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

368 Pages·2005·11.86 MB·English

by  Richard Paul

CRITICAL
THINKING
L E A R N T H E T O O L S
T H E B E S T T H I N K E R S U S E
C O N C I S E E D I T I O N
Richard Paul
Linda Elder
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Columbus, Ohio
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Paul, Richard.
Critical thinking : learn the tools the best thinkers use / Richard Paul,
Linda Elder. Concise ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-13-170347-1
1. Critical thinking Study and teaching (Higher) 2. Academic
achievement. I. Elder, Linda. II. Title.
LB2395.35.P38 2006
370.15'2 dc22 2005014358
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ISBN: 0-13-170347-1
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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
Chapter 1
HOW THE MIND CAN DISCOVER ITSELF 1
Recognize the Minds Three Basic Functions 1
Establish a Special Relationship to Your Mind 3
Connect Academic Subjects to Your Life 6
Learn Both Intellectually and Emotionally 7
iii
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
iv
CONTENTS
Chapter 2
DISCOVER THE PARTS OF THINKING 11
Thinking Is Everywhere in Human Life 11
The Parts of Thinking 13
A First Look at the Elements of Thought 13 * An Everyday Example: Jack and Jill 18
* Analysis of the Example 19 * How the Parts of Thinking Fit Together 20
The Relationship Between the Elements 21
The Elements of Thought 21
The Best Thinkers Think to Some Purpose 21 * The Best Thinkers Take Command
of Concepts 23 * The Best Thinkers Assess Information 25 * The Best Thinkers
Distinguish Between Inferences and Assumptions 31 * The Best Thinkers Think
Through Implications 37 * The Best Thinkers Think Across Points of View 39
Conclusion 42
Chapter 3
DISCOVER UNIVERSAL STANDARDS
FOR THINKING 43
Take a Deeper Look at Universal Intellectual Standards 44
Clarity 44 * Accuracy 45 * Precision 47 * Relevance 48 * Depth 48 *
Breadth 49 * Logic 50 * Significance 51 * Fairness 52
Bring Together the Elements of Reasoning and the Intellectual Standards 55
Purpose, Goal, or End in View 55 * Question at Issue or Problem to Be Solved 57 *
Point of View or Frame of Reference 57 * Information, Data, Experiences 58 *
Concepts, Theories, Ideas 59 * Assumptions 59 * Implications and Consequences 60
* Inferences 61
Brief Guidelines for Using Intellectual Standards 62
Chapter 4
REDEFINE GRADES AS LEVELS OF
THINKING AND LEARNING 73
Develop Strategies for Self-Assessment 74
Use Student Profiles to Assess Your Performance 74
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
v
CONTENTS
Exemplary Students (Grade of A) 75 * High-Performing Students (Grade of B) 76 *
Mixed-Quality Students (Grade of C) 76 * Low-Performing Students (Grade of D or F) 77
Apply the Student Profiles to Assess Your Performance
Within Specific Disciplines 78
Exemplary Thinking as a Student of Psychology (Grade of A) 78 * High-Performing
Thinking as a Student of Psychology (Grade of B) 79 * Mixed-Quality Thinking as a
Student of Psychology (Grade of C) 80 * Low-Performing Thinking as a Student of
Psychology (Grade of D or F) 81
Conclusion 82
Chapter 5
LEARN TO ASK THE QUESTIONS THE
BEST THINKERS ASK 83
The Importance of Questions in Thinking 84
Questioning Your Questions 84
Dead Questions Reflect Inert Minds 86
Three Categories of Questions 87
Questions of Fact 88 * Questions of Preference 88 * Questions of Judgment 88
Become a Socratic Questioner 91
Focus Your Thinking on the Type of Question Being Asked 94 * Focus Your Questions
on Universal Intellectual Standards for Thought 94 * Focus Your Questions on the
Elements of Thought 96 * Focus Your Questions on Prior Questions 98 * Focus
Your Questions on Domains of Thinking 99
Conclusion 102
Chapter 6
DISCOVER HOW THE
BEST THINKERS LEARN 103
18 Ideas for Improving Your Learning 104
The Logic of a College as It Is 106
How the Best Students Learn 107
The Design of a College Class 108
Figure Out the Underlying Concept of Your Course 110
Figure Out the Form of Thinking Essential to a
Course or Subject 112
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
vi
CONTENTS
Think Within the Logic of the Subject 114
A Case: The Logic of Biochemistry 115
Make the Design of the Course Work for You 118
Sample Course: American History, 1600 1800 119
Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Thinking 122
Figure Out the Logic of an Article or Essay 127
Figure Out the Logic of a Textbook 128
Criteria for Evaluating an Authors Reasoning 129
