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    Critical Thinking in the Strong Sense

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    21 views21 pages

    Critical Thinking in The Strong Sense

    Uploaded by

    Mafe Salazar
    Critical Thinking in the Strong Sense

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Critical Thinking in the Strong Sense ++ Chapter 9 Critical Thinking: Fundamental to Education for a Free Society Absiract ths paper wri fer acai Lehn JOR, Paul auc th elenad sscns md ne pte mewninghel change wee elceiors exp vse ne ‘elated tat th stds neal poop, td i reason exovenineals hat wah dinensona pons, tadonaly greed eat 0 be central shiny lc Ironton proven ens ha appropiate hean te os clu cepa rool wort probe; a hon fo tears! are wed o Beenie 12 hisk for hassles thong tatoue, scsi, oud contrive dete a nl a “ara adeics ne be evap tos the arto ales the develope of laasoat na deca tough Pool mammances ste a Pe cles AN Op Sosy nquns open minds. Caine roredegsconine cou iocniie eee ‘eed wih ass iechment Enonlae oe ave are the funtion fare tie eves The Emerging Critical Thinking Movement ne “critical thinking movement” is now, after a long and halting stars, building up a head of steam, Predictably, momerous quick-fix, miracle cures have spring up, ana taming to tham is tempting, especially given the increasing variety of imperatives and mandates under which schools operate. Targae in this paper for a diffivent understanding of how to proceed. [advo- sate both a short-term and a long-term strategy, based on an analysis of where we now stand and what we should strive for ultimately Tongue that our strategy should reflect realistic appraisal of the follow. ing foctors: 1) the basic cognitive and affective tendencies of the human mind in its normal, wneritieal state, 2) the categorically different problem types ‘und the reasoning appropriate to them, 3) the social and parsanal conditions under which cognitive and affective provesses develop, 4 the present critical ‘thinking akill of taxehers and students, and 5) the fundamental intellectual affective, and social obstacles to the further development of sueh skills Tamphasize the need to rocognize end highlight a fundamental difference between twa distinet conceptions af eritizal thinking: a weak” sense, undor- sod as a Set of diserete micro-logical skills extrinsic to the character of the hoe ritcal Thinking: Fundamental to Education for a Free Society 163 person, skills that can be tacked onto cther learning; and a “strong” sense, understood ae a eat of integrated macro-logical skills and abilities intrinsic tltimately to the character of the person and Uo insight into one's oun vogat- ‘ive and affective procassea, 17-xe chose the latter We concern curselves not ‘only with the development ef technical reason — skills whieh do nat trans- orm one's grasp of one's bosle oagaitive and affeatve processes — but also ‘with the development of emancipatory reason — lle and abilities whieh generate not only fundamental insight into, bat slso some command of one's ‘own cognitive and affective processes. In the strong sense, we emphasize eomprohensive critical thinking skills and abilities essential to the free, rational, and autonomous mind. In the weak sense, we are content to develop ‘what typically comes down tr “vocational” thinking skills which by them- selves have little influence on a person's intellectuel, emotional er moral ‘autonomy, If we aspire to strang sense critiea thinking skills and abilities for ‘our long-term goals, and we take steck of where we Wow stand, eareful con sideration of the available evidence will, sooner or later, persuade us of somes {hing like tho following points: J) that we have deep seated tendencies to use reason to maximize getting, and justify getting, what we, often unconsciously, want, and that chis means We use cognitive and affective prooesses to maintain self-cerving or pleasant LUhustons, to rule out oF unfoirly undermine ideas in opposition to our own, to link our identity with ideas that are “ours” (and s0 experience disagreement. fas ego-threatening), and otherwise to distort ar misinterpret ouy experience Yeserve onr own advantages 2) that we must distinguish twe kinde of problems: prablems in technical domeins wher one salfconsistont, clese-textured system of ideas and pro cedures determines the settlement of issues, and, in contrast, problems in the logically messy “real worhe” of everyday Ife, wherein opposing points of view end contradictory lines of reasora%g are relevant and realities of power and selfdelusien make rational settlement of issues much harder; '3) that until new, the schools, ta the extent thoy have addressed problem selving, have focused on techniesl problems and technical reason and proce- dures, and have eithor illicitly reduced real worl