This book has been a long time in the making, and has benefited from the influence of a huge number of colleagues, friends, and family. Here is an inevitably incomplete accounting of some of these debts.
I first began to think systematically about the nature, value, and pedagogy of critical thinking as an assistant professor of philosophy at Buffalo State College and it would be difficult to overstate the influence of my colleague George Hole on my thinking. He is one of the most gifted philosophy teachers I have ever known and I learned a good deal from him on how to teach philosophy. But even more than this, I am indebted to him for the way he so easily mixes philosophy, wit, and good humor in equal parts. I learned more from him than from anyone about how to teach critical thinking, and about the central role it ought to play in education and in a full life. I also owe a great deal to Gerry Nosich, whose work on critical thinking is without equal. Gerry joined us at Buffalo State College as we were designing and implementing a required first-year critical thinking course, and his gentle and wise advice proved invaluable. While with SUNY, I worked on a statewide committee to design a rubric for the assessment of critical thinking. I learned a lot in this time about the importance of teaching critical thinking across the curriculum, and I am especially indebted to Shir Filler.
Since beginning the writing of this book, I have learned a good deal from my new colleagues at Ryerson University, where the philosophy department teaches several sections of a critical thinking course that is required by students in several programs. I owe special debts to Andrew Hunter, Klaas Kraay, David Ciavatta, Jim Dianda, and Paul Raymont.
I am indebted to Steve Quigley, my editor at Wiley, for gently persuading me to write the book; to Jackie Palmieri, an editorial assistant at Wiley, for gently persuading me to complete it on time; and to several anonymous referees who provided useful feedback on my initial proposal.
I am enormously indebted to my family. I learned as much about how to think critically from my parents as from anyone. They showed me that critical thinking begins at home, and that is a lesson that Miranda and Emily, my wonderful daughters, now champion with exhausting ingenuity.
My greatest and deepest debts, however, are to Jane, whose love and support have never been conditional on sufficient and acceptable reasons or on anything else.