You've Got To Be Kidding!

You've Got to Be Kidding!: How Jokes Can Help You Think is a thoughtful and accessible analysis of the ways in which jokes illustrate how we think critically, and how the thinking process goes awry in everyday human situations. Uses jokes to illustrate the various mistakes or fallacies that are typically identified and discussed in courses on critical reasoning Provides an effective way to learn critical thinking skills since jokes often describe real-life situations where it really matters whether a person thinks well or not Demonstrates how philosophy is actually very practical and clearly related to real- life human experiences Explains how developing good reasoning habits can make a real difference in all aspects of one's life

Preface ix Acknowledgements xiii 1 Why Thinking Critically Is Important 1 2 Fallacies of Relevance 13 3 Fallacies of Evidence 45 4 Fallacies of Assumption 80 5 Critical Thinking and Objective Truth 97 References 116 Index 119