CHAPTER FOUR

BASIC CONCEPTS OF CRITICAL THINKING

 Meaning of Critical Thinking

Critical means involving or exercising skilled judgment or observation. In this sense, critical
thinking means thinking clearly and intelligently. More precisely, critical thinking is the general
term given to a wide range of cognitive skills and intellectual dispositions needed to effectively
identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments and truth claims. Moreover, it helps to discover and
overcome personal preconceptions and biases; to formulate and present convincing reasons in
support of conclusions; and to make reasonable, intelligent decisions about what to believe and
what to do. However, it does not automatically follow that being intelligent means being able
think critically or reason about information in a useful, effective and efficient manner.

Being smart and intelligent is not sufficient. Critical thinking is a process or journey that helps us
to arrive at the
most useful, helpful, and most likely destinations when evaluating claims for scientific truth.
Critical thinking, thus, is thinking clearly, thinking fairly, thinking rationally, thinking
objectively, and thinking independently. It is a process that hopefully leads to an impartial
investigation of the data and facts that remains not swayed by irrelevant emotions. Therefore, the
aim of critical thinking is to arrive at well-reasoned, considered, and justifiable conclusions.

The American philosopher, John Dewey, has defined critical thinking as an active, persistent,
and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds,
which support it and the further conclusions to which it tends. In this definition, there are three
main points that we should focus on: active, persistent and grounds.

The first point is that critical thinking is an active ‘process. By defining critical thinking as an
active ‘process, Dewey is contrasting it with the kind of thinking in which you just receive ideas
and information from other people – what you might reasonably call a ‗passive ‘process. For
Dewey, critical thinking is essentially an active process – one in which you think things
through for yourself, raise questions yourself, find relevant information yourself and so on, rather
than learning in a largely passive way from someone else. The second point is that critical
thinking is persistent and careful consideration. Here, Dewey is contrasting critical thinking with
the kind of unreflective thinking we all sometimes engage in. For example, we sometimes jump
to a conclusion or make a quick decision without thinking about it. Of course, sometimes, we
may have to do this because we need to decide quickly or the issue is not important enough to
warrant careful thought, but we often do it when we ought to stop and think – when we ought to
persist a bit.

However, the most important point in Dewey ‘s definition lies in what he said about the
‗grounds which support ‘a belief and the ‗further conclusions to which it tends ‘. What Dewey is
saying, to express it in a more familiar language, is that what matters are the reasons we have for
believing something and the implications of our beliefs. It is no exaggeration to say that critical
thinking attaches huge importance to reasoning, to giving reasons and to evaluating reasoning as
far as possible. There is more to it than that, but skillful reasoning is a key element.

The other most famous contributors to the development of the critical thinking tradition is Robert
Ennis. He defined critical thinking as reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding
what to believe or do. Notice that the emphasis on being ‗reasonable ‘and ‗reflective ‘in this
definition is similar with the above definitions. But notice also that Ennis speaks of deciding
what to do‘, which was not explicitly mentioned in the above definitions. So decision-making is
an important part of critical thinking in Ennis‘s conception. What we learn from Ennis
‘definition is that when we make a decision, we should be serious about it. The decision may be
about purchasing a phone, or it may be about choosing a department, or any other issues. But we
should employ critical thinking to make a decision.

Here is another important definition of critical thinking is given by Richard Paul: Critical
thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content or problem – in which the thinker
improves the quality of his or her 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. This definition is interesting and somehow looks different from the other
definitions given above. It draws attention to a feature of critical thinking on which scholars in
the field seem to be largely agreed - that the only realistic way to develop one‘s critical thinking
ability is through ‗thinking about one‘s thinking‘ (often called ‗meta-cognition‘), and
consciously aiming to improve it by reference to some model of good thinking in that domain.
Critical thinking is sometimes referred to as critico creative ‘thinking. This word is the
combination of two words: critical and creative. There are two related reasons for this. The first
is that the term ‗critical thinking ‘is sometimes thought to sound rather negative, as though one‘s
only interest is in adversely criticizing other people‘s arguments and ideas. This would be a
serious mistake since (and this is the second reason) to be good at evaluating arguments and
ideas, one often has to be very imaginative and creative about other possibilities, alternative
considerations, different options and so on.

Standards of Critical Thinking

We have seen that the term ‗critical thinking ‘generally refers to a wide range of cognitive skills
and intellectual dispositions needed to effectively identify, analyze, and evaluate
arguments and truth claims. It is critical thinking is a disciplined thinking governed by clear
intellectual standards that can be used to identify a critical thinking from the uncritical. Standard
of critical thinking refers a condition or a level that critical thinking should meet to be considered
as normal and acceptable. Clarity, precision, accuracy, relevance, consistency,
logical correctness, completeness, and fairness are some of the most important intellectual
standards of critical thinking. Let us discuss these standards in detail.

1) Clarity

Clarity refers to clear understanding of concepts and clearly expressing them in a language that is
free of obscurity and vagueness. When we construct argument, we should take into consideration
or pay close attention to clarity. Before we can effectively evaluate a person‘s argument or claim,
we need to understand clearly what the person is saying. Unfortunately, that can be difficult
because people often fail to express themselves clearly.

But clarity is a gateway standard. If a statement is unclear, we cannot determine whether it is

accurate or relevant. In fact, we cannot tell anything about it because we do not yet know what it
is saying. For example, the question ―What can be done about the education system in
Ethiopia? is unclear. In order to address the question adequately, we would need to have a clearer
understanding of what the person is asking. The question is considering the ―problem‖ to be. A
clearer question might be ―What can educators do to ensure that students learn the skills and
abilities which help them function successfully on the job and in their daily decision-making?‖
Sometimes lack of clarity is due to laziness, carelessness, or a lack of skill.

