Table of Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 2
Critical Thinking .............................................................................................................................................. 2
Standards of Critical Thinking ............................................................................................................................ 3
Clarity ................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Precision ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Accuracy ............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Relevance ........................................................................................................................................................... 4
Consistency......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Logical Correctness ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Completeness ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
Fairness ............................................................................................................................................................... 5
Characteristics of Critical Thinker ...................................................................................................................... 5
Barriers of Critical Thinking .............................................................................................................................. 6
Egocentrism ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
Sociocentrism ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Unwarranted Assumptions and Stereotypes ....................................................................................................... 7
Relativistic Thinking .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Benefits of Critical Thinking .............................................................................................................................. 9
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 10
References ........................................................................................................................................................ 11
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Introduction
In many high schools, the emphasis of education tends to be on lowering-order thinking. In
college and universities, the emphasis is on fostering higher-order thinking, which involves
the active, intelligent evaluation of ideas and information. The material provided with any
argument or conclusion in a scientific field cannot simply be taken at face value. We must
first comprehend what is meant by critical thinking in order to comprehend this.

Critical thinking consists of reasoning and inquiring in careful ways, so as to form and update
one’s beliefs based on good reasons. A critical thinker is someone who typically reasons and
inquires in these ways, having mastered relevant skills and developed the disposition to apply
them. Critical thinking is a wide range of cognitive skills and intellectual dispositions needed
to effectively identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments and truth claims.

Identification, analysis, and evaluation of arguments and truth claims need a variety of
cognitive abilities and dispositions known as critical thinking. When assessing claims for
scientific truth, it is a procedure that aids us in getting to the most beneficial, helpful, and
likely conclusions. It also teaches us the logical rules that sound thinking should adhere to.

Furthermore we will be able to understand the meaning and general picture of critical
thinking; identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments and truth claims; formulate and present
convincing reasons in support of conclusions; and make reasonable and intelligent decisions
about what to believe and what to do. Moreover, the lecture will help us recognize the
important intellectual standards of critical thinking; identify good critical thinking from bad
critical thinking; and describe the basic standards that we think critical thinking should meet.

In this summary, we will define critical thinking, examine the standards of critical thinking,
and discuss the principles of good argument and critical thinking.

Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is an attitude or disposition to be thoughtful about problems and to use the
methods of logical enquiry and reasoning with more or less skill. It is also a matter of having
certain thinking skills and being disposed to use them.

John Dewey defined critical thinking as an active process in which you think things through
for yourself, raise questions yourself, and find relevant information yourself and so on, rather
than learning in a largely passive way from someone else.

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Dewey contrasts critical thinking with unreflective thinking, in which we sometimes jump to a
conclusion or make a quick decision without thinking about it.

Dewey's definition of critical thinking is important, but misses some important features.
Edward Glaser's definition of critical thinking is: an attitude of being disposed to consider in
a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one's experience.

Robert Ennis defined critical thinking as reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on
deciding what to believe or do. Ennis also mentioned that critical thinking involves making a
decision, which was not explicitly mentioned in the above definitions.

Richard Paul defines critical thinking as the ability to improve one's thinking by skillfully
taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon
them. Paul associates critical thinking with reflecting on thoughts.

Scriven argued that critical thinking is an academic competency akin to reading and writing,
and is of similarly fundamental importance. He defined critical thinking as a skilled activity
that involves questioning and meta-cognition, and involved interpretation of texts, speech,
film, graphics, actions and even body language.

Critical thinking is sometimes referred to as criticocreative thinking, because it requires us to

be imaginative and creative about other possibilities, alternative considerations, and different
options. To be a good judge of issues, we need to see faults in what other people say.

For these reasons, some writers have wanted to speak of criticocreative' thinking to
emphasize the positive, imaginative aspects of critical thinking. We shall use the term 'critical
thinking' instead, and understand it in this positive, imaginative sense.

Standards of Critical Thinking

To be considered critical, thinking has to meet certain standards, including clarity, precision,
accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness, completeness, and fairness.

