ETHICS AND CRITICAL THINKING

Anonas, Cuesta, Muaña

CRITICAL THINKING
➤ The challenge of making individuals critics of their own
thoughts
➤ A capacity of the think to examine closely an object at
different levels and varying perspectives
➤ Uncovering many aspects of a given problem
➤ The practice of constantly improving the way he or she thinks
➤ The moment a person turns his or her attention to how he or
she is thinking instead of simply what he or she is thinking
➤ “Drug addiction is wrong.” — how did you decide that drug
addiction is wrong?
CRITICAL THINKING
➤ Enables us to see the different aspects of a given situation and
how interconnected they are to each other
➤ Focusing on the way one thinks
➤ To achieve critical thinking, one must learn to overcoming
certain tendencies in thinking such as egocentrism and
sociocentrism
EGOCENTRISM
➤ The tendency of an individual to regard his or her own
personal opinion, belief, or conviction as the sole basis for
asserting the truth of a claim
➤ Something is true for an egocentric thinker because he or she
thinks it’s true
➤ An egocentric thinker:
➤ neither recognises nor entertains the opinions of others
particularly those who contradict with his or her claim
➤ His or her opinion alone matters and all other opinions fare
less in comparison
EGOCENTRISM
➤ For example:
➤ An egocentric thinker who believes that drug addiction is
wrong and attempts to persuade others to persecute to
everyone hooked on illegal drugs
➤ He or she believes that all drug addicts be penalized or
killed extrajudicially
➤ However, this person overlook the fact that drug addiction
is the result of complex factors
➤ Addicts may also be considered victims who need
protection against the drug dealers and drug lords
SOCIOCENTRICSM
➤ Egocentrism when applied on a wider context
➤ An entire community or social group imposes its worldview on
others and compels its followers to follow without question to
advance the group’s interest
➤ May occur among rival religious groups and warring social and
political factions
➤ Easily swayed by passionate advocacy
➤ Becoming intolerant and hostile to views that are dissimilar to
yours
➤ Prevents healthy debate that can help clarify the issues at stake
ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING
1. Question
➤ aspires thinkers to raise vital questions relevant to the
issue
➤ Indicates one wants to know more and does not content
himself or herself with the current information about a case
at its face value
2. Purpose
➤ The purpose of the question is set by the inquiry
➤
ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING
3. Facts
✴one needs to verify the facts as it leads to better judgement
✴ Learning facts can prevent misunderstandings and biased
prejudices
✴It can make people appreciate a situation better
ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING
4. Perspective
Pertains to the way one views or interprets a given
situation
Can be uncovered given a person’s history, social or family
relation, professional and educational background, as well as
psychological profile
ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING
5. Assumptions
Untested claims that are simply taken to be true without
the process of validation
People make assumptions because they cannot test the
available facts or they simply want to avoid doing so
Those who use assumptions in ethical judgements are
egocentric thinkers
ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING
6. Inference
• The conclusion-making process
• Must take into account the implications or consequences of
a particular moral conclusion
• For example, an official who takes bribes
• Reason: everybody is doing it
• Overlooks the legality against bribery
• Thus, he/she adopts a flawed premise which results in a
flawed conclusion
ELEMENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING
7. Theory
• Theory is just as important as application or reality
• Puts names on things around us and, thanks to these
names, our minds are able to know the world as it appears
• One cannot look at reality without being armed by the
proper theoretical lenses
• For example, a person who want to protest against harsh
working conditions must first have a clear understanding of
justice, rights, and human dignity.
THANK YOU