Critical thinkers, however, not only strive for clarity of language but also seek maximum clarity
of thought. To achieve our personal goals in life, we need a clear conception of our goals and
priorities, a realistic grasp of our abilities, and a clear understanding of the problems and
opportunities we face. Such self-understanding can be achieved only if we value and pursue
clarity of thought.

2) Precision

Precision is a matter of being exact, accurate and careful. Most ideas are vague and obscures
though we think we have precise understanding of them. When we try to meticulous these ideas,
we will find that they are imprecise. To get precise understanding, we should pay close attention
to details.

Critical thinkers also understand the importance of precise thinking in different contexts. They
understand that to cut through the confusions and uncertainties that surround many everyday
problems and issues, it is often necessary to insist on precise answers to precise questions: What
exactly is the problem we are facing? What exactly are the alternatives? What exactly are the
advantages and disadvantages of each alternative? Only when we habitually seek such precision
are we truly become critical thinkers.

3) Accuracy

Accuracy is about correct information. Critical thinking should care a lot about genuine
information. If the ideas and thoughts one processes are not real, then once decision based on
wrong and false information will likely to result in distorting realities. John Rawls, in his book
entitled as ‗A Theory of Justice‟ argued that truth is the first virtue of systems of thought. A
theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue. Whether an
idea is attractive or sophisticated should be abandoned if it is based on false information.

Accuracy is about having and getting true information. There is a well-known saying about
computers: Garbage in, garbage out. Simply put, this means that if you put bad information into
a computer, bad information is exactly what you will get out of it. Much the same is true of
human thinking. No matter how brilliant you may be, you are almost guaranteed to make bad
decisions if your decisions are based on false information. Critical thinkers do not merely value
the truth; they also have a passion for accurate, timely information. As consumers, citizens,
workers, and parents, they strive to make decisions and this decision should be based on true
information.

4) Relevance

The question of relevance is a question of connections. When there is a discussion or debate, it

should focus on relevant ideas and information. That is, only those points that bear on the issue
should be raised. A favorite debaters ‘trick is to try to distract an audience‘s attention by raising
an irrelevant issue. Critical thinkers do not collect any information; they focus and carefully
choose only the information that has logical relation with the ideas at hands. Issues raised should
have logical connection with the question at hand. Two ideas are relevant when they have logical
connection. A critical thinker should be relevant in his ideas and thoughts.

5) Consistency

Consistency is about the quality of always behaving in the same way or of having the same
opinions or standards. It is easy to see why consistency is essential to critical thinking. Logic
tells us that if a person holds inconsistent beliefs, at least one of those beliefs must be false.
Critical thinkers prize truth and so are constantly on the lookout for inconsistencies, both in their
own thinking and in the arguments and assertions of others.

There are two kinds of inconsistency that should be avoided. One is logical inconsistency, which
involves saying or believing inconsistent things (i.e., things that cannot both or all be true) about
a particular matter. The other is practical inconsistency, which involves saying one thing and
doing another. Sometimes people are fully aware that their words conflict with their deeds; in
short people sometime are hypocrites. From a critical thinking point of view, such personality is
not especially interesting. As a rule, they involve failures of character to a greater degree than
they do failures of critical reasoning.

6) Logical Correctness
To think logically is to reason correctly; that is, to draw well-founded conclusions from the
beliefs held. To think critically, we need accurate and well supported beliefs. But, just as
important, we need to be able to reason from those beliefs to conclusions that logically follow
from them. Unfortunately, illogical thinking is all too common in human affairs. When we think,
we bring a variety of thoughts together into some order. When the combinations of thoughts are
mutually supporting and make sense in combination, the thinking is logical. When the
combination is not mutually supporting, is contradictory in some sense, or does not make sense
the combination, is not logical.

7) Completeness

In most contexts, we rightly prefer deep and complete thinking to shallow and superficial
thinking. Of course, there are times when it is impossible or inappropriate to discuss an issue in
depth; no one would expect, for example, a thorough and wide-ranging discussion of the ethics
of the right to self- determination in a short newspaper editorial. However, thinking is better
when it is deep rather than shallow, thorough rather than superficial.

8) Fairness

Critical thinking demands that our thinking be fair - that is, open minded, impartial, and free of
distorting biases and preconceptions. That can be very difficult to achieve. Even the most
superficial acquaintance with history and the social sciences tells us that people are often
strongly disposed to resist unfamiliar ideas, to prejudge issues, to stereotype outsiders, and to
identify truth with their own self-interest or the interests of their nation or group.
It is probably unrealistic to suppose that our thinking could ever be completely free of biases and
preconceptions; to some extent, we all perceive reality in ways that are powerfully shaped by our
individual life experiences and cultural backgrounds. But as difficult as it may be to achieve,
basic fair-mindedness is clearly an essential attribute of a critical thinker.

We naturally think from our own perspective, from a point of view, which tends to privilege our
position. Fairness implies the treating of all relevant viewpoints alike without reference to one‘s
own feelings or interests. 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. This is especially
important when the situation may call on us to see things we do not want to see, or give
something up that we want to hold onto.

Codes of Intellectual Conduct for Effective Discussion

Principles of Good Argument

A discussion may involve two or more participants or it may simply be an internal discussion
with oneself. In either case, one who wishes to construct the strongest possible arguments for his
or her views, and to do one‘s part in resolving conflicts concerning issues that matter, should
make each of the following principles a part of his or her intellectual style:

1) The Structural Principle

The structural principle of a good argument requires that one who argues for or against a position
should use an argument that meets the fundamental structural requirements of a well-formed
argument. Such an argument does not use reasons that contradict each other, that contradict the
conclusion, or that explicitly or implicitly assume the truth of the conclusion. Neither does it
draw any invalid deductive inferences.