problems to thers oF have tacitly inculeated into students the preabricated “self-evident answers* of the dominant social majority or some favored minority 4) thot our eapscity ta conta} our cogpitive and affective procossas often depends on the character of our eatiy tives both at home and school and that very special preparation is necessary for children to develop into adulta com. fortablo with and skilled m voighing, reconciling, and assessing contradictory snumente and points of view through dialogue, discussion, ard debate; and, 13 that teaching strategies need to be rovamped across the board — espe. cially in seclal studies and basic academic competencies — to stress the development of dialectical knowledge and skills, and thus solfformed, sell reasoned conviction, oa (ChITCAL TANG 1 THE SIRONE SENSE + Short Term Strategy: Develop Micro Logical, Analytic Critival Thinking Skills ‘The best short tarm stratagy is ta facilitate the understanding and teach ing of mire logical analytic critical thinking skills within estublishod subject ‘areas. This requires teaching the use af the elementary critical, analytic Vocabulary of the English language, 2 working knowledge of such mundane terme or premise, reason, conclusion, inference, assurmption, relevant, irrae ‘vant, consistent, contradictory, credible, doubtful, evidence, fact, interpreta tion, question-at-issue, problem, els, Teachers should be encouraged to take at least one university level course in critical thinking wheroin they pruciive the basie micro-legical skills associated with these tarms, and se learn te iso late and distinguish issues, premises, assumptions, conslusions, inferencsa, ‘and master the rudiments of argument assessment. ‘The nationally normed tests, such as the Watson-Claser and the Cornell Critical Taming Tests should be available and teachers should Jaarn haw ta Formulate test questians modeled on them. ‘4 full range of ertieal chinking books and materials, both wniversity level and K-12, should be made available to teachers and vegular brain-storming sessions established. Teachers need to begin ‘9 think critically about think. ing skills, to gat a handle on what makes sense to them and what they can immediately begin to do. An important caveat should be entered here, how- ‘ever. Unlike the domain of technical skills, teachers, and people generally, are natarally disinclined to rooagniee tho degree to whieh they do not think cnitically People tend te retreat to simplistic approaches that do not lay ar appropriate foundation for higher level (strong sense) critical thought or to ddismize tho noed for any new laarning at all. (“All good teachers naturally leach eritieal thinking.") Most people, including the most uneritical, take offense at the suggestion that they lack skill in this area. This egoidentifien tion with eriteal thinking (others need it) is a continual obstacle to reform. ‘To the extent that people lack eritieal thinking skills, they conceptuslize those who have them as ‘prejudiced’, “elosedminded”, “ovorly acadomie”, negative’, or “it-picky”- ‘Wo must therefore emphasize from the start that the ability to think eriti- cally isa matter of dogree. No ono is without any critical skills whotso and no one has them so fully that there are no areas in which uneritical ‘inking 1 dominant, Openmindedness may be the proper, but ft is not the “natural”, disposition of the human mind. Mare on this presently. Adaiional short torm gaals shavld include tho fallowing 1 Getting master teachers trained in critical thinkings 2) Encouraging teachers and curriculum specialists to attend the growing: jnumbars of eritieal thinking eonforeneas 8) Developing a school-wide attitude in which reasoning within unerthedox ‘and conflicting points of view snd respectfol, reasoned disagreement is Critical Thinking: Pandamenrt io Education fr a Free Soctety 6s ential and healthy (a very difficult goal te achieve of considered e: ours 4) Lonking for what Bloom has called “latent” curricula and “unspoken” values that may undermine the critical spivit (again, very difficult), and, {5) Establishing a working relationship with at least one university erica ‘thinking instructor. ‘The ideal, as L eve i, is to take those first steps that initiate the teaching of relatively *solf contained” critical thinking skills — testing for inferences ‘hat do or do not follow, recognizing assumptions and clear-cut contradia. tions, giving initial formulations of veasons to support conclusions, consider= {ng evidence vather than relying on authority, and so forth — and that devel- ‘op an environment conducive t9 strong sense eritcal thinking. In the precass, wherever possible, students should have opportunities to advance idans of their own and give reasons to support them, as well ae opportunities to hear the objections of ather students, I this i