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D. Dumitru
Which is courage, and which is criƟcal thinking?
Image 1 (Right). The thinkers from Hamangia, Eneolithic culture, Romania.
Fifth millennium B.C. Source Cristian Chirita—Oper˘ a proprie, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27999795. Image 2 (Left). The
Tiananmen Square protests, China, June 5, 1989. Source Associated Press, originally photographed by Jeff Widener, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=239713.
An answer will be attempted here, but for the reader is encouraged to find their
personal response to the question in the light of their own expertise and experience.
The first picture shows two statues from the Stone Age (c. 7,000 years old), a man
sitting on a little chair, with his chin in his hands, a typical position of somebody
thinking, and a woman sitting beside him, in a posture that invites us to imagine them
talking, wondering, discussing, etc. They look like people trying to figure out some
puzzling dilemma or perplexed by some new events.
The second picture is one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century: the
man who briefly stops a column of tanks during the crackdown on the Tiananmen
protests on June 5, 1989. He is clearly not there to talk. It is not the place for dialog,
a much needed and necessary action of critical thinkers. Is he a critical thinker?
Maybe. His motives for standing in front of the tanks could have been determined
by reasoning and certitude, but the precise moment captured by the picture is not
about critical thinking. Is he courageous by Aristotle’ definition? It depends on one’s
interpretation. Is this man taking the middle way between confidence and fear?
3 The Purpose of the University. Sustainability
as the Teleological, Greater Good
What is the connection between critical thinking, courage, and sustainability? The
university.
Universities have in their mission statements the values of Wilhelm von Humboldt
when he described the university as the “pinnacle” of the nation’s “moral culture”
(apud Reitter and Wellmon 2020). The mission of the Humboldtian university is to
D. Dumitru
Which is courage, and which is criƟcal thinking?
Image 1 (Right). The thinkers from Hamangia, Eneolithic culture, Romania.
Fifth millennium B.C. Source Cristian Chirita—Oper˘ a proprie, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27999795. Image 2 (Left). The
Tiananmen Square protests, China, June 5, 1989. Source Associated Press, originally photographed by Jeff Widener, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=239713.
An answer will be attempted here, but for the reader is encouraged to find their
personal response to the question in the light of their own expertise and experience.
The first picture shows two statues from the Stone Age (c. 7,000 years old), a man
sitting on a little chair, with his chin in his hands, a typical position of somebody
thinking, and a woman sitting beside him, in a posture that invites us to imagine them
talking, wondering, discussing, etc. They look like people trying to figure out some
puzzling dilemma or perplexed by some new events.
The second picture is one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century: the
man who briefly stops a column of tanks during the crackdown on the Tiananmen
protests on June 5, 1989. He is clearly not there to talk. It is not the place for dialog,
a much needed and necessary action of critical thinkers. Is he a critical thinker?
Maybe. His motives for standing in front of the tanks could have been determined
by reasoning and certitude, but the precise moment captured by the picture is not
about critical thinking. Is he courageous by Aristotle’ definition? It depends on one’s
interpretation. Is this man taking the middle way between confidence and fear?
3 The Purpose of the University. Sustainability
as the Teleological, Greater Good
What is the connection between critical thinking, courage, and sustainability? The
university.
Universities have in their mission statements the values of Wilhelm von Humboldt
when he described the university as the “pinnacle” of the nation’s “moral culture”
(apud Reitter and Wellmon 2020). The mission of the Humboldtian university is to