Critical Thinking: Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition

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Edition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2005-07-13
Publisher(s): Pearson
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Summary

Written by two of the leading experts in critical thinking, this book focuses on an integrated, universal concept of critical thinking that is both substantive and applicable to any and every situation in which human thinking is necessary. It provides readerse with the basic intellectual tools needed for life-long learning, helping them understand the mind and how its three functions - thinking, feeling, motivation - influence and are influenced by one another. This book fosters the development of fair-minded critical thinking.Features the intellectual standards: clarity, precision, accuracy, logicalness, significance, depth, breadth, and fairness; The importance of good questioning; and intellectual tools to read for deep and lasting comprehension, and to write in ways that show clarity of reasonability of thought.For all that want to improve their critical thinking skills to apply to their job or life.

Author Biography

DR. RICHARD W. PAUL is Director of Research and Professional Development at the Center for Critical Thinking and the Chair of the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking. He has authored eight books and more than 200 articles on critical thinking. In over 35 years of teaching experience, he has won numerous awards and honors, including Distinguished Perry Lecturer for the year 2000.

DR. LINDA ELDER is an educational psychologist, President for the Foundation for Critical Thinking, and Executive Director of the Center for Critical Thinking. She is highly published and has done original research into the relation of thought and emotion. She is a regular keynoter at the International Conference on Critical Thinking and is a recognized leader in the field.