The first criterion used in determining whether an argument is a good one is the requirement that
it be structurally sound. An argument must look and works like an argument. In other words, it
should be formed in such a way that the conclusion either follows necessarily from its premises,
in the case of deductive arguments, or follows probably from its premises, in the case of
inductive arguments.

A good argument should also provide us with reasons to believe that the conclusion deserves our
acceptance. Since most discussions about controversial issues are initiated because the
argument‘s conclusion has not yet been accepted by all participants, the arguer will use premises
that are more likely to be accepted than the conclusion. If those premises are accepted and they
lead to the conclusion, it is more likely that the conclusion will also be accepted.

Another structural feature of an argument that could render it fatally flawed would be one whose
premises are incompatible with one another. An argument that has such premises is one from
which any conclusion, no matter how outrageous, can be drawn. The fact that an argument with
incompatible premises may yield an absurd result demonstrates that it cannot even function as an
argument— let alone a good one. It certainly cannot help us decide what to do or believe. The
same is true of an argument with a conclusion that contradicts one of the premises. A conclusion
that contradicts another claim in the same argument violates the law of non-contradiction.
2) The Relevance Principle

This is the second principle of a good argument that requires that one who presents an argument
for or against a position should set forth only reasons whose truth provides some evidence for the
truth of the conclusion.

The premises of a good argument must be relevant to the truth or merit of the conclusion. There
is no reason to waste time assessing the truth or acceptability of a premise if it is not even
relevant to the truth of the conclusion. A premise is relevant if its acceptance provides some
reason to believe, counts in favor of, or has some bearing on the truth or merit of the conclusion.
A premise is irrelevant if its acceptance has no bearing on, provides no evidence for, or has no
connection to the truth or merit of the conclusion.

One may want to ask two questions in an effort to determine whether a particular premise or
reason is relevant. First, would the premise‘s being true in any way make one more likely to
believe that the conclusion is true? If the answer is yes, the premise is probably relevant. If the
answer is no, the premise is probably not relevant. Second, even if the premise is true, should it
be a consideration in the determination of whether or not the conclusion of the argument is true?
For example, does the fact that an idea that is widely accepted by most people can be considered
as a sign that the idea itself is good. ? If the answer is no, then a premise that asserts that claim is
irrelevant. If the answer is yes, which is unlikely in this case, then the premise should be
regarded as relevant.

2) The Acceptability Principle

The third principle of a good argument is the acceptability principle. This principle requires that
one who presents an argument for or against a position should provide reasons that are likely to
be accepted by a mature, rational person and that meet standard criteria of acceptability. The
reasons set forth in support of a conclusion must be acceptable. A reason is acceptable if it is the
kind of claim that a rational person would accept in the face of all the relevant evidence
available. Some people believe that the acceptability principle should be replaced by the truth
principle to connote the idea that premises should be true to be acceptable.

3) The Sufficiency Principle

The four principle of a good argument is the sufficiency principle, which requires that one who
presents an argument for or against a position should attempt to provide relevant and acceptable
reasons of the right kind, that together are sufficient in number and weight to justify the
acceptance of the conclusion.

One should ask several questions when applying the sufficiency test to a particular argument.
First, are the reasons that are given, even if they are relevant and acceptable, enough to drive one
to the arguer‘s proposed conclusion? Second, is the evidence presented flawed by some kind of
faulty causal analysis? Finally, is some key or crucial evidence simply missing from the
argument that must be included as one of the premises in order for one to accept the argument‘s
conclusion? Answer to these questions will tell us if the premises are sufficient.

4) The Rebuttal Principle

The last principle of a good argument is the rebuttal principle. This principle requires that one
who presents an argument for or against a position should include in the argument an effective
rebuttal to all anticipated serious criticisms of the argument that may be brought against it or
against the position it supports. Since an argument is usually presented against the background
that there is another side to the issue, a good argument must meet that other side directly. An
argument cannot be a good one if it does not anticipate and effectively refute or blunt the force of
the most serious criticisms against it and the position that it supports.

A complete argument might even refute the arguments mustered in behalf of alternate positions
on the issue in question. One must ask and answer several questions in applying the rebuttal
principle to an argument. First, what are the strongest arguments against the position being
defended? Second, does the argument address the counterarguments effectively? Third, what
potentially serious weaknesses in the argument for the position might be recognized by an
opponent? Fourth, does the argument itself recognize and address those possible weaknesses?
Finally, does the argument show why arguments for alternative positions on the issue are flawed
or unsuccessful?

Arguments can fail to meet the rebuttal principle in several ways and those wishing to avoid the
responsibility of rebuttal commonly use several diversionary tactics. For example, arguments
that misrepresent the criticism bring up trivial objections or a side issue, or resort to humor or
ridicule are using devices that clearly fail to make effective responses. The same can be said of
those arguments that ignore or deny the counterevidence against the position defended. Finally,
some arguers try to avoid responding to a criticism by attacking the critic instead of the criticism.
All of these approaches are clear violations of our obligation to respond honestly to the
arguments of our opponents.

Principles of Critical Thinking

Having discussed the major principles of a good argument, let us now see the principles of a
critical thinking as parts of the codes of intellectual conduct.

1) The Fallibility Principle

The first principle of a critical thinking is the fallibility principle. This principle requires that
each participant in a discussion of a disputed issue should be willing to accept the fact that he or
she is fallible, which means that one must acknowledge that one‘s own initial view may not be
the most defensible position on the question.

