plexity. In addition, learners also need to see arguments that are relatively strong. We want to highlight what is particularly strong about these ar to provide readers a model of what is possible when someone tries to reason well. We are attempting to include even more practice passages with feedback on the student Web site, as well as short self-graded objective quizzes for each chapter, and an expanded"Authors Answer Typical Student Questions"sec- ion. The Teachers' Web site will also be greatly expanded with more sugges- tions for student assignments and examples of high-quality student papers with comments explaining the basis for making that determination n the spirit of emphasizing the role of values in guiding careful think ing, this new edition takes every opportunity to highlight the values that unite those of us who hope to think critically. Were we not especially loyal to auton omy, reasonableness, curiosity, and commitment, we would not be as willing to do the hard work associated with critical thinking. This new edition focuses on making these assumptions transparent for learners The success of previous editions of this book is potent testimony to our collective curiosity about what to believe. Our minds are under assault by experts and scam artists alike. Sorting among all their claims about what to eat,do, and believe is an incredibly difficult responsibility. We know that we need all the help we can get to protect ourselves from the dangers implicit in nonsense. We want to think carefully before we make a belief our own From the start of this books history, we have been I rsonal experiences and observations. First, we have been dismayed by the degree to which students and citizens in general increasingly depend on"exp- erts, textbook writers, teachers, lawyers, politicians, journalists, and TV commen tators. As the complexity of the world seems to increase at an accelerating rate, here is a greater tendency to become passive absorbers of information, uncrit ically accepting what is seen and heard. We are concerned that too many of are not actively making personal choices about what to accept and what to reject At the same time, each of us has little choice but to rely on experts on a regular basis. Life is far too complex for us to pretend that we can take care of all our decisions by simply relying on our own resources. So, if we must depend on experts, how do we select from among the crowd of experts-each telling usx Preface thinking as an avenue toward improved development of their own thinking, they fastened on critical thinking as a skill and habit. Our students are also reluctant to criticize reasoning because of the social effects of their criticisms. Their reluctance often disappears, however, when they begin to sense the positive effect of such criticisms on their own conscious reflection. We worked especially hard for this edition to improve the Web site. It is organized by chapter and contains practice passages of varying size and com￾plexity. In addition, learners also need to see arguments that are relatively strong. We want to highlight what is particularly strong about these arguments, to provide readers a model of what is possible when someone tries to reason well. We are attempting to include even more practice passages with feedback on the student Web site, as well as short self-graded objective quizzes for each chapter, and an expanded "Authors Answer Typical Student Questions" sec￾tion. The Teachers' Web site will also be greatly expanded with more sugges￾tions for student assignments and examples of high-quality student papers with comments explaining the basis for making that determination. In the spirit of emphasizing the role of values in guiding careful think￾ing, this new edition takes every opportunity to highlight the values that unite those of us who hope to think critically. Were we not especially loyal to auton￾omy, reasonableness, curiosity, and commitment, we would not be as willing to do the hard work associated with critical thinking. This new edition focuses on making these assumptions transparent for learners. The success of previous editions of this book is potent testimony to our collective curiosity about what to believe. Our minds are under assault by experts and scam artists alike. Sorting among all their claims about what to eat, do, and believe is an incredibly difficult responsibility. We know that we need all the help we can get to protect ourselves from the dangers implicit in nonsense. We want to think carefully before we make a belief our own. From the start of this book's history, we have been motivated by a variety of personal experiences and observations. First, we have been dismayed by the degree to which students and citizens in general increasingly depend on "exp￾erts," textbook writers, teachers, lawyers, politicians, journalists, and TV commen￾tators. As the complexity of the world seems to increase at an accelerating rate, there is a greater tendency to become passive absorbers of information, uncrit￾ically accepting what is seen and heard. We are concerned that too many of us are not actively making personal choices about what to accept and what to reject. At the same time, each of us has little choice but to rely on experts on a regular basis. Life is far too complex for us to pretend that we can take care of all our decisions by simply relying on our own resources. So, if we must depend on experts, how do we select from among the crowd of experts—each telling us