Preface audience requires us to omit many valuable components that we would certainly include were we writing for a more specialized group of readers This new edition, like its predecessors, has been modified while retain- ing the basic framework of a simplified guide to critical thinking. This latest version has especially benefited from the critical eyes of numerous students ho have studied from the book. The special features of this edition include R the team of students and teachers we consulted preferred the new illus- trations. They found them more fresh and relevant to the experience of contemporary students. 2. Emphasizing that critical thinking is not primarily an effort to demon- strate what is faulty about the thinking of others. Instead, it is a process r improving the beliefs and decisions each of us must make, and 3. Expanding the companion Web site containing multiple, diverse practice opportunities in response to the needs of the increasing numbers of students and teachers who wish to have internet access to practice materials 4. Highlighting the values of critical thinking to provide a stronger ratio nale for why critical thinking is essential for a thoughtful life Critical thinking is initially a process of reaction. Someone has strung together a conclusion and some reasons that allegedly make the case for the conclu- sion. Our task is to decide whether the argument is one we wish to make our own. So any reasoning provides raw material for critical-thinking practice However, we are all more interested in some arguments than others, for some reasoning seems to have a more significant effect on our lives. So if those learning critical thinking are to be highly engaged in the hours of practice needed to become proficient at critical thinking, we require sample argu ments that especially appeal to the primary users of the book, We decided to place greater reliance on student feedback about their interest in particular practice opportunities. The result is substantial improvement in the content and variety of the practice passages The seventh edition stressed the importance of social skills that would encourage the use of critical thinking. We have kept this emphasis in the new edition, and we are supplementing it with persistent encouragement to frame critical thinking in a particular way. We learned this from our colleagues Japan who found that Jap lers. But once those same students viewed criticalPreface ix audience requires us to omit many valuable components that we would certainly include were we writing for a more specialized group of readers. This new edition, like its predecessors, has been modified while retain￾ing the basic framework of a simplified guide to critical thinking. This latest version has especially benefited from the critical eyes of numerous students who have studied from the book. The special features of this edition include the following: 1. Rewriting most practice passages and many illustrative examples because the team of students and teachers we consulted preferred the new illus￾trations. They found them more fresh and relevant to the experience of contemporary students. 2. Emphasizing that critical thinking is not primarily an effort to demon￾strate what is faulty about the thinking of others. Instead, it is a process for improving the beliefs and decisions each of us must make, and 3. Expanding the companion Web site containing multiple, diverse practice opportunities in response to the needs of the increasing numbers of students and teachers who wish to have internet access to practice materials. 4. Highlighting the values of critical thinking to provide a stronger ratio￾nale for why critical thinking is essential for a thoughtful life. Critical thinking is initially a process of reaction. Someone has strung together a conclusion and some reasons that allegedly make the case for the conclu￾sion. Our task is to decide whether the argument is one we wish to make our own. So any reasoning provides raw material for critical-thinking practice. However, we are all more interested in some arguments than others, for some reasoning seems to have a more significant effect on our lives. So if those learning critical thinking are to be highly engaged in the hours of practice needed to become proficient at critical thinking, we require sample argu￾ments that especially appeal to the primary users of the book. We decided to place greater reliance on student feedback about their interest in particular practice opportunities. The result is substantial improvement in the content and variety of the practice passages. The seventh edition stressed the importance of social skills that would encourage the use of critical thinking. We have kept this emphasis in the new edition, and we are supplementing it with persistent encouragement to frame critical thinking in a particular way. We learned this from our colleagues in Japan who found that Japanese students were not eager to criticize deficien￾cies in the reasoning of others. But once those same students viewed critical