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D. Dumitru
sense and everyday thinking. He laid the foundations of critical thinking applied to
fundamental human rights. Thus it was John Locke who brought into discussion and
highlighted the necessity of critical thinking first in a democracy and second in social
life.
Kant (1999) wrote the Critique of pure reason, one of the most significant works
in philosophy, in which critical thinking turns to itself, to its own powers and limits.
The twentieth century brought the term “critical thinking,” and it was the most
prolific in establishing this concept through the works it inspired. Dewey (1909)
showed us the instrumental side of critical thinking in relation to the aims, objectives,
and targets we plan to reach. Wittgenstein (1998) showed us the need to take into
consideration the importance of concepts to human thinking, as well as the need to
evaluate the power of thinking and its limits. Piaget (1969) specified the importance
of the egocentric and socio-centric tendencies of our thinking, and drew attention
to the need to develop reflective thinking, which is capable of judging from the
perspective of several points of view, until it reaches a level called “the conscious
acknowledgment” of thinking.
Nowadays, we have many works called either Critical Thinking or Argumentation
or Informal logic. Our times have added a clarification of the concept and of its
utility to the ancient, modern, and enlightenment views presented above. Specifically,
critical thinking has become critical toward itself. The modern concept of critical
thinking was outlined by the philosopher, psychologist, and educator John Dewey. In
his book, How we think, he suggested the term “reflective thinking” (Dewey 1909).
Under this name he groups a number of features that differentiate the superior use of
human beings’ rational faculty from its minimal and routine functioning (Stoianovici
2005, 123).
Dewey used the term “reflective thinking” to denote “Active, persistent, and
careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the
grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends,” (Dewey 1909,
quoted in Fisher 2001, 2). Subsequent generations of authors, including contemporary ones, whether philosophers, educators, or other researchers interested in CT
development, are the heirs to Dewey’s work.
The Delphi panelists (Facione 1990) describe CT as a set of skills and dispositions.
Analysis, Interpretation, Evaluation, Inference, Explanation, and Self-regulation are
the dimensions of CT as a skill set. The Delphi Project experts claim that thinking
critically is not equivalent to thinking correctly. The person who builds an argument
is imbued with this content because something motivates them to argue one way or
another. They have a certain purpose and relate affectively to the content used and
also to the position adopted.
This may be considered proof that critical thinking is both a complex of high-level
cognitive skills and a complex of affective and motivational dispositions, intrinsically bound to a cognitive and rational cluster. The Delphi panelists call this
reality the disposition to think critically, and it has several dimensions: truth-seeking,
open-mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, and
cognitive maturity (Facione 1990).
D. Dumitru
sense and everyday thinking. He laid the foundations of critical thinking applied to
fundamental human rights. Thus it was John Locke who brought into discussion and
highlighted the necessity of critical thinking first in a democracy and second in social
life.
Kant (1999) wrote the Critique of pure reason, one of the most significant works
in philosophy, in which critical thinking turns to itself, to its own powers and limits.
The twentieth century brought the term “critical thinking,” and it was the most
prolific in establishing this concept through the works it inspired. Dewey (1909)
showed us the instrumental side of critical thinking in relation to the aims, objectives,
and targets we plan to reach. Wittgenstein (1998) showed us the need to take into
consideration the importance of concepts to human thinking, as well as the need to
evaluate the power of thinking and its limits. Piaget (1969) specified the importance
of the egocentric and socio-centric tendencies of our thinking, and drew attention
to the need to develop reflective thinking, which is capable of judging from the
perspective of several points of view, until it reaches a level called “the conscious
acknowledgment” of thinking.
Nowadays, we have many works called either Critical Thinking or Argumentation
or Informal logic. Our times have added a clarification of the concept and of its
utility to the ancient, modern, and enlightenment views presented above. Specifically,
critical thinking has become critical toward itself. The modern concept of critical
thinking was outlined by the philosopher, psychologist, and educator John Dewey. In
his book, How we think, he suggested the term “reflective thinking” (Dewey 1909).
Under this name he groups a number of features that differentiate the superior use of
human beings’ rational faculty from its minimal and routine functioning (Stoianovici
2005, 123).
Dewey used the term “reflective thinking” to denote “Active, persistent, and
careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the
grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends,” (Dewey 1909,
quoted in Fisher 2001, 2). Subsequent generations of authors, including contemporary ones, whether philosophers, educators, or other researchers interested in CT
development, are the heirs to Dewey’s work.
The Delphi panelists (Facione 1990) describe CT as a set of skills and dispositions.
Analysis, Interpretation, Evaluation, Inference, Explanation, and Self-regulation are
the dimensions of CT as a skill set. The Delphi Project experts claim that thinking
critically is not equivalent to thinking correctly. The person who builds an argument
is imbued with this content because something motivates them to argue one way or
another. They have a certain purpose and relate affectively to the content used and
also to the position adopted.
This may be considered proof that critical thinking is both a complex of high-level
cognitive skills and a complex of affective and motivational dispositions, intrinsically bound to a cognitive and rational cluster. The Delphi panelists call this
reality the disposition to think critically, and it has several dimensions: truth-seeking,
open-mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, and
cognitive maturity (Facione 1990).