To employ the fallibility principle in a discussion is consciously to accept the fact that you are
fallible, that is, that your present view may be wrong or not the most defensible view on the
matter in dispute. If you refuse to accept your own fallibility, you are, in effect, saying that you
are not willing to change your mind, even if you hear a better argument. This is pretty strong
evidence that you do not intend to play fairly, and there is no real point in continuing the
discussion. An admission of fallibility, however, is a positive sign that you are genuinely
interested in the kind of honest inquiry that may lead to a fair resolution of the issue. Given the
great number of issues that divide us and the large number of different positions on each of those
issues, it is more likely that a person would turn out to be wrong on more issues than right.
2) The Truth Seeking Principle
The second principle of a critical thinking is the truth seeking principle. This principle requires
that each participant should be committed to the task of earnestly searching for the truth or at
least the most defensible position on the issue at stake. Therefore, one should be willing to
examine alternative positions seriously, look for insights in the positions of others, and allow
other participants to present arguments for or raise objections to any position held on an issue.

The search for truth is lifelong endeavor, which principally takes the form of discussion, wherein
we systematically entertain the ideas and arguments of fellow seekers after truth, while at the
same time thoughtfully considering criticisms of our own views. If we really are interested in
finding the truth, it is imperative not only that we assume that we may not now have the truth,
but that we listen to the arguments for alternative positions and encourage criticism of our own
arguments.
We probably all want to hold only those opinions that really are true, but the satisfaction of that
interest comes at a price - a willingness to look at all available options and the arguments in
support of them. Otherwise, we might miss the truth completely. The problem, of course, is that
most of us want the truth to be what we now hold to be the truth.

3) The Clarity Principle

The clarity principle is the third principle of a critical thinking. It requires that the formulations
of all positions, defenses, and attacks should be free of any kind of linguistic confusion and
clearly separated from other positions and issues. Any successful discussion of an issue must be
carried on in language that all the parties involved can understand. Even if what we have to say
is perfectly clear to ourselves, others may not be able to understand us. A position or a criticism
of it that is expressed in confusing, vague, ambiguous, or contradictory language will not reach
those toward whom it is directed, and it will contribute little to resolving the issue at hand.
4) The Burden of Proof Principle

The fourth principle of a critical thinking is the burden of proof principle. This principle requires
that the burden of proof for any position usually rests on the participant who sets forth the
position. If, and when, an opponent asks, the proponent should provide an argument for that
position.
Just as a person is generally held accountable for his or her own actions, one who makes a
positive or negative claim about something has what is called the burden of proof. In many cases,
of course, one does not have to supply such proof, for we are not always challenged to defend
our claims. But if the claimant is asked ―Why? or How do you know that is true? he or she is
logically obligated to produce reasons on behalf of the claim. An exception to this rule is a
situation in which the claim in question is well established or uncontroversial. In such a case, the
burden of proof might rest on the one who wishes to challenge that claim. One has the
responsibility to provide evidence for one‘s conclusion and for any questionable premise, if
asked to do so.

To ask others to accept your claim without any support, or to shift the burden of proof to them by
suggesting that your position is true unless they can prove otherwise, is to commit the fallacy of
arguing from ignorance,‖ for you are, in this way, making a claim based on no evidence at all.

5) The Principle of Charity

This is the fifth principle of a critical thinking that requires that if a participant‘s argument is
reformulated by an opponent, it should be carefully expressed in its strongest possible version
that is consistent with what is believed to be the original intention of the arguer. If there is any
question about that intention or about any implicit part of the argument, the arguer should be
given the benefit of any doubt in the reformulation and/or, when possible, given the opportunity
to amend it. Good discussion in general and argumentation in particular impose an ethical
requirement on their participants. But there is also a practical reason for being fair with one
another‘s arguments.

If we deliberately create and then attack a weak version of the original argument, we will
probably fail to achieve the very goals that discussion is designed to serve. If we are really
interested in the truth or the best answer to a problem, then we will want to evaluate the best
version of any argument set forth in support of one of the options. Hence, if we don‘t deal with
the best version now, we will eventually have to do so, once an uncharitable version has been
corrected by the arguer or others. We would do well, then, to be fair about it in the first place by
letting our opponents amend any portion of our reconstruction of their arguments.
6) The Suspension of Judgment Principle
The sixth principle of a critical thinking is the suspension of judgment principle. This principle
requires that if no position is defended by a good argument, or if two or more positions seem to
be defended with equal strength, one should, in most cases, suspend judgment about the issue. If
practical considerations seem to require a more immediate decision, one should weigh the
relative benefits or harm connected with the consequences of suspending judgment and decides
the issue on those grounds.

If suitable evidence is so lacking that one has no good basis for making a decision either way, it
may be quite appropriate to suspend judgment on the matter and wait until there is more of a
basis for decision. This alternative should not, however, be seen as a clever way to avoid the
psychological fright of making a difficult decision or of moving into unfamiliar territory.
7) The Resolution Principle

The last principle of a critical thinking is the resolution principle. This principle requires that an
issue should be considered resolved if the argument for one of the alternative positions is a
structurally sound, one that uses relevant and acceptable reasons that together provide sufficient
grounds to justify the conclusion and that also include an effective rebuttal to all serious
criticisms of the argument and/or the position it supports. Unless one can demonstrate that the
argument has not met these conditions more successfully than any argument presented for
alternative positions, one is obligated to accept its conclusion and consider the issue to be settled.
If the argument is subsequently found by any participant to be flawed in a way that raises new
doubts about the merit of the position it supports, one is obligated to reopen the issue for further
consideration and resolution.

