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Part One
An Abbreviated History
of Critical Thinking:
From Socrates to Freshman
Composition
470 B.C
Socrates, Philosopher
Greece
"No one can be taught, but they can learn."
Socratic dialogue:
He drew forth knowledge from his students by
pursuing a series of questions and examining
the implications of their answers.
Thus, the concept of active learning was born.
399 B.C.
Socrates is publicly executed for asking too many
questions, or rather one question: “Why?”
Now, divergent thinkers are simply made fun of as
being "literary types."
1517
Martin Luther questions a major assumption
underlying the values of most Europeans and sparks
the Reformation of the Catholic Church in Germany.
Disputes spread throughout Europe.
The assumption? God is three people.
The challenge? No, God is one person.
Let the fighting begin.
1620
Pilgrims slam into Plymouth Rock.
America is settled because a group of freethinkers
challenged the assumptions of the group in power
(Martin Luther started it) and were not only
prosecuted, but often killed.
1729
Jonathan Swift, satirist and Dean of the Church of
Ireland, publishes Gulliver's Travels.
He compares the battle between Protestants and
Catholics to a fight between two nations over which
end of an egg is superior.
Satire becomes a serious form of persuasion.
1780
The Unitarian movement insinuates itself into the
liberal wing of Congregationalism with the help of
William Ellery Channing, minister and writer.
Useless Fact:
Unitarianism actually propped up during the
Reformation but few know about this since the
Protestants and the Church of England got all the
attention.
Unitarianism Contributes
to Critical Thought
Unitarianism advocates tolerance in religion -- the
acceptance and respect of divergent world views.
Channing was a huge influence on Ralph Waldo
Emerson and the philosophy of Transcendentalism.
1836-1860
Transcendentalism is born by
Emerson.
Transcendentalists see individual intuition as the
highest source of knowledge, emphasizing
individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of
traditional authority.
What Emerson said:
“A man who stands on his feet is stronger than a
man who stands on his head.”
1817
HENRY D. IS BORN!
Once he grew up, Henry Thoreau took of with
Transcendentalism and made its ideas only slightly
more accessible to the general public than Emerson’s,
through two main writings:
On Walden
He lived in a cabin by a pond to escape civilization
and the authority of others, to find God through
nature and also to ridicule the “civilized” world for
its ridiculous rules, regulations, and values.
As a result, he favored trees and animals over
people. Henry never married.
Useless Henry Fact:
The cabin he lived in for less than two years was
on Ralph Waldo Emerson's property.
Henry had lunch with Ralph's wife almost every
day.
"Civil Disobedience"
Thoreau wrote the essay when he was jailed for
refusing to pay taxes. Civil Disobedience became a
catchphrase to justify serious opposition to rules and
regulations that may offend a specific individual, not
necessarily a majority -- unlike the Boston Tea Party,
which was a mob act.
"A Majority of One."
Thoreau's biggest contribution to Critical Thinking:
His exploration of the individual's needs versus the
"greater good" of society; that an individual's ideas,
if divergent from the masses, are just as worthy and
are to be tolerated.
The majority in a Democracy may not always be
right, and should be challenged.
"Dismiss Whatever Insults
Your Own Soul."
-- Walt Whitman, poet
Another transcendentalist, Whitman believed in the
value of the individual, that each person had the ability
to think and question and make rational choices
without interference by “expert” authority.
Whether people cultivated this ability was another
matter. Thus, Critical Thinking took shape.
PART TWO
DEFINITIONS OF
CRITICAL THINKING
1.
"Instruction in critical thinking is to be designed to
achieve an understanding of the relationship of language
to logic, which should lead to the ability to analyze,
criticize, and advocate ideas, to reason inductively and
deductively, and to reach factual or judgmental
conclusions based on sound inferences (conclusions)
drawn from unambiguous statements of knowledge or
belief."
-- California community colleges and high schools.
2.
"Critical thinking is disciplined, self-directed thinking
appropriate to the situation that is used to guide your
behavior. It is thinking about your thinking. It is both
reflective and analytical; of self and others -- motives,
values, assumptions."
-- Critical Thinking Project -- University of El Paso Texas
3.
