...definitions of critical thought Differing Definitions of Critical Thought Victor M. Fraser Capitol College Abstract This paper attempts to compare and contrast the differing definitions of critical thinking as defined by various writers on different publications. It appears that no matter how critical thinking is defined, the same components are standard, and the conclusions are somewhat similar and hold true. A true definition of critical thinking is by no feat an easy task. It is a complex and controversial notion difficult to define and also to study. Many definitions have been proposed by several experts. One high profile definition states, “We understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based ….. The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well informed, trustful of reason, open minded, flexible, fair minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider and persistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry permit.” (Facione, 1990a, p.3). As can be seen from the all encompassing definition a lot goes into determining the meaning of Critical Thought....
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...Critical Thinking and Ethics Josh Hergatt ETH/316 The relationship between critical thinking and ethics is sometimes strong, and sometimes weak. The principles and rules of critical thinking are certainly applicable to ethical reasoning. There will always be a need for ethical decision making in order to be fair to everyone and to not be bias towards anyone for their religion, sex, race, etc. Critical thinking can certainly be used for ethical reasoning. Ethics is defined as the reasoned study of what is morally right and wrong or good and bad. Critical thinking is the active and systematic process of communication, problem solving, evaluation, analysis, synthesis, and reflection, both individually and in community, to foster understanding, support sound decision making, and guide action. With these two defined, critical thinking and ethics should come hand in hand. In ethical reasoning, the principles of communication, analysis, evaluation, and problem solving from critical thinking should be used. The problem with this is that there are people that let their emotions get the best of them while reasoning. Some may not have the patience to resolve an issue, which causes the relationship between critical thinking and ethics to be weak. If everyone in society followed the rules and guidelines and logic, there would still be a need for ethical decision making. Treating everyone fair should be the biggest aspect of our society...
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...Write about Critical Thinking? Critical Thinking How can critical thinking be more applicable in the contemporary society with reference to the following aspects Social, economic, political, and intellectual? Critical thinking is an important element of all professional fields and academic disciplines (by referencing their respective sets of permissible questions, evidence sources, criteria, etc.). Within the framework of scientific skepticism, the process of critical thinking involves the careful acquisition and interpretation of information and use of it to reach a well-justified conclusion. The concepts and principles of critical thinking can be applied to any context or case but only by reflecting upon the nature of that application. Critical thinking forms, therefore, a system of related, and overlapping, modes of thought such as anthropological thinking, sociological thinking, historical thinking, political thinking, business person, etc. In other words, though critical thinking principles are universal, their application to disciplines requires a process of reflective contextualization. Critical thinking is considered important in the academic fields because it enables one to analyze, evaluate, explain, and restructure their thinking, thereby decreasing the risk of adopting, acting on, or thinking with, a false belief. For example when students join high school they are usually told that mathematics is hard but a student...
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...Paper At this point after studying the text book definition of critical thinking. If I have to categorize myself as a beginning thinker. Where, unlike a challenged thinker I don’t necessarily and major flaws in my thought process I am indeed taking time and effort to improve my critical thinking skills. In my personal opinion is not only disipline and rational but also it’s clear concise and in every instance is backed with evidence. It also needs to be simplistic enough for anyone to participate in it, yet regimented and rational enough to promote intellectual growth. For where would the world of fine art be without thinker such as Plato and Socrates? Where would today’s perception of western religion be without critical thinkers such as Aquines? The most important thing I’ve come to learn about critical thinking is that without it we would have been robbed of this world’s greatest philosophers. Second by extension historically individual critical thinkers always have had a certain amount influence when it comes to social norms. Some of the more popular ones have their own principles that have been applied to movement and religions. Individuals like Lenin and Karl Marx heavily inspired the communist movement, while the Nazi party was heavily inspired by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. For all we know the events of World War II could have played out completely different if these philosophers (also known as critical thinkers) were never born?! Who’s to say the communist party would...
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...First name Last name Lecturer Date Spiritual Life needs Critical Mind The core postulation of the Buddhist doctrine is the assumption that all is misfortune, our irrelevant souls are at bay forever in a confusion, and the exclusive way to avoid the misfortune is via a specific route to open mindedness, which changes with every communion of Buddhism, which always entails adherence to different attitudes and behaviors (Carrier 1). In correlation, the core postulation of Christian doctrine is the assumption that we completely have imperishable spirits which are barred by the fault of Adam and individually enjoin condemnation not only to suffering and evil in this universe, but to an endless of life in heaven, but the exclusive means to avoid this doom is through accepting that Christ was the offspring of the Almighty and liberated us by His death on the cross (Carrier 1). Besides that, Christian communions alternate with account to the correct entry demands for eternity home but they are all likely to concur that heartfelt and true belief in the aforementioned main thesis not only advance to a liveliness of goodness and happiness in this universe, but to endless life. According to Carrier (1), to disallow one of the two allegations is to disallow the entire validness of the indicated religions. In fact, even to propose that these allegations are inappropriate or of only secondary significance are to disallow the entire validness of these communions, because everything they enlighten...
