Critical Thinking · Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life by Paul, Richard -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Acknowledgment Preface 1 Thinking in a World of Accelerating Change and Intensifying Danger

The Nature of the Post-Industrial World Order A Complex World of Accelerating Change A Threatening World Change, Danger, and Complexity: Interwoven The Challenge of Becoming Critical Thinkers Recommended Reading

2 Becoming a Critic of Your Thinking

How Skilled is Your Thinking (Right Now)? Good Thinking Is as Easy as Bad Thinking (But It Requires Hard Work to Develop It) The Hard Cruel World Become a Critic of Your Own Thinking Conclusion

3 Becoming a Fair-Minded Thinker

Weak versus Strong Critical Thinking What Does Fair-Mindedness Require? Intellectual Humility: Having Knowledge of Ignorance Intellectual Courage: Being Willing to Challenge Beliefs Intellectual Empathy: Entertaining Opposing Views Intellectual Integrity: Holding Ourselves to the Same Standards to Which We Hold Others Intellectual Perseverance: Working Through Complexity and Frustration Confidence in Reason: Recognizing that Good Reasoning Has Proven Its Worth Intellectual Autonomy: Being an Independent Thinker Recognizing the Interdependence of Intellectual Virtues Conclusion

4 Self-Understanding

Monitoring the Egocentrism in Your Thought and Life Making a Commitment to Fair-Mindedness Recognizing the Mind's Three Distinctive Functions Understanding That You Have a Special Relationship to Your Mind

5 The First Four Stages of Development: What Level Thinker Are You?

Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker—Are You an Unreflective Thinker? Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker—Are You Ready to Accept the Challenge? Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker—Are You Willing to Begin? Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker—Good Thinking Can Be Practiced Like Basketball, Tennis, or Ballet A "Game Plan" for Improvement A Game Plan for Devising a Game Plan

6 The Parts of Thinking

Reasoning Is Everywhere in Human Life Does Reasoning Have Parts? Beginning to Think About Your Own Reasoning The Elements of Thought: A First Look An Everyday Example: Jack and Jill Analysis of the Example The Elements of Thought in Relationship The Relationship Between the Elements Thinking to Some Purpose Thinking with Concepts Thinking with Information Distinguishing Between Inert Information, Activated Ignorance, and Activated Knowledge Some Key Questions to Ask When Pursuing Information Distinguishing Between Inferences and Assumptions Understanding Implications Thinking Within and Across Points of View Using Critical Thinking to Take Charge of How We See Things The Point of View of the Critical Thinker Conclusion

7 The Standards for Thinking

Taking a Deeper Look at Universal Intellectual Standards Bringing Together the Elements of Reasoning and the Intellectual Standards Using Intellectual Standards to Assess Your Thinking: Brief Guidelines

8 Design Your Life

Fate or Freedom: Which Do You Choose? Recognizing the Dual Logic of Experience Facing Contradictions and Inconsistencies Social Forces, the Mass Media, and Our Experience Reading Backwards Implications for the Design of Your Life

9 The Art of Making Intelligent Decisions

Thinking Globally About Your Life Evaluating Patterns in Decision-Making "Big" Decisions The Logic of Decision-Making Recognizing the Need for an Important Decision Accurately Recognizing the Alternatives Putting More Time into Your Decision-Making Being Systematic Dealing with One Major Decision at a Time Developing Knowledge of Your Ignorance Dimensions of Decision-Making Regularly Re-Articulate and Reevaluate Your Goals, Purposes, and Needs The Early Decisions Adolescent Decisions Early Adult Decisions Conclusion

10 Taking Charge of Your Irrational Tendencies

Egocentric Thinking Understanding Egocentric Thinking Understanding Egocentrism as a Mind Within the Mind "Successful" Egocentrism "Unsuccessful" Egocentrism Rational Thinking Two Egocentric Functions Dominating Egocentrism Submissive Egocentrism Pathological Tendencies of the Human Mind Challenging the Pathological Tendencies of the Mind The Challenge of Rationality

