Critical Thinking: Definitions and Descriptions Revisited - Report Example

Critical Thinking: Definitions and s Revisited With different s and definitions, critical thinking is the process that completely defines a man’s ability to correct oneself and get the best out of his thoughts. Critical thinking has the power of changing a man’s thought constitution and refining it to the extent that he can change his destiny on the basis of it. Over the years, psychologists have described many different aspects of critical thinking. We revisit these definitions and examine them closely through this article, before developing a description of the process of critical thinking. Reflective Thinking in the words of John Dewey With his approach to reflective thinking, John Dewey is amongst those first thinkers who laid the basis for a definition of critical thinking in the lives of human beings. It is important to note that subsequent definitions although added technically measurable parameters to the concept and definition of critical thinking, John Dewey’s definition dealt with it qualitatively. He clearly mentions that reflective is nothing but, "Active, persistent and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends." (John Dewey, 9). This qualitative approach towards defining reflective thinking holds good for critical thinking in only a certain perspective. Critical thinking is the art of recognizing loopholes in the thought process of the person not just on the grounds of popular belief or supportive thinking prevalent around him/her, but also in the absence of such thought support. Critical thinking however, uses the rationale, logic, and reasonability of thoughts as perceived by a man by observing his friends and family. The concept of right and wrong is therefore, limited by the definition that the thinker gives to it. His reflections, according to Dewey, will be to set his urges and thoughts in line with his beliefs. Critical thinking is more about rectifying one’s beliefs based on his understanding of what is good and what is detrimental to his personality. Thus, John Dewey’s definition fails to provide a complete definition to the process of critical thinking and only succeeds in laying the basis of its actual definition and role. Critical Thinking: Ennis’ Definition The second definition of critical thinking that comes to the mind is that of Robert H. Ennis. In his series of publications about critical thinking Robert Ennis has brought out numerical descriptions of a person’s critical thinking abilities. We must not forget that although the most important fact of his derivation indicate towards how to go about using critical thinking in the important decision-making aspects of one’s life, especially when he has to take a stand basing on evidences and reasons that is present in sufficiency, Ennis has also not missed out on highlighting the other variables that affect and influence a person’s critical thinking abilities. In his words, critical thinking is, “Reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. (Ennis, 10)”. He has recognized 12 CT abilities, and suggests that the best description of critical thinking abilities would be after the inclusion of 14 dispositions. According to him they are as follows: to seek clear statement of thesis, query or question; seek sufficient reasons; be well informed and aware of the pros and cons of every thought-line; to use and mention credible sources; take into account total situation; try to remain focused on the main point; keep in mind the basic concern; look for relevant alternatives; stay open-minded; take a decisive position in the presence of sufficient reasons and evidence; seek precision to the degree that the subject permits; differentiate important parts of the complete situation and deal with them in orderly manner; prune and practice ones CT abilities; be sensitive to feelings, develop upon his level of knowledge, and the degree of sophistication towards others. (Ennis, 10).This is a more comprehensive outlook towards the main concepts of critical thinking and is definitely a better described definition. Two Other Definitions: To add to the quality of the definition of critical thinking, Richard Paul has suggested a unique qualitative comparison of thinking abilities. According to him, a weak sense critical thinking happens every time the discipline followed by the man’s thinking is based on bias towards a group or individual, while a strong-sense critical thinking happens whenever the interests of a diverse groups of persons are taken into account while analysis and reflection. (Paul, 21) Talking of descriptions, Browne & Keeley have brought out the definition of critical thinking in terms of a descriptive process, according to which the thinker identifies and asses what is being told through asking questions, finding what the impact of the answers to these questions would be on the inferences stated already, and displays the desire to share and deploy these critical questions. (Browne & Keeley, 211). In all contexts, the Browne and Keeley description holds good, when it is considered primarily as the basis of a person’s critical thinking procedure. We take it ahead from this definition and create a description of the process of critical thinking so that any individual can check the quality of his critical thinking abilities and prune them up. Description of the Ideal Critical Thinking Procedure The ideal way to behind on a critical thinking session would always be to develop a great deal of awareness regarding all the different aspects of the topics involved in the discussion or thoughts. To take consequential steps we will start from the basic to the advanced stages of critical thinking. Firstly, the ideas involved in the thought should be carefully studied and the person needs all round knowledge about the potency of the ideas when he or she is researching on their background. Next up, the relations between these different ideas (Paul, 21) need to be understood. If the connection between the ideas does not look logically correct, then the idea which fails to relate to the main focus of the thought must be discarded. Thirdly, the thinker has to identify, question, evaluate, and construct arguments that are both in favor of the thought or belief and against it. He needs to check for inconsistencies and mistakes in reasoning and remove them. On the basis of his understanding of these arguments, he should solve problems one by one using the correct argument for the correct concept. This will help him understand the importance of the ideas that he is supporting, and deploying towards the main focus of his thoughts. This will finally help him reflect and correct any justification for his beliefs and thoughts (Browne & Keeley, 211) that are crucial to his understanding of a situation. A few important notes are important on the common misconceptions of critical thinking that a person is prone to have. The first conception we find is that many thinkers consider accumulation of knowledge as a great way to equal critical thinking (Ennis, 17). This concept is wrong since unless the reasoning behind the belief or thoughts is found to have any logical connection with the knowledge, which can be used to define the role of the thought, the mere accumulation of knowledge would be useless. Also, critical thinkers are not usually argumentative. Instead they are a cool lot who do not waste their time in unnecessary thinking or talk. Conclusion: Remember, at the core of critical thinking the values of logical analysis and reasoning are crucial to reaching the right conclusion. With the use of such self-interrogation alone can a man hope to achieve a state of mind wherein he has a better judgment of what is right or wrong for a particular situation. Critical thinkers are equally creative as non-critical thinkers, and are more prone towards making the correct judgment. References: Browne, M.N. & Keeley, S.M. (2000). Critical Thinking: Asking Right Questions. New Jersey: Pearson Custom Publishing. Dewey, J. (1910) How we think. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath. Ennis, R.H.  (1987). A taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions and abilities.  In J. Baron & R. Sternberg (Eds.), Teaching thinking skills:  Theory and practice.  New York:  W.H. Freeman.  Pp. 9-26. Richard,P. (1992). Critical thinking: What, why, and how. New Directions for Community Colleges 1992,77. Pages 3-24. Read More