Chapter 7
THE BEST THINKERS READ CLOSELY
AND WRITE SUBSTANTIVELY 133
The Interrelationship Between Reading and Writing 134
Part I: Discover Close Reading 135
Consider the Authors Purpose 136 * Avoid Impressionistic Reading 137 * Read
Reflectively 137 * Think About Reading While Reading 137 * Engage the Text
While Reading 138 * Think of Books as Teachers 138 * Reading Minds 138 *
The Work of Reading 139 * Structural Reading 139 * How to Read a Sentence
140 * How to Read a Paragraph 140 * How to Read a Textbook 141 * How to
Read an Editorial 142 * Take Ownership of What You Read: Mark It Up 142 *
The Best Readers Read to Learn 144
Part II: Discover Substantive Writing 144
Write for a Purpose 145 * Substantive Writing 145 * The Problem of
Impressionistic Writing 146 * Write Reflectively 146 * How to Write a
Sentence 147 * Write to Learn 147 * Substantive Writing in Content Areas 147
* Relate Core Ideas to Other Core Ideas 149 * Writing Within Disciplines 149
* The Work of Writing 150 * Nonsubstantive Writing 151
Part III: Practice Close Reading and Substantive Writing 152
Paraphrasing 155 * Exercises in the Five Levels of Close Reading and Substantive
Writing 162 * Exploring Conflicting Ideas 175 * Exploring Key Ideas Within
Disciplines 177 * Analyzing Reasoning 181 * Writing Substantively to Analyze
Reasoning: An Example 182 * Evaluating Reasoning 187
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
vii
CONTENTS
Chapter 8
BECOME A FAIR-MINDED THINKER 189
Weak Versus Strong Critical Thinking 191
What Does Fair-Mindedness Require? 194
Intellectual Humility: The Best Thinkers Strive to Discover the Extent of Their Ignorance 195
* Intellectual Courage: The Best Thinkers Have the Courage to Challenge Popular Beliefs 198
* Intellectual Empathy: The Best Thinkers Empathically Enter Opposing Views 200 *
Intellectual Integrity: The Best Thinkers Hold Themselves to the Same Standards to Which
They Hold Others 201 * Intellectual Perseverance: The Best Thinkers Do Not Give Up
Easily, But Work Their Way Through Complexities and Frustration 203 * Confidence in
Reason: The Best Thinkers Respect Evidence and Reasoning and Value Them as Tools for
Discovering the Truth 205 * Intellectual Autonomy: The Best Thinkers Value Their
Independence in Thought 207 * The Best Thinkers Recognize the Interdependence of
Intellectual Virtues 210
Conclusion 212
Chapter 9
DEAL WITH YOUR IRRATIONAL MIND 213
Part I: The Best Thinkers Take Charge of Their Egocentric Nature 214
Understand Egocentric Thinking 216 * Understand Egocentrism as a Mind Within the
Mind 218 * Successful Egocentric Thinking 219 * Unsuccessful Egocentric
Thinking 221 * Rational Thinking 224 * Two Egocentric Functions 227 *
Pathological Tendencies of the Human Mind 237 * The Best Thinkers Challenge the
Pathological Tendencies of Their Minds 238 * The Challenge of Rationality 240
Part II: The Best Thinkers Take Charge of Their Sociocentric Tendencies 240
The Nature of Sociocentrism 241 * Social Stratification 245 * Sociocentric
Thinking Is Unconscious and Potentially Dangerous 246 * Sociocentric Uses of
Language 247 * Disclose Sociocentric Thinking Through Conceptual Analysis 248
* Reveal Ideology at Work Through Conceptual Analysis 249 * The Mass Media
Foster Sociocentric Thinking 250
Conclusion 255
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
viii
CONTENTS
Chapter 10
THE STAGES OF CRITICAL THINKING
DEVELOPMENT: AT WHAT STAGE ARE YOU? 257
Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker 259
Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker 260
Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker 263
Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker 267
A Game Plan for Improvement 268
A Game Plan for Devising a Game Plan 268
Integrating Strategies One By One 271
Appendices
A
Further Exercises in Close Reading and Substantive Writing 275
B
Sample Analysis of the Logic of ... 300
C
What Do We Mean by The Best Thinkers ? 309
Glossary 313
References 335
Index 337
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
PREFACE
Y
ou are what you think. Thats right. Whatever you are doing right now is deter-
mined by the way you are thinking. Whatever you feel all your emotions are
determined by your thinking. Whatever you want all your desires are deter-
mined by your thinking. If your thinking is unrealistic, it will lead you to many disap-
pointments. If your thinking is overly pessimistic, it will deny you due recognition of
the many things in which you should properly rejoice.