Table of Contents

Preface ix
Introduction xiii
A Start-up Definition of Critical Thinking xiii
How Skilled Are You as a Thinker? xiv
Good Thinking Requires Hard Work xvi
Defining Critical Thinking xix
The Concept of Critical Thinking xx
Become a Critic of Your Thinking xxii
Establish New Habits of Thought xxiii
Develop Confidence in Your Ability to Reason and Figure Things Out xxiii
How the Mind Can Discover Itself
1(10)
Recognize the Mind's Three Basic Functions
1(2)
Establish a Special Relationship to Your Mind
3(3)
Connect Academic Subjects to Your Life
6(1)
Learn Both Intellectually and Emotionally
7(4)
Discover the Parts of Thinking
11(32)
Thinking Is Everywhere in Human Life
11(2)
The Parts of Thinking
13(8)
A First Look at the Elements of Thought
13(5)
An Everyday Example: Jack and Jill
18(1)
Analysis of the Example
19(1)
How the Parts of Thinking Fit Together
20(1)
The Relationship Between the Elements
21(1)
The Elements of Thought
21(21)
The Best Thinkers Think to Some Purpose
21(2)
The Best Thinkers Take Command of Concepts
23(2)
The Best Thinkers Assess Information
25(6)
The Best Thinkers Distinguish Between Inferences and Assumptions
31(6)
The Best Thinkers Think Through Implications
37(2)
The Best Thinkers Think Across Points of View
39(3)
Conclusion
42(1)
Discover Universal Standards for Thinking
43(30)
Take a Deeper Look at Universal Intellectual Standards
44(11)
Clarity
44(1)
Accuracy
45(2)
Precision
47(1)
Relevance
48(1)
Depth
48(1)
Breadth
49(1)
Logic
50(1)
Significance
51(1)
Fairness
52(3)
Bring Together the Elements of Reasoning and the Intellectual Standards
55(7)
Purpose, Goal, or End in View
55(2)
Question at Issue or Problem to Be Solved
57(1)
Point of View or Frame of Reference
57(1)
Information, Data, Experiences
58(1)
Concepts, Theories, Ideas
59(1)
Assumptions
59(1)
Implications and Consequences
60(1)
Inferences
61(1)
Brief Guidelines for Using Intellectual Standards
62(11)
Redefine Grades As Levels of Thinking And Learning
73(10)
Develop Strategies for Self-Assessment
74(1)
Use Student Profiles to Assess Your Performance
74(4)
Exemplary Students (Grade of A)
75(1)
High-Performing Students (Grade of B)
76(1)
Mixed-Quality Students (Grade of C)
76(1)
Low-Performing Students (Grade of D or F)
77(1)
Apply the Student Profiles to Assess Your Performance Within Specific Disciplines
78(4)
Exemplary Thinking as a Student of Psychology (Grade of A)
78(1)
High-Performing Thinking as a Student of Psychology (Grade of B)
79(1)
Mixed-Quality Thinking as a Student of Psychology (Grade of C)
80(1)
Low-Performing Thinking as a Student of Psychology (Grade of D or F)
81(1)
Conclusion
82(1)
Learn to Ask the Questions the Best Thinkers Ask
83(20)
The Importance of Questions in Thinking
84(1)
Questioning Your Questions
84(2)
Dead Questions Reflect Inert Minds
86(1)
Three Categories of Questions
87(4)
Questions of Fact
88(1)
Questions of Preference
88(1)
Questions of Judgment
88(3)
Become a Socratic Questioner
91(11)
Focus Your Thinking on the Type of Question Being Asked
94(1)
Focus Your Questions on Universal Intellectual Standards for Thought
94(2)
Focus Your Questions on the Elements of Thought
96(2)
Focus Your Questions on Prior Questions
98(1)
Focus Your Questions on Domains of Thinking
99(3)
Conclusion
102(1)
Discover How the Best Thinkers Learn
103(30)
18 Ideas for Improving Your Learning
104(2)
The Logic of a College as It Is
106(1)
How the Best Students Learn
107(1)
The Design of a College Class
108(2)
Figure Out the Underlying Concept of Your Course
110(2)
Figure Out the Form of Thinking Essential to a Course or Subject
112(2)
Think Within the Logic of the Subject
114(1)
A Case: The Logic of Biochemistry
115(3)
Make the Design of the Course Work for You
118(4)
Sample Course: American History, 1600-1800
119(3)
Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Thinking
122(5)
Figure Out the Logic of an Article or Essay
127(1)
Figure Out the Logic of a Textbook
128(1)
Criteria for Evaluating an Author's Reasoning
129(4)
The Best Thinkers Read Closely and Write Substantively
133(56)
The Interrelationship Between Reading and Writing
134(1)
Part I: Discover Close Reading
135(9)
Consider the Author's Purpose
136(1)
Avoid Impressionistic Reading
137(1)
Read Reflectively
137(1)
Think About Reading While Reading
137(1)
Engage the Text While Reading
138(1)
Think of Books as Teachers
138(1)
Reading Minds
138(1)
The Work of Reading
139(1)
Structural Reading
139(1)
How to Read a Sentence
140(1)
How to Read a Paragraph
140(1)
How to Read a Textbook
141(1)
How to Read an Editorial
142(1)
Take Ownership of What You Read: Mark It Up
142(2)
The Best Readers Read to Learn
144(1)
Part II: Discover Substantive Writing
144(8)
Write for a Purpose
145(1)
Substantive Writing
145(1)
The Problem of Impressionistic Writing
146(1)
Write Reflectively
146(1)
How to Write a Sentence
147(1)
Write to Learn
147(1)
Substantive Writing in Content Areas
147(2)
Relate Core Ideas to Other Core Ideas
149(1)
Writing Within Disciplines
149(1)
The Work of Writing
150(1)
Nonsubstantive Writing
151(1)
Part III: Practice Close Reading and Substantive Writing
152(37)
Paraphrasing
155(7)
Exercises in the Five Levels of Close Reading and Substantive Writing
162(13)
Exploring Conflicting Ideas
175(2)
Exploring Key Ideas Within Disciplines
177(4)
Analyzing Reasoning
181(1)
Writing Substantively to Analyze Reasoning: An Example
182(5)
Evaluating Reasoning
187(2)
Become A Fair-Minded Thinker
189(24)
Weak Versus Strong Critical Thinking
191(3)
What Does Fair-Mindedness Require?
194(18)
Intellectual Humility: The Best Thinkers Strive to Discover the Extent of Their Ignorance
195(3)
Intellectual Courage: The Best Thinkers Have the Courage to Challenge Popular Beliefs
198(2)
Intellectual Empathy: The Best Thinkers Empathically Enter Opposing Views
200(1)
Intellectual Integrity: The Best Thinkers Hold Themselves to the Same Standards to Which They Hold Others
201(2)
Intellectual Perseverance: The Best Thinkers Do Not Give Up Easily, But Work Their Way Through Complexities and Frustration
203(2)
Confidence in Reason: The Best Thinkers Respect Evidence and Reasoning and Value Them as Tools for Discovering the Truth
205(2)
Intellectual Autonomy: The Best Thinkers Value Their Independence in Thought
207(3)
The Best Thinkers Recognize the Interdependence of Intellectual Virtues
210(2)
Conclusion
212(1)
Deal With Your Irrational Mind
213(44)
Part I: The Best Thinkers Take Charge of Their Egocentric Nature
214(26)
Understand Egocentric Thinking
216(2)
Understand Egocentrism as a Mind Within the Mind
218(1)
Successful Egocentric Thinking
219(2)
Unsuccessful Egocentric Thinking
221(3)
Rational Thinking
224(3)
Two Egocentric Functions
227(10)
Pathological Tendencies of the Human Mind
237(1)
The Best Thinkers Challenge the Pathological Tendencies of Their Minds
238(2)
The Challenge of Rationality
240(1)
Part II: The Best Thinkers Take Charge of Their Sociocentric Tendencies
240(15)
The Nature of Sociocentrism
241(4)
Social Stratification
245(1)
Sociocentric Thinking Is Unconscious and Potentially Dangerous
246(1)
Sociocentric Uses of Language
247(1)
Disclose Sociocentric Thinking Through Conceptual Analysis
248(1)
Reveal Ideology at Work Through Conceptual Analysis
249(1)
The Mass Media Foster Sociocentric Thinking
250(5)
Conclusion
255(2)
The Stages of Critical Thinking Development: At What Stage Are You?
257(56)
Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker
259(1)
Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker
260(3)
Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker
263(4)
Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker
267(1)
A ``Game Plan'' for Improvement
268(1)
A Game Plan for Devising a Game Plan
268(3)
Integrating Strategies One By One
271(4)
Appendices
A Further Exercises in Close Reading and Substantive Writing
275(25)
B Sample Analysis of the Logic of . . .
300(9)
C What Do We Mean by ``The Best Thinkers''?
309(4)
Glossary 313(22)
References 335(2)
Index 337

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