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.
4. Confidence in Reason: Recognizing that Good Reasoning Has
Proven Its Worth.
Intellectual Autonomy: Being an Independent Thinker. Recognizing
the Interdependence of Intellectual Virtues. Conclusion.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
Index.
The world gets more complex every day -- and you have to cope with that complexity in every part of your life, personal and professional. This book gives you the practical critical thinking skills you need to take control of your life, help you cope with virtually any situation -- and be more successful in pursuing your ultimate dreams and values. You'll learn how to "take thinking apart" -- both yours, and others -- and assess that thinking for quality. You'll understand all three components of thinking: analysis, evaluation and re-thinking -- and, through "brains-on" exercises, learn new thinking skills you'll use constantly. The skills you'll learn will help you think more clearly, accurately, precisely, deeply, logically, and broadly. The result: you'll be able to solve problems more effectively, make better decisions, avoid manipulation by individuals or the media, recognize pathological thinking when you encounter it, and become more intellectually autonomous and courageous. For everyone who wants to become more effective in their professional and personal lives.
DR. RICHARD W. PAUL is Director of Research and Professional Development at the Center for Critical Thinking and the Chair of the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking. He has authored six books and more than 200 articles on critical thinking. In over 35 years of teaching experience, he has won numerous awards and honors, including Distinguished Perry Lecturer for the year 2000.
DR. LINDA ELDER is an educational psychologist, President for the Foundation for Critical Thinking, and Executive Director of the Center for Critical Thinking. She is highly published and has done original research into the relation of thought and emotion. She is a regular keynoter at the International Conference on Critical Thinking and is a recognized leader in the field.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |