I wrote this book over a period of five years while teaching logic and critical thinking courses to undergraduate students in the San Francisco Bay Area. I found that logic textbooks created for these classes are usually large and inaccessible to the average reader. Furthermore, most of these textbooks spend a great deal of time covering formal logic rather than informal logic.
Informal Logical Fallacies: A Brief Guide was designed as an accessible supplementary text for logic or critical thinking courses. This book introduces the reader to over forty informal logical fallacies. These fallacies are commonly found in the media today and are often used to propagate fear, blind faith, and submission. For this reason alone, it is important to become aware of informal logical fallacies. It is my sincere hope that this short guide will sharpen the critical thinking skills of all who read it.