If the purpose of rational discussion is ultimately to decide what to do or believe, then coming to
closure should happen more often than it does. There are many good arguments out there, and if
good arguments resolve issues, why are not more issues resolved? How much more discussion is
needed, just because some refuse to recognize the force of a good argument? Unfortunately, very
few controversial issues ever come to rational resolution. If you have doubts about this, then ask
yourself when the last time was that you allowed the force of argument to change your mind
about an important issue - even though changing one‘s mind in the face of a good argument
should not be a difficult thing to do for a genuine truth-seeker.
So why does it not happen? Why are issues not resolved? There are probably a number of
reasons. It could be that one of the parties to the dispute has a blind spot; that is, he or she simply
cannot be objective about the particular issue at hand. Or maybe he or she has been rationally but
not psychologically convinced by the discussion. Another possible explanation is that one or
more of the parties in the dispute have been rationally careless or at least guilty of not thinking as
clearly as they should. It is even possible that one of the parties has a hidden agenda - an issue to
defend other than the stated one. Or maybe the parties involved are simply not being honest with
themselves, for they may want to win the argument more than they want to find a solution to the
problem. Finally, perhaps the parties are in what might be called deep disagreement. In other
words, they are divided on the issue because of fundamental underlying assumptions that have
yet to be explored.

No argument, however, being regarded as permanently successful. There is always the

possibility that new evidence will come to light that will raise new doubts about a position hold
on what were thought to be good grounds. Under these conditions, further examination is always
appropriate. Pride in holding a position defended by a good argument in the past should not
become an obstacle to reopening the issue in the present if conditions warrant it. The new doubts,
however, should not be the same old doubts in new clothing. Reopening the issue should come
only as a consequence of uncovering new or reinterpreted evidence not considered in the earlier
treatment of the issue.

Characteristics of Critical Thinking

Basic Traits of Critical Thinkers

A critical thinker simply is a person who exhibit some feature of critical thinking. There are
some dispositions and attitudes, skills and abilities, habits and values that every critical person
should manifest. In this section, we will see some of the key intellectual traits of critical thinkers.

Critical thinkers:

 Are honest with themselves, acknowledging what they don't know, recognizing their
limitations, and being watchful of their own errors.
 Regard problems and controversial issues as exciting challenges.
 Strive for understanding, keep curiosity alive, remain patient with complexity, and are
ready to invest time to overcome confusion.
 Base judgments on evidence rather than personal preferences, deferring judgment
whenever evidence is insufficient. They revise judgments when new evidence reveals error.
 Are interested in other people's ideas and so are willing to read and listen attentively,
even when they tend to disagree with the other person.
 Recognize that extreme views (whether conservative or liberal) are seldom correct, so
they avoid them, practice fair-mindedness, and seek a balance view.
 Practice restraint, controlling their feelings rather than being controlled by them, and
thinking before acting.

Basic Traits of Uncritical Thinkers

We have in the previous section that every critical person manifests some dispositions and
attitudes, skills and abilities, habits and values. What about the uncritical thinker? In this section,
we will see some traits of uncritical thinkers.

Uncritical thinkers:

 Pretend they know more than they do, ignore their limitations, and assume their views
are error-free.
 Regard problems and controversial issues as nuisances or threats to their ego.
 Are inpatient with complexity and thus would rather remain confused than make the
effort to understand.
 Base judgments on first impressions and gut reactions. They are unconcerned about the
amount or quality of evidence and cling to their views steadfastly.
 Are preoccupied with themselves and their own opinions, and so are unwilling to pay
attention to others' views. At the first sign of disagreement, they tend to think, "How
can I refute this?"
 Ignore the need for balance and give preference to views that support their established
views.
 Tend to follow their feelings and act impulsively.
Let us now compare and contrasts the key intellectual traits of critical thinkers with the relevant
traits of uncritical thinkers:

First, critical thinkers have a passionate drive for clarity, precision, accuracy, and other critical
thinking standards while uncritical thinkers often think in ways that are unclear, imprecise, and
inaccurate. In addition to this, critical thinkers are sensitive to ways in which critical thinking can
be skewed by egocentrism, sociocentrism, wishful thinking, and other impediments, while
uncritical thinkers often fall prey to egocentrism, sociocentrism, relativistic thinking,
unwarranted assumptions, and wishful thinking.

Second, critical thinkers are skilled at understanding, analyzing, and evaluating arguments and
viewpoints whereas uncritical thinkers often misunderstand or evaluate unfairly arguments and
viewpoints. Moreover, critical thinkers reason logically, draw appropriate conclusions from
evidence and data, while uncritical thinkers are illogical, and draw unsupported conclusions from
these sources.

Third, critical thinkers are intellectually honest with themselves, acknowledging what they do
not know and recognizing their limitations while uncritical thinkers pretend they know more than
they do and ignore their limitations. Furthermore, critical thinkers listen open-mindedly to
opposing points of view, welcome criticisms of beliefs and assumptions, whereas uncritical
thinkers are closed-minded, and resist criticisms of beliefs and assumptions.

Fourth, critical thinkers base their beliefs on facts and evidence rather than on personal
preferences or self-interests, while uncritical thinkers often base beliefs on mere personal
preferences or self-interests. Again, critical thinkers are aware of the biases and preconceptions
that shape the way they perceive the world, whereas uncritical thinkers lack awareness of their
own biases and preconceptions.

Fifth, critical thinkers think independently and are not afraid to disagree with group opinion
whereas uncritical thinkers tend to engage in groupthink uncritically following the beliefs and
values of the crowd. Moreover, critical thinkers have the intellectual courage to face and assess
fairly ideas that challenge even their most basic beliefs whereas uncritical thinkers fear and resist
ideas that challenge their basic beliefs.
Finally yet importantly, critical thinkers pursue truth, are curious about a wide range of issues
and have the intellectual perseverance to pursue insights or truths despite obstacles or difficulties
whereas uncritical thinkers are often relatively indifferent to truth and lack curiosity, tend not to
persevere when they encounter intellectual obstacles or difficulties.