11 Monitoring Your Sociocentric Tendencies

The Nature of Sociocentrism Sociocentric Thinking as Pathology Social Stratification Sociocentric Thinking Is Unconscious and Potentially Dangerous Sociocentric Use of Language in Groups Disclosing Sociocentric Thinking Through Conceptual Analysis Revealing Ideology at Work Through Conceptual Analysis The Mass Media Foster Sociocentric Thinking The Mass Media Play Down Information That Puts the Nation in a Negative Light Freedom from Sociocentric Thought: The Beginnings of Genuine Conscience The Capacity to Recognize Unethical Acts Conclusion

12 Developing as an Ethical Reasoner

Why People are Confused About Ethics The Fundamentals of Ethical Reasoning Ethical Concepts and Principles The Universal Nature of Ethical Principles Distinguishing Ethics from Other Domains of Thinking Ethics and Religion Religious Beliefs Are Socially or Culturally Relative Ethics and Social Conventions Practices That Are Socially or Culturally Relative Ethics and the Law Ethics and Sexual Taboos Understanding Our Native Selfishness

13 Analyzing and Evaluating Thinking in Corporate and Organizational Life

Introduction Critical Thinking and Incremental Improvement An Obstacle to Critical Thinking Within Organizations: The Covert Struggle for Power Another Obstacle: Group Definitions of Reality A Third Obstacle: The Problem of Bureaucracy The Problem of Misleading Success Competition, Sound Thinking, and Success Stagnating Organizations and Industries Questioning Organizational Realities Assessing Irrational Thinking in Organizational Life The Power of Sound Thinking Some Personal Implications Conclusion

14 The Power and Limits of Professional Knowledge (And of the Disciplines that Underlie Them)

Professional Fallibility and the Glut of Information The Ideal of Professional Knowledge Who Should We Believe? True and False Loyalty to a Profession The Gap Between Fact and Ideal Assessing A Profession or a Professional Conclusion: Matters of Fact, Matters of Opinion, Matters of Judgment The Ideal Compared to the Real Professions Based on the Ideal of Mathematics and Abstract Quantification The Pain and Suffering of Those Who Fail Loss of Self-Esteem and Opportunity to Receive Higher Education Low Level of Math Competency of Those Who Pass School Examinations The Ideal of Science: Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, Geology, and Biology The Ideal of Social Science: History, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, and Psychology History as an Ideal Sociology as an Ideal Anthropology as an Ideal Economics as an Ideal The Social Sciences as Taught and Practiced The Ideal of the Arts and Humanities: Music, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Dance, Literature, and Philosophy The Promise of the Fine Arts and Literature The Reality of Instruction in the Fine Arts and Literature The Promise of Philosophy The Reality of Philosophy Conclusion

15 Strategic Thinking Part One

Understanding and Using Strategic Thinking Components of Strategic Thinking The Beginnings of Strategic Thinking Key Idea #1: Thoughts, Feelings, and Desires are Interdependent Key Idea #2: There is a Logic to This, and You Can Figure It Out Key Idea #3: For Thinking to Be of High Quality, We Must Routinely Assess it

16 Strategic Thinking Part Two

Key Idea #4: Our Native Egocentrism Is a Default Mechanism Key Idea #5: We Must Become Sensitive to the Egocentrism of Those Around Us Key Idea #6: The Mind Tends to Generalize Beyond the Original Experience Key Idea #7: Egocentric Thinking Appears to the Mind as Rational Key Idea #8: The Egocentric Mind Is Automatic in Nature Key Idea #9: We Often Pursue Power Through Dominating or Submissive Behavior Key Idea #10: Humans Are Naturally Sociocentric Animals Key Idea #11: Developing Rationality Requires Work Conclusion

Glossary: A Guide to Critical Thinking Terms and Concepts References

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