Clarity
Clarity refers to a clear understanding of concepts and clearly expressing them in a language
that is free of obscurity and vagueness. Lack of clarity can be due to laziness, carelessness, or
a lack of skill, or it can result from a misguided effort to appear clever, learned, or profound.

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William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White remark that muddiness is not merely a disturber of prose,
but also a destroyer of life, of hope. Only by paying careful attention to language can we
avoid needless miscommunications and disappointments.

Precision
Precision is a matter of being exact, accurate and careful. Critical thinkers understand the
importance of precision in different contexts and insist on precise answers to precise
questions to cut through the confusions and uncertainties that surround many everyday
problems and issues.

Accuracy
Accuracy is about correct information, and critical thinking should care a lot about genuine
information. A decision based on wrong and false information will likely result in distorting
realities. Accuracy is about having and getting true information. Bad information will make
bad decisions, no matter how brilliant you may be.

Relevance
When there is a discussion or debate, only relevant ideas and information should be raised.
Critical thinkers do not collect any information, they focus and carefully choose only the
information that has logical relation with the ideas at hands. Questions posed should be
logically related to the issues raised. When two concepts make sense together, they are
relevant. A critical thinker should have current ideas and viewpoints.

Consistency
Critical thinkers are constantly on the lookout for inconsistencies, both in their own thinking
and in the arguments and assertions of others. They are especially interested in cases in which
people are not fully aware that their words conflict with their deeds. Avoiding inconsistency
of two types is a good idea. One is logical inconsistency, which entails speaking or believing
contradictory things regarding a certain subject (i.e., things that cannot both be true or all be
true). The third type of contradiction is practical, or speaking one thing while acting another.
The average person will answer family without hesitation, but watch how he actually lives
out his life, and you will see that he really does not live by what he says and believes.

Critical thinking helps us to deal with unconscious practical inconsistencies and unconscious
logical inconsistencies. A critical thinker should be consistent logically and practically. To
think logically, we need accurate and well supported beliefs, but we also need to be able to

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reason from those beliefs to conclusions that logically follow from them. Unfortunately,
illogical thinking is all too common in human affairs.

Logical Correctness
Illogical thinking is common and requires accurate and supported beliefs to draw logical
conclusions. To reason correctly, or to think logically, is to derive conclusions from held
ideas that are supported by the evidence. We require accurate and solidly supported beliefs in
order to think critically. We also need to be able to draw conclusions that make sense in light
of those beliefs, which is as vital. The unfortunate truth is that irrational reasoning frequently
occurs in human affairs.

Completeness
Although we naturally favor thorough and thorough thought over superficial and shallow
thinking in the majority of situations. Of course, there are occasions when it is difficult or
inappropriate to talk in-depth about a subject; this is to be expected. However, deep, complete
thinking is preferable than shallow, superficial thinking.

Fairness
Fair thinking, which is impartial, open-minded, and devoid of skewed prejudices and
preconceptions, is a requirement for critical thinking. Although it is doubtful that human
thinking will ever be fully devoid of prejudices and preconceptions, basic fairness is
unquestionably a necessary quality of a critical thinker. Because we tend to be biased in favor
of our own viewpoint, it is important to keep the standard of fairness at the forefront of our
thinking.

Characteristics of Critical Thinker

A critical thinker is a person who exhibits some feature of critical thinking. To contrasts the
key intellectual traits of critical thinkers with the relevant traits of uncritical thinkers:

First, although uncritical thinkers frequently think in ways that are confusing, imprecise, and
wrong, critical thinkers have a passionate urge for clarity, precision, correctness, and other
critical thinking norms. Additionally, critical thinkers are aware of the ways in which
egocentrism, sociocentrism, wishful thinking, and other obstacles can skew their judgments,
whereas uncritical thinkers frequently succumb to egocentrism, sociocentrism, relativistic
thinking, erroneous assumptions, and wishful thinking.

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In contrast to uncritical thinkers, who frequently misunderstand or assess arguments and

opinions unfairly, critical thinkers are adept at comprehending, deconstructing, and
evaluating arguments and viewpoints. Furthermore, critical thinkers use logical reasoning to
reach valid conclusions from evidence and data, as opposed to uncritical thinkers who use
illogical reasoning to reach invalid conclusions from the same sources.

