Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Be Sceptical BUT
Why develop critical thinking?
• Skills in critical thinking bring precision to the way you think and work
• You will find that practice in critical thinking helps you to be more accurate
and specific in noting what is relevant and what is not.
Although willing to be more critical, some people don't know which steps to take next
in order to improve their critical thinking skills.
With practice, most people can develop their skills in critical thinking.
There can be a natural anxiety about critically analysing texts or other works by people
that you respect. It can seem strange for students who know little about their subject,
to be asked to critique works by those who are clearly more experienced.
It may help to bear in mind that this is part of the way teaching works in most foreign
universities
Agreement
engineering but I agree with you That doesn't convince me. I think
genetic engineering is really exciting
I know a lot about this subject
and I agree with you.
Argument
Argument
The possibilities for improving health and
Genetic engineering should be curtailed
longevity through genetic engineering
because there hasn't been sufficient
offer hope to sufferers of many conditions
research into what happens when new
that currently don't have an effective cure.
varieties are created without natural
We should be pushing ahead to help these
predators to hold them in check
people as quickly as we can.
Identify if following is (a) an argument or (b) a disagreement
Example 2
The children ate the mushrooms because they looked similar to those
found in supermarkets and on the dinner table. They hadn't been
taught to discriminate between safe and dangerous fungi and hadn't
been told not to eat mushrooms found in hedgerows.
Identify if following is (a) an argument or (b) a description (c) an explanation
There were many reasons why the student was an hour late for
the seminar. First of all, a pan caught fire, causing a minor
disaster in his kitchen. It took 20 minutes to restore order. Then,
he couldn't find his housekeys. That wasted another ten minutes
of his time. Then, just as he closed the door behind him, the
postwoman arrived, saying there was a parcel to be signed for.
Her pen didn't work which held them up further. Finally, of
course, he had to find his keys, which had once more slipped to
the bottom of his bag, in order to re-open the door and place the
letter on the table.
Answer: (a) An explanation
Reading between the lines
• This can depend on the context, such as the intended audiences: will
they share the same assumptions and background knowledge?
Students of the late twentieth century regularly
campaigned against nuclear weapons. Students rarely
demonstrate against nuclear weapons any more.
Students must be less political than they used to be.
Assumption: People are entitled to compensation for stress caused by a spoilt holiday
Implicit Assumptions:
1. Holidays are needed to overcome stress.
2. If there is stress during a holiday, there should be compensation.
3. If a holiday goes wrong after it was booked, someone somewhere must
pay for this.
Non-sequiturs (a statement that does not seem to
follow what has just been said in any natural or
logical way)
Sometimes, we can guess that there must be a hidden assumption
because the conclusion seems to jump out of nowhere, rather than
following on from the sequence of reasons.
Example
The conclusion here is that Rehabilitation of criminals would be a much better option
Overcrowded prisons and a larger prison population may be facts but these do not give information about the relative
virtues of rehabilitation versus time in prison.
Implicit assumptions used as reasons
Reason 1: If students had more time in examinations, they would finish their last questions with less
hurry.
Reason 2 (an interim conclusion used as a reason): If they finished in a less hurried way, they would get
better marks.
Implicit assumptions:
1. Past methods of using plants were as effective as modern medicines.
2. Modem medicines are being used to cure the same range and types of illnesses
as in the past.
3. The range and amounts of plants would be available and accessible to people
in the amounts needed.
We should continue to improve sanitation and diet in
order to further increase our life expectancy. People in
the past had much shorter life expectancies than today.
The life expectancy of pre-industrialised, societies
tended to be an average of 30 years. Today, people in
developed countries can expect to live to over 70
years. Men, in particular, live much longer now.
Conclusion: We should continue to improve sanitation and diet
in order to further increase our life expectancy
Implicit Assumption
• Life expectancy increased in the past because of sanitation and
diet.
• diet, sanitation and life expectancy could be improved further, and
that continuing to increase life expectancy is a good
Example
An argument is based on reasons which are used to
support the conclusion. However, when an argument is
being formulated, it is also based on beliefs, theories or
assumptions, known as premises.
False premises. The false premise is that people would and could continue to marry at the same rate each year,
which is unlikely. The passage does not take into consideration that some-of the population, such as children,
would not be eligible to marry, and that others would not choose to.
Importance of Critical Thinking
ideas. It must also be the case that the new ideas being generated are useful
and relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking plays a crucial role in
evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones and modifying them if
necessary.
Critical Thinking is crucial for self reflection
In order to live a meaning full life and to structure our lives accordingly
we need to justify and reflect on our values and decisions. Critical
thinking provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation.
Difference between Normal thinking and Critical thinking