Test this idea for yourself. Identify some examples of your strongest feelings or
emotions. Then identify the thinking that is correlated with those examples. For exam-
ple, if you feelexcited about college, it is because you thinkthat good things will hap-
pen to you in college. If you dread going to class, it is probably because you think it will
be boring or too difficult.
In a similar way, if the quality of your life is not what you would wish it to be, it is
most likely because it is tied to the way you think about your life. If you think about it
positively, you will feel positively about it. If you think about it negatively, you will feel
negative about it.
For example, suppose you came to college with the view that college was going to
be a lot of fun, that you were going to form good friendships with fellow students who
would respect and like you, and, what is more, that your love life would become inter-
esting and exciting. And lets suppose that hasn t happened. If this were the thrust of
your thinking, you now would feel disappointed and maybe even frustrated (depending
on how negatively you have interpreted your experience).
For most people, thinking is subconscious, never explicitly put into words. For ex-
ample, most people who think negatively would not say of themselves, I have chosen
to think about myself and my experience in a negative way. I prefer to be as unhappy as
I can make myself.
The problem is that when you are not aware of your thinking, you have no chance
of correcting it if it is poor. When thinking is subconscious, you are in no position to see
any problems in it. And, if you don t see any problems in it, you won t be motivated to
change it.
Since few people realize the powerful role that thinking plays in their lives, few gain
significant command of it. Most people are in many ways victims of their thinking; that
ix
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.
x
PREFACE
is, they are hurtrather than helpedby it. Most people are their own worst enemy. Their
thinking is a continual source of problems, preventing them from recognizing opportu-
nities, keeping them from exerting energy where it will do the most good, poisoning re-
lationships, and leading them down blind alleys.
Or consider your success as a student in college. The single most significant vari-
able in determining that success is the quality of your thinking. If you think well when
you study, you will study well. If you think well when you read, you will read well. If
you think well when you write, you will write well. And if you study well, read well, and
write well, you will do well in college. Certainly your instructors will play a role in your
learning. Some of them will do a better job than others of helping you learn. But even
the best teachers cannot get into your head and learn for you. Even the best teachers can-
not think for you, read for you, or write for you. If you lack the intellectual skills nec-
essary for thinking well through course content, you will not be successful in college.
Here is the key question we are putting to you in this book. If the quality of a per-
sons thinking is the single most significant determinant of both happiness and success
as it is why not discover the tools that the best thinkers use and take the time to learn
to use them yourself? Perhaps you will not become proficient in all of them, but for every
tool you learn, there will be a payoff.
This book will alert you to the tools the best thinkers use and will exemplify the ac-
tivities and practice you can use to begin to emulate them. You will then have your des-
tiny as a thinker in your own hands. The only thing that will determine whether you
become a better and better thinker is your own willingness to practice. Here are some
of the qualities of the best thinkers.
* The best thinkers think about their thinking. They do not take thinking for
granted. They do not trust to fate to make them good in thinking. They notice
their thinking. They reflecton their thinking. They act upon their thinking.
* The best thinkers are highly purposeful. They do not simply act. They know
why they act. They know what they are about. They have clear goals and clear
priorities. They continually check their activities for alignment with their goals.
* The best thinkers have intellectual tools that they use to raise the quality
of their thinking. They know how to express their thinking clearly. They know
how to check it for accuracy and precision. They know how to keep focused on a
question and make sure that it is relevant to their goals and purposes. They know
how to think beneath the surface and how to expand their thinking to include
insights from multiple perspectives. They know how to think logically and
significantly.
* The best thinkers distinguish their thoughts from their feelings and desires.
They know that wanting something to be so does not make it so. They know that
one can be unjustifiably angry, afraid, or insecure. They do not let unexamined
emotions determine their decisions. They have discovered their minds, and
they examine the way their minds operate as a result. They take deliberate charge
of those operations. (See Chapter 1.)
* The best thinkers routinely take thinking apart. They analyze thinking.
They do not trust the mind to analyze itself automatically. They realize that the
Critical Thinking:Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition,by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.Published by Prentice Hall.
Copyright ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.