Critical thinking and logic - Essay Example

Ethical Reasoning and Critical Thinking Full Ethics is knowing the difference between right and wrong and acting on such knowledge. However, people who are morally informed sometimes get into crossroads wherein the balance between their ethical values and critical thinking are put to the test. For instance, it is known that killing another human being is morally wrong. However, when a person is in danger and has no way to escape a perpetrator but to kill him/her, instinct and critical thinking may suggest that ethics must be disregarded.

In addition, with the mixture of races and philosophies through studies and involvement among many people nowadays, ethics is now being linked to critical thinking for people to assess more intensively and extensively what is morally right and what is not. The principles and rules of critical thinking are applicable to ethical reasoning because they encourage people to question and not simply accept doctrines or beliefs. According to Richard Paul, “the integration of principles with purported facts within a particular perspective produces the judgment that this or that act is morally right or wrong”.

A person who is given an ethical view can use critical thinking to verify its global acceptance and correctness. On the other hand, a person who is presented with a belief and does not apply critical thinking endangers himself of being manipulated. If everyone followed the rules and guidelines of logic, there would still be a reason for ethical decision-making. Elder and Paul claim that “developing one’s ethical reasoning abilities is crucial because there is in human nature a strong tendency toward egotism, prejudice, self-justification, and self-deception”.

Therefore, it is not enough that a person is able to think critically but s/he must have an ethical foundation from which to base ethical reasoning using critical thinking.ReferencesPaul, Richard. (1993). Ethics Without Indoctrination. “Critical Thinking: What Every Student Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World. The Critical Thinking Community. http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/ethics-without-indoctrination/494Paul, Richard and Linda Elder. (2006). Ethical reasoning Essential to Education.

“The thinker’s Guide to Understanding the Foundations of Ethical Reasoning”. The Critical Thinking Community.http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/ethical-reasoning-essential-to-education/1036