dene earefuly in an atmosphere of co-operation and while learning critical analytic terme, the students will begin to use critical distinctions to defend thetr ideas. When this vorabolary integration begins, a very healthy process has been set in motion which, properly nurtured, ean lead to primitive emancipatory thinking skills. + Long Term Strategy: Develop Macro-Logical, Integrative Thinking Skills ‘An effective long range strategy should have two perts: 2) an on-going explication of the obstacles to the development of atrong-sense critical ‘thought, and 2) an increasing recognition of the distinctive nature end imporeance of dialectical issues and hex they can be brought into the cur- ciculuu, Ite not enough ta reeegnize that al human thought is embedded in human activity and ell human activity embedded in human thought. We also reed to recognize that much of our thinking is subconscious, automated, and invational, The eapacity to explicate the roots of the thinking "hicden” trom tas and ta purge it when irrational are erueial, Long-term strategy must have an explicative/purgative as well as a constructiveldevelopmental dimension. Because ofthe limitations of spaca, however, we ean de no more here than set ‘ont each side ofthis global orientation in rough outline, ‘Onersci Or: Tie Dawtal oF rine exp Without ignoring the many ways in which they intersect, considar the egree to which we live m two very different worlds: a world of technical and technological order and clarity, and a world of personal and social disorder and, confusion. We are increasingly adept at selving problems in the ene demain and increasingly endangered by our ability te solve problems in the other. ‘Various explanations have been given for this unhappy state of affairs, One of the most popular identifies the raot causes lobe two-fold: 2) @ lack of wills 156 (Camcar TRG BE THE SHROKE SiSSE ingness on the pert of thase who are right, and know they are, to “stand tall” and refuse to be pushed around by thote whe are wrong (and are being ier tional, stubborn, or malevcleat), and 2 the difficulty of getting the “others”, ‘our opposition, to see the rationality and fairmindodness of our viows ard the irrationality and slosedmindscinese (or malevolence) of their own. President Reagan, to take a recent striking exainple, put st succinctly when he claimed that one country, the USSR, is the “Toews ofall evil in the world’, an “evil ‘empire’ which understands nothing but foroc and power and steal-ayed deter: rmination. That a one-dimensional explanation of this sort can still, not only catch the pablio’s fancy, but seom intelligible to many eational leaders, not to ‘mention some “intellectuals”, testifies, in my view, to the primitive state of rich of our thinking about non-tachnicai, non-teehnologicsl hnman problems President Reagan's nationalistic expostulations remind mo of a tandeney to ethnocentrism deep in our own, and perhaps in all cultures. Consider this passage from 2 19" contury speech Fellow Amencans, we ze Gow's chosen people, Yorder at Bunker Hill snd Yorktown His providenes was above us. At New Orleans and on ens {AUined se His hand sscained os. Abraham Lincoln was His minister, and is was the alte of Froedam the boys in Sue set on 2 hundred bate fields, His power direted Dewey in the Fast and delivered the Spanish Meet ilo ‘ur hands athe eve of Liberty's tal day, as He dalvered the elder aida into the bands of our Eaglish Sues tws conusics ago. His great purposes ae ‘vealed ithe progress of the fag. which surpasses the intentions of con resis and eabinet, and leeds us ike a holier pillar of cloud by day and pi Jar of fire by night ‘ne ststions vaforeseen hy fine wisdom. and dts bunenposted by the unpeophete heat of selfishness. The Americ peuple ‘cannot se a dishonest medium of exchange, ti ours 1 set the world is ‘example of right ind Roner. We cannot fy from our world dest sous 4 ‘execute the purpose of fale that has driven us to be preter than oor onl Tnzention, We cannot retest (rom any sol where Providence has unfsled our Dans: its ours © save that soil for Sbenty and eivilration. For beet a cilia and God's promise fulfilled, the flag most henceforth ns 9 sya ol an the sign of ll wankind — the faa! ‘Such paseager bring to mind the views artiealated by the children inter viewed by Piaget in his srady for UNESCO on the causes of war: Michael H. (9 yeas, 6 zoom ad Have you bears of such people as Forcign- exe Hes, the Brench, the Americans, the Russians, the English «Quit righ ‘Aco ther ciferences between all thse people? Oh ye, they dom? speck the Same largaage Ad what els? fon) kro. Wh do you ink oF te Free, fee igzance? Do you Like them or not? Try a tell me as ech a5 possibe. ‘Dhe French are very serous, they dent worry about ansthing. an” ie dry ‘here. Au what do you thine ofthe Russians? They're bud