The characteristics of critical thinkers are: they strive for understanding, keep curiosity alive,
remain patient with complexity, base judgments on evidence rather than personal preferences,
practice restraint, avoid extreme views, practice fair-mindedness, and seek a balance view.

Third, while uncritical thinkers claim to know more than they do and overlook their
limitations, critical thinkers are intellectually honest with themselves, admitting what they
don't know and understanding their limitations. Additionally, critical thinkers welcome
criticism of views and assumptions and listen to opposing points of view with an open mind,
whereas uncritical thinkers are closed-minded and resist criticism of beliefs and assumptions.
Also base their judgments on first impressions and gut reactions, and are unwilling to pay
attention to others' views.

Though uncritical thinkers frequently base ideas solely on personal preferences or self-
interests, critical thinkers frequently base opinions on facts and evidence rather than on
personal preferences or self-interest. Once more, critical thinkers are conscious of the
prejudices and preconceptions that influence how they see the world, in contrast to uncritical
thinkers who are unaware of their own prejudices and preconceptions. Uncritical thinkers are
closed-minded and won't accept challenges to their opinions and assumptions.

Fifth, although uncritical thinkers prefer to engage in "groupthink" uncritically adhering to

the views and ideals of the crowd, critical thinkers think independently and are not afraid to
disagree with group opinion. Additionally, critical thinkers have the fortitude to examine and
confront rather ideas that contradict even their most fundamental views, but uncritical
thinkers are afraid of and resistant to ideas that contradict their fundamental beliefs.

Barriers of Critical Thinking

Barriers to Critical Thinking discusses egocentrism, sociocentrism, unwarranted assumptions
and stereotypes, and relativistic thinking as four factors that impede critical thinking.

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Egocentrism
A significant roadblock to critical thinking is egocentrism. Ego centrists are egotistical, self-
absorbed individuals who believe that their interests, viewpoints, and morals are better to
those of others. Egocentric biases affect all of us to some extent. Egocentrism can appear in
many different forms. It can appear in many forms, such as superiority bias and self-
interested thinking.

Self-interested thinking is the propensity to embrace and support ideas that serve one's own
interests. This argument is supported by a number of data, including the fact that the majority
of physicians support legislation that makes it more difficult for them to be sued for
malpractice.

Self-interested thinking is a major obstacle to critical thinking because it assumes that what
is most important is what I want and need. Everyone finds it alluring from time to time to
think, "This benefits me, so it must be good," but from the perspective of critical thinking,
such "reasoning" is a fake. Such thinking operates under the implicit presumption that "What
is most important is what I want and need." Then why Should I or anyone else agree with
such an arbitrary and blatantly selfish assumption? Why are your desires and needs more
essential than those of others?

The tendency to think one is better than one actually is known as superiority bias. If you're
like most people, you probably believe that you have a very high level of awareness of
oneself and are resistant to delusion.

Sociocentrism
The second powerful barrier to critical thinking is sociocentrism, which is group-centered
thinking. It can distort critical thinking in many ways, including group bias and conformism,
which are both extremely common throughout human history and across cultures. Group bias
is common from early childhood, leading to conflict, intolerance, and oppression.
Conformism is the tendency to conform to authority or group standards of conduct and belief,
which can cripple critical reasoning and decision-making. Critical thinkers need to develop
habits of independent thinking to combat peer pressure and reliance on authority.

Unwarranted Assumptions and Stereotypes

We expect everything to be true without providing any evidence or proof, and we recognize it
is better to carry an umbrella than to demand thorough justification for every prediction.

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Although the advice "Don't assume" is one we hear frequently, it is hard to go through a day
without making assumptions. In actuality, a large portion of our daily activities are predicated
on hypotheses we have derived from the trends in our experience.

Unwarranted assumptions prevent us from seeing things clearly, and stereotypes are one of
the most common types. People are not identical, no matter what race or other similarities
they share, so stereotypical conceptions will often be false or misleading.

