About the Claim Shredder Method
Dr. Faruk Rahmanović is a philosopher, educator, and author of Critical Thinking: The Claim Shredder Method (2021; 2nd edition under review at Broadview Press), a method adopted as standard practice at BlueCross BlueShield Association and Health-ISAC, and in internal use at AbbVie. His work helps students, analysts, teams, and organizations test claims before weak assumptions become bad decisions.
Faruk holds a PhD in philosophy from the University of South Florida, where he specialized in ethics, a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and a bachelor's degree from Benedictine University. He teaches critical thinking, ethics, and applied philosophy at DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, Benedictine University, and the College of Lake County.
How The Method Developed
The Claim Shredder Method began in 2015 as a classroom framework for critical thinking: a way to help students move beyond memorizing fallacies and actually test the strength of real claims.
By 2018-2019, the method had moved into professional and institutional settings. It was adopted as standard practice by the BlueCross BlueShield Association Cyber-Security Intelligence Team and the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and is now in internal use at AbbVie.
The first edition of Critical Thinking: The Claim Shredder Method was published in 2021. The second edition is currently under review at Broadview Press.
Recent work extends the Method into AI-augmented analysis: teaching students and teams to spot the failure modes of AI-driven work, and to use AI as an idea interrogator rather than an answer generator.
Where it Has Been Used
The Method has been used across the BlueCross BlueShield Association network (national Cyber-Security Intelligence Team, BCBSA's annual retreat to member plans from across the country), and by Fortune 500 member companies internally. It was also briefed to Health-ISAC leadership and general membership, and adopted at AbbVie.
Academically, the Method has been taught across the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina, at DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, Benedictine University, University of South Florida, College of Lake County, the University of Sarajevo School of Economics and Business.
The Book
Critical Thinking: The Claim Shredder Method introduces a practical framework for evaluating claims, identifying hidden assumptions, testing evidence, and making better judgments under uncertainty. First published in 2021; the second edition is under review at Broadview Press.
Work with Claim Shredder
For workshops, training, classroom adoption, or institutional consulting, schedule a 30-minute conversation.