they're aways ‘wanting to make war. And whats you opinion ofthe Knglish? I dor? know they ce... Now oak, How diols corte tw ow all you've tok me? J dom brew... Pe heard it. that’s wha people 2a Creal Tainking: Fundamental to Education for @ Free Society 67 Maurice D. (8 years.3 months eld I you cid't ave any naionslity ans you were siven a lice choice of nationality, which would you choose? Svs nationality, Why? Because Teas born in Switeriand. Now lok, do you hia the French and the Swiss are equally nice, o the one wie o less nice thn the other? The Swiss are nicer Way? The French are alvays nasty, Who is more intelligent, the Swiss or the French, or do you think toy’ jst te same? The Suits are more intelligent. Why? Because they lawn French quick) If Lskes 1 Freie boy to choose any naionality be hike, what country do yeu think e' house? He'd choose France. Way? Because he was born in France. And what ‘woul he ray about who's the nicer? Would he tink tbe Swiss and the ere ‘equally nce o¢ one bole than the other? He'd say the French are nicer Why? Because he was bore in France. And who would ke think more ictlliges!? ‘The French Why? He'd say hat the French want io learn quicker tha he ‘Siuss Now you andthe French boy don't really give the sane answer, Who da you think answered bes! i Way? Because Swizertand is always beter Maria T (1 years, 9 monks oki) I you wore bors without any nationality aun you wero giver a fee cee, what rationality Would you choose? Hada. Why? Because i's my eowetry. Hike it beter thar Argentina where my fhe works, because Argentina rat my county Are Italians jot the su, oF Ke, ‘or lest ineligeat than the Argentinians? What co you think? The Jalon are ‘more intelligent. Why? F can se the people I ive with, they'e Hations C1 were W give a child fom Azgentin a fie chice of naoaalty what de you Link be would choose? He'd want to stay an Argentinian. Why? Becaute ‘that’s is country. And a were Wo ask bia whe is more iceligent the Agen linn or the Halians, wht do you think e would answer? Hed say Arzen fini: Why? Because there wasnt any war Now who was rally right in the ‘hoive he mado and what be said, the Axgeatiian eld, you, ar bob? was right Why? Becute chose Hal For both the President of the United States and these children the world 1g nahonalistically simple: the foroes of good (embodied in eurselves) stand ‘opposed by the forces of evi (those who eppose us).'The need for emaneipato ry reason is a need of “the other’, the stranger, the foreigner, the opposition. From this perspective, the schools’ job is to pass on our though: to chil- cen, expising them to all of the reasons why our's is right and superior aod unquestionable and, at the seme time, developing technical abilities and technologeel power to defend (enforce) our views. The schools task, in short, isto inculeate cultural patriotism and facilitate vocational training. ‘The distinguizhed conservative U.S, anthropologist, William Graham ‘Sumner, sharsly challenged this view, though he kad no illusisne about the difficulty of transforming the schools into vehicles for human and social ‘emanefpation (1908): ‘Suioo:s Make PERSONS ALL ON ON Parris: OnTHODORY Shoo edveation, unless it is regulsted by the best knowledge and good sense, will produce men and women who ae al oF one parm, as if weed ‘na lath... The examination papess show the pet ideus of ie examiners “An enthodony is produced i regard to all the great dectsines of lis I 168 CurmeaL Tamvenuc nv THE SrRONG SENS consists of tbe most wom ané commonplace opinions which are current ix the masses I may be found in aewepapers and popular terature. It i= ‘uensely provincial end pilistise .. The popular opinions always contain tvoad fallacies, hal-rths, ana glib generalizations of ily yeurs before “The boards of tasees are alzos always made up of “practical men a fof faiths, ess, apd projudices are lo make the norm of educauon, the schools will arm out boys ai gre counprersod to that pattern... (Thee i & desir) thal childten shall 6 taught just thal one thing which is “right” in the ‘view and interes of hove in contr, and nothing ole ‘Sumner saw the essential link between education and critical thinking: ‘Citcsm isthe examination snd text of propasition of shy Kind which ace offered for acceptance, inode to find out wheiher they comespond o realy for not The eriical faculty ie a prodict of education a tsining. [cis a rental bhi and powez Isa pre contin of harasn welfare that nen and wom? should be trtned ini 1 our ly gusrantee aginst deWsien, deception, Superson, and mitapprehension of ursetves and eur earthly eiecunstances ‘Faculty which wil grotct us agains ll harinful suggestion Our edi ‘cation x good just 0 far ai produces a welledeveloped cca faculy He even has a conception of what a scciety would bo like were critical Chink ing —in whet I call the