Stereotypes are arrived at through a process known as hasty generalization, in which one
draws a conclusion about a large class of things from a small sample. Often the media
encourages stereotyping by the way they portray groups of people. Stereotypes are frequently
formed by a method known as hasty generalization, which is making assumptions about a
large group of objects (in this case, humans) based on a tiny sample.

Relativistic Thinking
Relativistic thinking is the view that truth is a matter of opinion. According to subjectivism,
whatever an individual believes is true, and there is no such thing as objective or absolute
truth. The other common form of relativism is cultural relativism, which holds that truth is a
matter of social or cultural opinion. Most people would admit that 1 + 1 = 2 is true, no matter
who might be ignorant or deluded enough to deny it.

By far the most common form of relativism is moral relativism, which comes in two major
forms: moral subjectivism and cultural moral relativism. Cultural moral relativism is a very
popular view because of two major reasons: the nature of moral disagreement and the value
of tolerance.

Ethics is very different from mathematics or science. There are many disagreements and no
rational way to resolve many of them, which leads some people to conclude that there is no
objective truth in ethics, and that morality is just a matter of individual or societal opinion.

Despite these apparent attractions, cultural moral relativism has deep problems. For example,
deep disagreement about an issue does not show that there is no objective moral truth about
that issue.

Cultural moral relativism does not necessarily support the value of tolerance. However, it can
teach us an important lesson about the value of intellectual humility, and we can learn this

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lesson just by opening our hearts and minds and thinking critically about the challenges of
living an ethical life.

Benefits of Critical Thinking

The benefits of critical thinking are many, and we will discuss some in this lesson. Being a
critical person in general and critical thinking in particular can help you to make better
decisions.

Critical thinking teaches you how to ask important questions, recognize issues, collect and
evaluate information, come to reasoned conclusions and solutions, and then evaluate those
solutions in light of pertinent criteria and standards.

Developing critical thinking skills takes work and repetition. After taking a course in critical
thinking, our ability to think will be improved.

Students are occasionally shocked to learn that the emphasis is on higher-order thinking, or
the active, intelligent examination of ideas and information, when they first enter university.
In a chapter on critical thinking, students learn how to formulate their own well-supported
arguments and opinions as well as critically analyze others' arguments and beliefs.

We need to be able to comprehend the content we are studying and analyze what we are
being taught in class if we want to thrive in college. A critical thinking training can enhance
our capacity for marshaling arguments and facts and assist us in creating our own arguments
on certain topics or concerns.

Developing critical thinking skills is essential for advancing democratic processes. Because a
lack of critical thinking has resulted in many severe societal issues, citizens should make
judgments that are as informed and sensible as feasible.

Critical thinking is worth studying for its own sake, simply because it can enrich our lives. It
allows us to step back from the prevailing customs and ideologies of our culture and ask, this
is what I've been taught, but is it true?

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Conclusion
To sum up, Critical thinking is a range of cognitive skills and dispositions needed to identify,
analyze, and evaluate arguments and truth claims. It is a process that helps us arrive at the
most useful, helpful, and likely destinations when evaluating claims for scientific truth. It also
teaches us what logical principles we should follow in right reasoning.

The act of thinking critically involves recognizing, analyzing, and evaluating arguments and
truth claims, identifying and overcoming one's own preconceptions and biases, and
developing and presenting compelling arguments in support of conclusions. Critical thinking
is the process of thinking clearly, fairly, rationally, objectively, and independently.

A transferrable thinking talent is critical thinking. The knowledge you gain from this
literature can be used in a variety of other situations. By educating us to consider significant
life decisions more thoroughly, clearly, and logically, critical thinking can prevent us from
making stupid personal decisions.

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References
 Logic and Critical thinking Module

 https://researchgate.net

 https://academia.net

 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1143316.pdf

 https://www.thinkinghabitats.com/interactive-learning-
videos?gclid=CjwKCAjwl6OiBhA2EiwAuUwWZY4VmtUOgTT2RJV2-
ObAi2lXqv7qftXysqWC3KRiuZdaH5fzXzWMDhoCO4MQAvD_BwE

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