Barriers to Critical Thinking

In this lesson, we will discuss some of the problems that impede critical thinking. But we will
limit our discussion to four of them: egocentrism, sociocentrism, unwarranted assumptions and
stereotype and relativistic thinking. These are not exhaustive lists. There are many factors that
impede critical thinking. There are a number of factors that impede a critical thinking. Some of
the most common barriers to critical thinking are: Lack of relevant background information, poor
reading skills, bias, prejudice, superstition, egocentrism (self-centered thinking), sociocentrism
(group centered thinking), peer pressure, conformism, provincialism (narrow, unsophisticated
thinking),
narrow-mindedness, closed-mindedness, distrust in reason, relativistic thinking, stereotyping,
unwarranted assumptions, scapegoating (blaming the innocent), rationalization (inventing
excuses to avoid facing our real motives).

Let us examine in detail five of these impediments that play an especially powerful role in
hindering critical thinking: egocentrism, sociocentrism, unwarranted assumptions, relativistic
thinking, and wishful thinking.

1) Egocentrism
- people are prey to egocentrism.
- tendency to see reality as centered on oneself.
- Egocentrics are selfish, self-absorbed people who view their interests, ideas, and
values as superior to everyone else‘s.
- Two common forms this are self-interested thinking and the superiority bias.
Self-interested thinking is the tendency to accept and defend beliefs that harmonize with one‘s
self-interest. Almost no one is immune to self-interested thinking. There are a number of facts,
which supported this idea. For example, most doctors support legislation making it more difficult
for them to be sued for malpractice because they do not want to punish for mistakes committed
in the workplace. Most university professors strongly support tenure, paid sabbaticals, low
teaching loads, and a strong faculty voice in university governance because these will promote
their interest. Most factory workers support laws requiring advance notice of plant closings; most
factory owners do not. Of course, some of these beliefs may be supported by good reasons. From
a psychological standpoint, however, it is likely that self-interest plays at least some role in
shaping the respective attitudes and beliefs.

Self-interested thinking, however understandable it may seem, is a major obstacle to critical

thinking. Everyone finds it tempting at times to reason that ―this benefits me, therefore it must
be good; but from a critical thinking standpoint, such ―reasoning‖ is a sham. Implicit in such
thinking is the assumption that ―What is most important is what I want and need.‖ But why
should I, or anyone else, accept such an arbitrary and obviously self-serving assumption? What
makes your wants and needs more important than everyone else‘s?
Critical thinking condemns such special pleading. It demands that we weigh evidence and
arguments objectively and impartially. Ultimately, it demands that we revere truth - even
superiority bias (also known as illusory superiority or the better-than average effect) is the
tendency to overrate oneself - to see oneself as better in some respect than one actually is. If you
are like most people, you probably think of yourself as being an unusually self-aware person who
is largely immune from any such self-deception. If so, then you too are probably suffering from
superiority bias - when it hurts.

2) Sociocentrism

The second powerful barrier that paralyzes the critical thinking ability of most people including
intellectuals is sociocentrism. It is group-centered thinking. Just as egocentrism can hinder
rational thinking by focusing excessively on the self, so sociocentrism can hinder rational
thinking by focusing excessively on the group. Sociocentrism can distort critical thinking in
many ways. Two of the most important are group bias and conformism.
Group bias is the tendency to see one‘s own group (nation, tribe, sect, peer group, and the like)
as being inherently better than others. Social scientists tell us that such thinking is extremely
common throughout human history and across cultures. Just as we seem naturally inclined to
hold inflated views of ourselves, so we find it easy to hold inflated views of our family, our
community, or our nation. Conversely, we find it easy to look with suspicion or disfavor on those
we regard as ―outsiders.

Most people absorb group bias unconsciously, usually from early childhood. It is common, for
example, for people to grow up thinking that their society‘s beliefs, institutions, and values are
better than those of other societies. Although most people outgrow nationalistic biases to some
extent, few of us manage to outgrow them completely. Clearly, this kind of ―mine-is-better‖
thinking lies at the root of a great deal of human conflict, intolerance, and oppression.

Conformism refers to our tendency to follow the crowd - that is, to conform (often unthinkingly)
to authority or to group standards of conduct and belief. The desire to belong, to be part of the
ingroup, can be among the most powerful of human motivations. This desire can seriously
cripple our powers of critical reasoning and decision-making.

Authority moves us. We are impressed, influenced, and intimidated by authority, so much so
that, under the right conditions, we abandon our own values, beliefs, and judgments, even doubt
our own immediate experience. As critical thinkers, we need to be aware of the seductive power
of peer pressure and reliance on authority and develop habits of independent thinking to combat
them.

3) Unwarranted Assumptions and Stereotypes

The third factor that impedes critical thinking is unwarranted assumptions and stereotype. An
assumption is something we take for granted - something we believe to be true without any proof
or conclusive evidence. Almost everything we think and do is based on assumptions. If the
weather report calls for rain, we take an umbrella because we assume that the meteorologist is
not lying, that the report is based on a scientific analysis of weather patterns, that the instruments
are accurate, and so forth. There may be no proof that any of this is true, but we realize that it is
wiser to take the umbrella than to insist that the weather bureau provide exhaustive evidence to
justify its prediction.

Although we often hear the injunction ―Don‘t assume,‖ it would be impossible to get through a
day without making assumptions; in fact, many of our daily actions are based on assumptions we
have drawn from the patterns in our experience. You go to class at the scheduled time because
you assume that class is being held at its normal hour and in its same place. You don‘t call the
professor each day to ask if class is being held; you just assume that it is. Such assumptions are
warranted, which means that we have good reason to hold them. When you see a driver coming
toward you with the turn signal on, you have good reason to believe that the driver intends to
turn. You may be incorrect, and it might be safer to withhold action until you are certain, but
your assumption is not unreasonable.

