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Critical Thinking: Meaning and Key Concepts
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This lecture notes discusses the meaning of critical thinking as well as it key concepts.
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Critical Thinking: Meaning and Key ConceptsIt can be observed that some people confused critical thinking with logic or logical
thinking. They often thought that to have critical thinking means to be argumentative or
critical of other people’s ideas. However, critical thinking does not only involve analyzing
arguments and determining their validity; critical thinking is more than being
argumentative or critical of other people’s ideas. So, what is critical thinking and how
does it differ from logic or logical thinking?
On the one hand, logic as a specific branch of philosophy is defined as the science of the
correct processing of thinking. In particular, logic deals with arguments and their
validity. Hence, when one is doing logic in a philosophical manner, one is necessarily
dealing with the principles that govern the validity of arguments, that is, whether a
certain conclusion follows from given premises. Let us consider the example below.
Any person who is a member of a labor union is a troublemaker.
Fred is a member of a labor union.
Therefore, Fred is a troublemaker.
Now, if we determine the validity of the argument above using the principles in logic,
then we are doing logical thinking. This is precisely the business of logic in general. (For
a more detailed discussion on the nature, meaning, and dynamics of logic, please refer
to the article titled “What is Logic?”, available from
https://philonotes.com/index.php/2018/09/22/what-is-logic/.)
On the other hand, critical thinking is understood as the ability to analyze objectively a
given fact or issue to form a sound judgment. In other words, critical thinking is a
cognitive skill, which includes questioning, analyzing, criticizing, synthesizing,
evaluating, and judging ideas or “information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication”, (see National
Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking. See also https://philosophy.hku.hk/think/).
Critical thinking, therefore, is the ability to think clearly and rationally. And it must be
noted that logic is just a useful tool used in critical thinking.
Let us consider an example of a situation that involves or demands critical thinking.
Robert’s wife is suffering from an ectopic pregnancy. In an ectopic pregnancy, the fetus
developed outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube. As is well known, if the fetus
is not aborted, then eventually, as the fetus grows, the fallopian tube will explode
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