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...How can critical thinking be more applicable in the contemporary society with reference to the following aspects Social, economic, political, intellectual. Critical thinking is an important element of all professional fields and academic disciplines (by referencing their respective sets of permissible questions, evidence sources, criteria, etc.). Within the framework of scientific skepticism, the process of critical thinking involves the careful acquisition and interpretation of information and use of it to reach a well-justified conclusion. The concepts and principles of critical thinking can be applied to any context or case but only by reflecting upon the nature of that application. Critical thinking forms, therefore, a system of related, and overlapping, modes of thought such as anthropological thinking, sociological thinking, historical thinking, political thinking, business person, etc. In other words, though critical thinking principles are universal, their application to disciplines requires a process of reflective contextualization. Critical thinking is considered important in the academic fields because it enables one to analyze, evaluate, explain, and restructure their thinking, thereby decreasing the risk of adopting, acting on, or thinking with, a false belief. For example when students join high school they are usually told that mathematics is hard but a student who thinks critically will first practice it then come up with his /her own conclusion about the subject...
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...Critical Thinking “Critical thinking defines ability to weigh evidence, examine, arguments, and construct rational bases for generally accepted beliefs. Also a systematic approach to evaluating a problem” according to M. Neil Browne. “When using critical thinking he or she must be able to use reasoning and deduction in an argument. Asking the right questions is very important in the critical thinking process. Critical thinking involves viewing the situation and supporting the reason behind the solution. They will need to evaluate the situation, analyze the information, and research the topic to make sure they come to the right conclusion.” (M. Neil Browne, Stuart M. Keeley, Asking the Right Questions A Guide to Critical Thinking 8th Edition Prentice Hall) When using the decision-making process they need to identify the problem. He or she will need to have an alternative plan in case the original plan has pitfalls that they did not recognize in the beginning. After they implement the decision they will need to evaluate the decision to make sure it was the right choice for this particular time. Critical thinking is essential in today’s business world. The human element use assumptions and interference in our everyday encounters. These characteristics can defeat the goal we are trying to accomplish. There are things that affect our critical thinking processes are our values, personal beliefs, religion, and educational background. I find that in my work that I need...
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...Description of Evidence Evidence 1: The first piece of evidence demonstrating the criteria related to critical thinking is a concept analysis paper written on the topic of Critical Thinking in Nursing, completed for NUSC 5003, Theory in Nursing, in the Spring Semester of 2015 (Appendix A). The purpose of this paper was to expand on the interpretations of critical thinking including the analysis of the characteristics or qualities of critical thinking in nursing based on selected literature reviews from multiple disciplines using the Walker and Avant model. Incorporates multiple perspectives in the advanced practice learning process (i.e. diverse ways of thinking, roles). In this paper, I analyzed diverse concepts of critical thinking by...
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...Running head: THE HEALING HOSPITAL The Healing Hospital: Serving God and His People Sandra Grand Canyon University Spirituality in Healthcare HLT 310V August 28, 2011 The Healing Hospital Paradigm The Healing Hospital paradigm does not only bring love and care back to health care but radical loving care to the bedside. This concept, although seemingly progressive, borrows and puts into action theories of such great theorist as Jean Watson that believe in treating the mind, body, and soul (Watson, 2009). The average hospital mission statement is filled with promises of caring compassionate health care, but as with society today, they are mostly talk and no action. The Healing Hospital brings the talk into action bringing the radical care from the management down, believing that each person has a calling not a job that simply ends in provision. The spiritual aspect is brought back into health care for the patients as well as the staff, where each meeting is considered a sacred encounter. Although this sounds like a hospital made in heaven, it is a reality for such hospitals as Baptist Trust in Nashville, Tennessee and Mercy Gilbert Hospital in Gilbert, Arizona (Chapman, 2007). Mind, Body, and Soul So what are the mind, body and soul? The mind is defined as the part that processes reason, thinks, feels, wills, perceives, and judges the processes of the human brain. It is the totality of the conscious and unconscious thought processes and activities (Dictionary...
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...------------------------------------------------- THINKING SKILLS AND PROBLEM SOLVING Student’s name: Nguyen Duy Quang DOB: 14/08/1992 ID: 121401134 Class: 12BOBA04 Lecturer’s name: Ms. Khanh Learning Centre: HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Date of Submission: 1 November 2013 Words: 2,867 Question 1 1. Introduction According to Ennis (1985), “Critical thinking is reasonably and reflectively deciding what to believe or do". Critical thinking is "the art of thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, more accurate, or more defensible", Paul, Binker, Adamson, and Martin (1989). Critical thinking is best understood as the ability of thinkers to take charge of their own thinking. This requires that they develop sound criteria and standards for analyzing and assessing their own thinking and routinely use those criteria and standards to improve its quality. According to Michael, "Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness”. Benefits of critical thinking The quality...
