Critical thinking…the awakening of the intellect to the study of itself.

Critical thinking is a rich concept that has been developing throughout the past 2,500 years.  The term “critical thinking” has its roots in the mid-late 20th century.  Below, we offer overlapping definitions which together form a substantive and trans-disciplinary conception of critical thinking.

Critical Thinking as Defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, 1987

A statement by Michael Scriven & Richard Paul, presented at the 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, Summer 1987.

Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.

Details;

Firstly, be keen

Secondly, concepts

Thirdly, reasoning

Further, family

Further, issue

Lastly, science

Lastly, modes

Critical thinking can be

seen as having two components;1)Firstly,  a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and 2)Secondly,  the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior. It is thus to be contrasted with: 1) Further, the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated; 2)SECONDLY,  the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and 3) the mere use of those skills (“as an exercise”) without acceptance of their results.

Critical thinking varies according to the motivation underlying it. When grounded in selfish motives, it is often manifested in the skillful manipulation of ideas in service of one’s own, or one’s groups’, vested interest. As such it is typically intellectually flawed, however pragmatically successful it might be. When grounded in fairmindedness and intellectual integrity, it is typically of a higher order intellectually, though subject to the charge of “idealism” by those habituated to its selfish use.

Critical thinking of any kind

is never universal in any individual; everyone is subject to episodes of undisciplined or irrational thought. Its quality is therefore typically a matter of degree and dependent on.IT is among other things, the quality and depth of experience in a given domain. This is of thinking or with respect to a particular class of questions. No one is a critical thinker through-and-through, but only to such-and-such a degree, with such-and-such insights and blind spots, subject to such-and-such tendencies towards self-delusion. For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions is a life-long endeavor.