Foundation for Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is essential if we are to get to the root of our problems and develop reasonable solutions. After all, the quality of everything we do is determined by the quality of our thinking.

Because the quality of your thinking determines the quality of everything you do, critical thinking is fundamental to survival

Why Critical Thinking?
The Problem:

Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Shoddy thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellence in thought, however, must be systematically cultivated.

If you want to think well, you must understand at least the rudiments of thought, the most basic structures out of which all thinking is made. You must learn how to take thinking apart.

Links for High School Teachers
For Jr. High School Teachers

Analyzing the Logic of a Subject

When we understand the elements of reasoning, we realize that all subjects, all disciplines, have a fundamental logic defined by the structures of thought embedded in them. Therefore, to lay bare a subject’s most fundamental logic, we should begin with these questions:

• What is the main purpose or goal of studying this subject?
•  What are people in this field trying to accomplish?
• What kinds of questions do they ask?
• What kinds of problems do they try to solve?
• What sorts of information or data do they gather?
• What types of inferences or judgments do they typically make? (Judgments about…)
• How do they go about gathering information in ways that are distinctive to this field?
• What are the most basic ideas, concepts or theories in this field?
• What do professionals in this field take for granted or assume?
• How should studying this field affect my view of the world?
• What viewpoint is fostered in this field?
• What implications follow from studying this discipline? How are the products of this field used in everyday life?

 In sum, the elements or structures of thought enable us to "take our thinking apart" and analyze it. The intellectual standards are used to assess and evaluate the elements. The intellectual traits are dispositions of mind which embody the fairminded critical thinker. To cultivate the mind, we need command of these essential dimensions, and we need to consistently apply them as we think through the many problems and issues in our lives.