Unwarranted assumptions, however, are unreasonable. An unwarranted assumption is something

taken for granted without good reason. Such assumptions often prevent our seeing things clearly.
One of the most common types of unwarranted assumptions is a stereotype. The word stereotype
comes from the printing press era, when plates, or stereotypes, were used to produce identical
copies of one page. Similarly, when we stereotype, as the word is now used, we assume that
individual people have all been stamped from one plate, so all politicians are alike, members of
ethnic groups, professors, women, teachers, and so forth. When we form an opinion of someone
that is based not on his or her individual qualities but, rather, on his or her membership in a
particular group, we are assuming that all or virtually all members of that group are alike.
Because people are not identical, no matter what race or other similarities they share,
stereotypical conceptions will often be false or misleading.

Typically, stereotypes are arrived at through a process known as hasty generalization, in which
one draws a conclusion about a large class of things(in this case, people) from a small sample. If
we meet one South African who talk a lot, we might jump to the conclusion that all South
Africans talk a lot. Or we might generalize from what we have heard from a few friends or
reading a single news story. Often the media advertisements, the news, movies, and so forth
encourage stereotyping by the way they portray groups of people.
The assumptions we need to become most conscious of are not the ones that lead to our routine
behaviors, such as carrying an umbrella or going to class, but the ones on which we base our
more important attitudes, actions, and decisions. If we are conscious of our tendency to
stereotype, we can take measures to end it.

4) Relativistic Thinking

One of the strongest challenges to critical thinking is relativistic thinking. Relativism is the view
that truth is a matter of opinion. There are two popular forms of relativism: subjectivism and
cultural relativism. Subjectivism is the view that truth is a matter of individual opinion.
According to subjectivism, whatever an individual believes is true, is true for that person, and
there is no such thing as ―objective‖ or ―absolute‖ truth, i.e., truth that exists independent of
what anyone believes. For example, suppose Abdella believes that abortion is wrong and Obang
believes that abortion is not always wrong. According to subjectivism, abortion is always wrong
for Abdella and not always wrong for Obang. Both beliefs are true – for them. And truth for one
individual or another is the only kind of truth there is.

The other common form of relativism is cultural relativism. This is the view that truth is a matter
of social or cultural opinion. In other words, cultural relativism is the view that what is true for
person A is what person A‘s culture or society believes is true. Drinking wine, for example, is
widely considered to be wrong in Iran but is not generally considered to be wrong in France.
According to cultural relativism, therefore, drinking wine is immoral in Iran but
is morally permissible in France. Thus, for the cultural relativist, just as for the subjectivist, there
is no objective or absolute standard of truth. What is true is whatever most people in a society or
culture believe to be true.

Relatively few people endorse subjectivism or cultural relativism in the pure, unqualified forms
in which we have stated them. Almost everybody would admit, for example, that 1 + 1 = 2 is
true, no matter who might be ignorant or deluded enough to deny it. What relativists usually
claim, therefore, is not that all truth is relative, but that truth is relative in some important
domain(s).
By far the most common form of relativism is moral relativism. Like relativism generally, moral
relativism comes in two major forms: moral subjectivism and cultural moral relativism. Moral
subjectivism is the view that what is morally right and good for an individual, A, is whatever A
believes is morally right and good. Thus, if G/Meskel believes that premarital sex is always
wrong, and Eden believes that it is not always wrong; according to moral subjectivism,
premarital sex is always wrong for G/Meskel and is not always wrong for Eden.
The other major form of moral relativism is cultural moral relativism, the view that what is
morally right and good for an individual, A, is whatever A‘s society or culture believes is
morally right and good. Thus, according to cultural moral relativism, if culture A believes that
polygamy is wrong, and culture B believes that polygamy is right, then polygamy is wrong for
culture A and right for culture B. Cultural moral relativism is a very popular view. There are two
major reasons people seem to find it so attractive. One has to do with the nature of moral
disagreement and the other concerns the value of tolerance.

Ethics, obviously, is very different from mathematics or science. In mathematics and science,
there are arguments and disagreements, but not nearly to the extent there are in ethics. In ethics
there is widespread disagreement, the disagreements often go very deep, and there seems to be
no rational way to resolve many of them. What this shows, some people conclude, is that there is
no objective truth in ethics; morality is just a matter of individual or societal opinion.
Another reason people find cultural moral relativism attractive is that it seems to support the
value of tolerance. Throughout history, terrible wars, persecutions, and acts of religious and
cultural imperialism have been perpetrated by people who firmly believed in the absolute
righteousness of their moral beliefs and practices. Cultural moral relativism seems to imply that
we must be tolerant of other cultures ‘moral beliefs and values. If culture A believes that
polygamy is wrong, and culture B believes that it is right, then culture A must agree that
polygamy is right for culture B, no matter how offensive the practice may be to culture A.
Despite these apparent attractions, however, there are deep problems with cultural moral
relativism. First, does the fact that there is deep disagreement in ethics show that there is no
objective moral truth - that ethics is just a matter of opinion? Think about another area in which
there is deep, pervasive, and seemingly irresolvable disagreement: religion. People disagree
vehemently over whether God exists, whether there is an afterlife, and so forth; yet we do not
conclude from this that there is no objective truth about these matters. It may be difficult to know
whether God exists. But whether he exists is not simply a matter of opinion. Thus, deep
disagreement about an issue does not show that there is no objective truth about that issue.
Second, cultural moral relativism does not necessarily support the value of tolerance. Relativism
tells us that we should accept the customs and values of our society. Thus, if you live in an
intolerant society, relativism implies that you too should be intolerant. Does this mean that
cultural moral relativism has nothing at all to teach us? No. The fact that people disagree so
much about ethics does not show that moral truth is simply a matter of opinion, but it should
make us cautious and open-minded regarding our own ethical beliefs. If millions of obviously
decent, intelligent people disagree with you, how can you be sure that your values are the correct
ones?
In this way, relativism can teach us an important lesson about the value of intellectual humility.
But we do not need relativism - which is a false and confused theory - to teach us this lesson. We
can learn it just by opening our hearts and minds and thinking critically about the challenges of
living an ethical life.