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...The definitions of Critical thinking is the process of analyzing and assessing thinking with a view to improving it. Looking at my top competencies, I found that delivering results, goal focus, researching, and adapting to change were in my top competencies. I can take this information and apply it to my critical thinking and how to evaluate arguments. Delivering results will drive me to want to find the best possible solution with an open mind that will allow multiple discussions to take place. In order to deliver these results, we will need to focus our attention to what the end goal is. Focusing on the goal will keep the conflict on topic and will help to ensure that all discussions stay on task and will have a positive outcome. Research will help with my critical thinking skills as it is necessary to make sure that all aspects are analyzed and are proven to be accurate. There will always be more than one right answer to the conflict so having the personal competency and ability to research a topic will help to alleviate some of the disagreements and help to keep an open mind. The adapting to change competency will help to ensure that if there are more than one relevant viewpoints to an issue, that I keep an open mind and will be able to adapt better to other reasoning than the reasoning one begins with. In doing this, you can have a disagreement and use critical thinking to adapt and come up with a solution for all parties involved. Knowing that a disagreement may come...
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... ethics is the system of moral principal. Webster also goes on to describe ethics as, “the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, (Dictornary.com). For me, I agree with Plato that, “there are absolute and eternal moral truths and principle”. I believe even if we choose to follow through with an action we know is know is morally wrong, we still ultimately know that the act is still wrong. For example if one was to steal from a store, the desire to take that object might overcome ones better judgment, but the act is not committed without the understanding that the understanding of the reproductions. The lesson plan describes several tools for critical thinking. These tools for critical thinking are: ad-hominem argument, the straw man fallacy, consistency failure and the red hearing. Ad-hominem attacks the source or individual of the argument. This can best be seen when to children get into trouble and either one points the finger, he did it! This tool is to show a group in a perceived way, the lesson plan use pro-choice, defining them as baby killers. We saw a great example of the straw man fallacy in this year presidential debates when President Obama criticized Governor Romney for wanting to cut Sesame Street’s federal financings. All the American public heard for the next couple of weeks was how Big Bird was going to be out of a job. This is a prime example of distorting the others position. I would...
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...Barriers to Influence Critical Thinking We were taught about different kinds of barriers that both influence and change the way that we think, and most importantly critically think. There are several barriers that I can see have influenced the way that I critically think. The first barrier that influences me is enculturation. Enculturation is a process that includes, “many of the values and preferences you have now, including religious ideas, sexual mores, and work ethic, were instilled in you since birth by your culture.” (Kirby, 2007, p. 13) I can see how I have been influenced by many of these areas in my life. I grew up in a home where it was important to ask questions, and seek knowledge. It was ok to take apart the door mechanism to see how it worked. Questioning was allowed. In the church I attend we are asked to question everything. We are taught to not blindly follow others, but to find out for ourselves if what the religion teaches is true. The next barrier that I can see influencing my critical thinking is the Ego Defense of projection. “Projection is the defense mechanism by which we see in others a part of ourselves that we cannot accept and do not recognize.” (Kirby, 2007, p. 27) This would be a barrier of negative influence in my life. I can always see the bad or the errors in others, but when it comes to my own, I have a very hard time seeing them. As I am able to recognize that I am projecting my own concerns or faults on others I will better...
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...Critical Thinking – Barriers to Critical Thinking University of Phoenix HUM/114 This assignment is to identify three barriers to the critical thinking process. All three that that were chosen have one thing in common. Emotion. Our emotions can play against us in many instances. If we let our emotions take over when it is decision time or even in every day debate we are sure lose focus and falter on our goal. The barriers that the writer will discuss are anger, stress, and worry. The first barrier to our critical thinking is anger. There are many reasons that a person could become angry or upset dealing with day to day decision making and just plain regular interaction with others. This could happen at home, at work, or our church. When we do not agree with something or someone that directly affects our lives or well-being, it can cloud our judgment when expressing our views and almost always leads to a negative outcome. The first step in not letting anger takeover is to try to stay calm. Try not to raise your voice in an argument because studies show that once you are talking loudly in an argument, that the other person shuts down and nothing can be accomplished. One other thing to remember is to try to stay away from touchy topics such as religion and politics. The second barrier to our critical thinking process is stress. If we are under too much unhealthy stress, we might lose sight of our priorities. There is good stress and bad stress...
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...Critical Thinking and Its Importance in Education By Kadoko Chanda 1. Introduction Technology, travel and business have brought countries together, so does our thinking evolve. No more thinking within our boundaries, we need critical thinking to evaluate our own decisions in everything we do. For example, how do you teach students without discriminating their beliefs or religion? How do we start a business in a country with different laws from ours and still incorporate our business values? So, what is critical thinking? 2. What is Critical Thinking? Critical thinking according to Hamilton-Reeves (2009) is the process of filtering information by removing emotional and environmental discrepancies and remaining neutral to make the most accurate decision. On the other hand Elder and Paul (1994, pp.34-35) believes critical thinking is the "ability of thinkers to take charge of their own thinking by developing sound criteria and standards for analyzing and assessing" information to make an informed decision. Lastly, critical thinking from a general psychology point of view is analyzing ones standards, facts and assessing conclusions (Petress, 2004). From the above analysis, it is apparent that critical thinking is a process that guides ones logical decision making process by analyzing all possible information before making a decision, therefore reducing the chances of making quick and unethical decisions. According to Hamilton-Reeves (2009), critical thinking improves your...
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