strong sense — 9 fundamental sacial value: ‘The cxtieal habit of tought f usual ina society, will pervade all its mores, because is a way of taking up the problems of life, Men cducted in canrot be stampesed by stump oratrs and aze never deceived by ithyra- nic aralory. They ate slow to elieve: They can bold things as possible ot probable alt degeces, without ceraiay and without pain. They an wait for ‘cenlence and weigh evidence, aninflcnced hy the emphasis and confience With which assertions are made on one side or the other. ‘They can resist appeals their dearest prejudices snd al kinds of eajolery. Education in the ‘teal faesly isthe only education of which it ean be tly ssid that it makes good cttens Sumner's concept of a “developed critical faculty" clearly goes much beyond that envisioned by those who link it to a ehoyping list of atorsic skills. He understands it as a pervasive organizing core of mental habits, and ‘8 shaping foree in the character of person. It is fairmindedness brought Into the heart of everyday bf into all ofits dimensions. As a sceial commit ‘ment, it Gansforms the very nature of how life is lived and human transac. ‘lone mediated, Sumner deet not tell us however how to nurture or develop thie faculty and this commitment. He docs not explain how it relates ‘0 strategies successful in technical domains. Finally, he does not tell ws hovr to Initia this development, thoughs he clearly believes it ean begin very early, Ousract Two: Ti: Paiturn oF Coanrrive Psvenioxncy ax Prom sit-So1sen ‘Tuporists 70 CALL Atrantiox vo THs Locic of DiaLnemtent. sets ‘A major weakness in eagnitive psychology and problem solving theory today is the failure to highlight the striking differance betwoon the logis of Critical Thinking: Fundamental fo Education for a Free Society 69 ‘tedhnieal preblems and that of dialectical problems. Until one recognizes this, ‘ifference one tends to reduce all problems to technical ones and so rendar all knowledge and all problems procedural, if not algorithmic. Both the power and the limitations of technical disciplines lie in their susceptibility to ‘optrationaliem and routine procedure, Technical domains progross by svar ly narrowing what qualifies as appropriate subject mattar and as appropriate treatment of it AN concepts are spacifically designed to serve restricted disci pliary purpotes. Additionally, scope is typically farther Hated to the quan- tifable. For these reasons many of the concepts and attendant skills of appli- cation ara relatively subject specific, Consider the wide variety of disciplines thet can be brought to bear on the study af humans: physics, chemistry, neuralogy, physiology, bialogy, medicine, parehology, sconomice, sociology, anthropology, history, and philosephy. To ‘po: this point another way, humans are physical, chemical, neurological, bio= logical, peychotogical, economic, sociclogica), historical, and philosophical beings, all at once. Bach person is ons, not meny. To the extent that a human problem is rendered technical itis reduced to a relatively narrow system of ‘exclusionary ideas; technical precision and manageability is achieved by ‘exsluding a Variety of ether technical and non-technical features. Specialized disciplines develop by generating ever more specialized sub-disciplines, abstracting further and further from the “wholeness” of things. ‘This becomes clearer when we eansider those disciplines — history, pay- ‘chology, soviology, anthropology, economics, and philosophy — whese study of bhumanklind doee not appear to admit, beyond a range of foundational promis: es, to discipline-wide unanimity. In each of these felds a varicty of alterna tive aystoms or viewpoints compate. Generate @ question within them and ‘you typically generate a fiold of eonilistinis lines of reasoning and answers. Raise questions about their application to everyday life problema and dehate intensifies. The issues are properly understocd as dialectical, as calling for dialogical reasoning, for thinking ertically and reciprocally within oppesing points of view. This zbility to move up and back between contradictory lines ‘of reasoning, sing aseh ta eritially erges-examine the other, i# net charac. teristic of the technical mind ‘Toehinical knowledge is typically developed by restriction to one frame of reforence, one standpoint. Knowledgo arrived at dialectically, in contrast, ie like the verdict of a jury, with supporting reasoning. There is no fail-safe, technical path tit, At least two points of view rust be entertained. This not, _as problem-sclving theorists tend ta characterize problems, a movement from an initial state through a series of transtormations (or operations! to a final (arswering) state Most of our everyday interest in people is unguestionably in the area of

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