6) Wishful Thinking

Wishful thinking refers to a state of believing something not because you had good evidence for
it but simply because you wished it were true. Have you ever been guilty of wishful thinking? If
so, you are not alone. Throughout human history, reason has done battle with wishful thinking
and has usually come out the loser. People fear the unknown and invent comforting myths to
render the universe less hostile and more predictable. They fear death and listen credulously to
stories of healing crystals, quack cures, and communication with the dead. They fantasize about
possessing extraordinary personal powers and accept uncritically accounts of psychic prediction
and levitation.

Benefits of Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking: Skills and Dispositions

Critical thinking teaches you how to raise and identify fundamental questions and problems in
the community. It will teach you to reformulate these problems clearly and precisely. It will
teach you how to gather and assess relevant information, develop reasoned conclusions and
solutions, testing them against relevant criterion and standards. It teaches you how to be open
minded to alternative system of thought, recognize and assess your own assumptions,
implications and practical consequences, how to communicate effectively with others in figuring
out solutions to complex problems.

Critical thinking is what university is all about. University is not only about teaching students
with facts. It‘s about teaching students to think- think critically. This chapter will introduce you
the skills and dispositions you need to become an independent, self-directed thinker and learner.
But you‘ll only get out of this course what you put into it. Becoming a critical thinker is hard
work. Becoming a master thinker means toning up your mental muscles and acquiring habits of
careful, disciplined thinking. This requires effort, and practice. Critical thinking is an adventure.
Becoming mentally fit is hard work. But in the end you‘ll be a smarter, stronger, more confident
thinker. Let us consider, more specifically, what you can expect to gain from a course in critical
thinking.
Critical Thinking in the Classroom

When they first enter university, students are sometimes surprised to discover that university
education seem less interested in how beliefs are acquired than they are in whether those beliefs
can withstand critical scrutiny. The question is not much about what you know, but how you
acquire what you know and whether your ideas stands critical examination.
In university, the focus is on higher-order thinking: the active, intelligent evaluation of ideas and
information. For this reason critical thinking plays a vital role in universities. In a critical
thinking chapter, students learn a variety of skills that can greatly improve their classroom
performance. These skills include:

• Understanding the arguments and beliefs of others

• Critically evaluating those arguments and beliefs

• Developing and defending one‘s own well-supported arguments and beliefs

Let us look briefly at each of these three skills:

To succeed in university, you must, of course, be able to understand the material you are
studying. A course in critical thinking cannot make inherently difficult material easy to grasp,
but critical thinking does teach a variety of skills that, with practice, can significantly improve
your ability to understand the arguments and issues discussed in your college textbooks and
classes.
In addition, critical thinking can help you critically evaluate what you are learning in class.
During your university career, your instructors will often ask you to discuss ―critically‖ some
argument or idea introduced in class. Critical thinking teaches a wide range of strategies and
skills that can greatly improve your ability to engage in such critical evaluation.
You will also be asked to develop your own arguments on particular topics or issues. In moral
and civic education class, for example, you might be asked to write a paper addressing the issue
of whether ethnic federalism is good or bad. To write such a paper successfully, you must do
more than simply find and assess relevant arguments and information. You must also be able to
marshal arguments and evidence in a way that convincingly supports your view. The systematic
training provided in a course in critical thinking can greatly improve that skill as well.

Critical thinking is a transferable thinking skill. These skills will be taught in ways that expressly
aim to facilitate their transfer to other subjects and contexts. If you learn how to structure
argument, judge the credibility of sources or make a reasonable decision by the methods of
critical thinking for instance, it will not be difficult to see how to do these things in many other
contexts such as in class rooms and personal life; this is the sense in which the skills we teach in
this text are transferable.

Critical Thinking in Life

Critical thinking is valuable in many contexts outside the classroom. Let us look briefly at three
ways in which this is the case. First, critical thinking can help us avoid making foolish personal
decisions. All of us have at one time or another made decisions about what profession to choose,
what relationships to enter into, what personal behavior to develop, and the like that we later
realized were seriously misguided or irrational. Critical thinking can help us avoid such mistakes
by teaching us to think about important life decisions more carefully, clearly, and logically.
Second, critical thinking plays a vital role in promoting democratic processes. In democracy, it is
the people who have the ultimate say over who governs and for what purposes. Citizens should
vote, should evaluate different public policies, and collectively determine their fate and et cetera.
It is vital, therefore, that citizens‘decisions be as informed and as rational as possible. Many of
today‘s most serious societal problems - environmental destruction, poverty, ethnic conflicts,
decaying the morality of societies, high level of corruption , violating basic human rights,
displacement, to mention just a few - have largely been caused by poor critical thinking.

Third, critical thinking is worth studying for its own sake, simply for the personal enrichment it
can bring to our lives. One of the most basic truths of the human condition is that most people,
most of the time, believe what they are told. Throughout most of recorded history, people
accepted without question that the earth was the centre of the universe, that demons cause
disease that slavery was just, and that women are inferior to men.

Critical thinking, honestly and courageously pursued can help free us from the unexamined
assumptions and biases of our upbringing and our society. It lets us step back from the prevailing
customs and ideologies of our culture and ask, ―This is what I‘ve been taught, but is it true? In
short, critical thinking allows us to lead self-directed, ―examined‖ lives. Such personal
liberation is, as the word itself implies, the ultimate goal of education. Whatever other benefits it
brings, education can have no greater reward.