Save Lives or Save the Rhetoric?: Comparing the Logic of Evidence with the Power of Rhetoric

This timely book discusses the numerous forms of flawed reasoning that currently plague the realm of public discourse both in the United States and abroad. It provides and develops a working knowledge of the skills needed to distinguish between rhetorical claims and evidence-based claims. The author presents and shows how to debug numerous currently relevant real world examples. Innovative discussion questions provide the reader an opportunity to practice and be actively involved. The objective throughout is pedagogy, not partisanship: to help the reader better understand current events, better evaluate public policy, and better identify the rhetoric in partisan debates. The second part of the book also provides "Basic Knowledge for Decision-Making and Evaluating Policy" which is a whirlwind course in concepts and methods that any intelligent citizen may apply in order to make informed decisions about policy proposals.