Paul & Elder (2012): The Intellectual Standards Of Critical Thinking

that we could use reason to find certain truth if we used it correctly, while

According to Paul & Elder, “critical thinking is the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a vision of improving it.” Their argument for the need to utilize critical thinking is the fact that without focus, most of the thinking done by people is partial, many times uninformed, biased, distorted, and prejudiced. What is not easily recognized is the fact that the very fabric of life is

        As citizens, it is essential to be “Critical thinkers who seek to draw intelligent conclusions” (pg. 3) whether as jurists, voters, parents, students, teachers, workers, managers, attorney. It is important to be able to discern between opinion, propaganda, facts, truth, error, and purposeful deceit. We elect people to speak for us at many levels. We need to be able to comprehend what we are hearing and be willing to utilize all the skills of critical

To survive in such a multifaceted and diverse world we as people must possess the ability to think critically in highly complex situations. The world is an extremely challenging place, all of us are forced to adapt by constantly challenging existing principles and performing certain methods to ensure our growth both physically and mentally. Many claim that contemporary society needs a skill called critical thinking to adapt and survive. Critical thinking is a higher level of intellectual progression that makes use of diverse information, skills and attitudes in interpreting situations and confronting problems. Critical thinking is done

To consider an individual a critical thinker, they must have the ability to show cognitive skills and dispositions. Those two skills are considered to be of equal importance and both are required for

that we could use reason to find certain truth if we used it correctly, while

Rationale gives substantial thinking and assurance in judgment, however, it is subordinate to common sense needs. The principal and most important piece of logic concerns the application of principle. Epictectus argues that the ills that human beings experience are as a result of mistaken beliefs of what is surely worthy. According to him, as human beings, We have put our trust in the wrong things, or possibly put it in the wrong way.

Critical thinking is the process that allows us to develop, evaluate, and reinforce the strength of our own, as well as other people’s arguments. Critical thinking is an important concept in philosophy, as well as in every other subject, because it allows us to ask deeper questions, and thus, receive deeper answers. Without critical thinking,

In 1990, the American Philosophical Association defined critical thinking as “purposeful, self-regulatory process that results in reasoned judgment”. Critical thinking can be defined in a number of similar phrases that all seem to focus on the importance of conscious analysis. Our text starts off with the working phases of critical thinking as analyzing thinking, evaluating thinking, and improving thinking. The process of critical thought is cyclical and not linear. Being a “fair-minded critical thinker” is not a permanent attribute, and it must be consistently worked at as applying intellectual standards and elements of reasoning instead of emotion can be difficult. Overall, to be a strong critical thinker you must work toward strong intellectual traits such humility, courage, and integrity to better represent issues and or arguments.

In order for someone to become a fair-minded critical thinker they must be able to function in different states of mind and they must possess intellectual integrity, intellectual autonomy, intellectual empathy, intellectual courage, intellectual confidence in reason, intellectual fair-mindedness, intellectual perseverance, intellectual sense of justice and intellectual humility (Paul & Elder,

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

Critical thinking is based on several standards; such as, clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness, completeness, and fairness.

Browne, Keely, McCall and Kaplan, refers to critical thinking as a "Systematic evaluation of arguments based on explicit rational criteria (1998, p.IX)." The authors go on to state that "critical thinking refers to the following: awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions,

Persons who are critical thinkers can make a difference in the companies in which they are employed. Today?s corporations must first recognize that there is a real need for critical thinkers. It is important for both the top management down the line. Critical thinking must be taught and built in to the way the company or organization performs its business. In fact, companies and organizations must embrace the concept of critical thinking. Critical thinking can lead to success story after success story. This type of impact gives any company or organization credibility.

While reading these three engaging articles, we made sure to incorporate critical thinking skills. During our discussions, we made sure to ask each other questions, clarify our thoughts whenever speaking unclearly, and making sure to not stray away from the topic at hand. Occasionally, if we ever had thoughts that were not relevant to our discussion, one of us would remind us to stay focused. During our discussions, we tried to connect the article to each other and how they related.