”. . . the art of taking charge of your own mind . . . if
we can take charge of our own minds, we can take
charge of our lives; we can improve them, bringing
them under our self command and direction. Of
course, this requires that we learn self-discipline and
the art of self-examination . . . it involves getting
into the habit of reflectively examining our impulsive
and accustomed ways of thinking and acting in every
dimension of our lives.
-- National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking
4.
"Through [the Critical Thinking] process, a student
does not listen to and accept arguments put forth in
the classroom. A critical student has the inclination to
examine any statement of 'fact' until ultimately
rejecting it or assimilating it with his or her current
belief system . . . Critical thinking only requires that
the student refuse to accept arguments passively and
without a supporting structure in which he or she
already believes."
-- Renato G. Villacorte, Psychology Professor
Part Three
Qualities of a Critical
Thinker:
Bases for Evaluation
-- Some ideas have been lifted from the California Critical Thinking
Disposition Inventory
1. Truthseeking
A courageous desire for the best knowledge, even if
such knowledge fails to support or undermines one's
preconceptions, beliefs or self interests.
2. Being Analytic
Demanding the application of reason and evidence;
alert to problematic situations;
inclined to anticipate consequences.
3. Being Systematic
Valuing organization, focus and diligence to approach
problems of all levels of complexity.
4. Self-Confidence/ Self-Reliance
Trusting of one's own reasoning skills and seeing
oneself as a good thinker. (Whitman, Thoreau, Emerson)
5. Inquisitiveness
Curious and eager to acquire knowledge and learn
explanations evenwhen the applications of the
knowledge are not immediately apparent.
or
Being sincerely interested in the answer when you
ask a question; not asking just to
“show someone up.”
6. Cognitive Maturity
Prudence in making, suspending, or revising
judgement. Anawareness that multiple solutions can
be acceptable.
7. Openmindedness
Tolerance of divergent views; self-monitoring
for possible bias.
THE WILLINGNESS TO ENTERTAIN IDEAS
AND BELIEFS THAT ARE OPPOSED TO
YOUR OWN.
"Measurable" Goals
"The minimal competence to be expected at the
successful conclusion of instruction in critical thinking
should be the ability to distinguish fact from
judgment, belief from knowledge, and skills in
elementary inductive and deductive processes,
including an understanding of the formal and
informal fallacies of language and thought."
-- California community colleges and high schools.
Part Four
Examining Assumptions:
Critical Thinking's
Application To The Real
World.
(Ideas lifted from the National Council for Excellence in Critical
Thinking)
The Citizen
As citizens, too often we vote impulsively and
uncritically, without taking the time to familiarize
ourselves with the relevant issues and positions, without
thinking about the long-run implications of what is being
proposed, without paying attention to how politicians
manipulate us by flattery or vague and empty promises.
The Friend
As friends, too often we become the victims of our own
infantile needs, "getting involved" with people who bring
out the worst in us or who stimulate us to act in
ways that we have been trying to change.
The Spouse
As husbands or wives, too often we think only of our
own desires and points of view, uncritically ignoring
the needs and perspectives of our mates, assuming
that what we want and what we think is clearly
justified and true, and that when they disagree with
us they are being unreasonable and unfair.
The Employee
(from the Atlanta Business Journal)
Critical thinking in organizations today, both large
and small, is leading to a wave of inventiveness and
creativity . . . Plato, Aristotle and Socrates understood
what critical thinking was and is all about. Today,
critical thinking is heralded by business people and
academics. This is good. Be assured there is a real
dearth of thinking that differentiates truth from
fiction.
Part V
Examining Assumptions:
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
THE “INSTRUCTOR”?
"As teachers, too often we allow ourselves to
uncritically teach as we have been taught, giving
assignments that students can mindlessly do,
inadvertently discouraging their initiative and
independence, missing opportunities to cultivate their
self-discipline and thoughtfulness."
-- National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking
"The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living"
-- Socrates
"It is quite possible, and . . . 'natural', to live an unexamined life, to
live in a more or less automated, uncritical way . . . if we allow
ourselves to become unreflective persons, or rather, to the extent
that we do, we are likely to do injury to ourselves and others, and
to miss many opportunities to make our own lives, and the lives of
others, fuller, happier, and more productive.