Logic and Critical Thinking

Title Meaning of Critical Thinking

Group assignment
Name Id. no
1. Aymen Yusuf RCD/0752/2014
2.Eyuel Bilhatu RCD/0764/2014
3.Daniel Hailu RCD/0761/2014
4.Kirubel Tigistu RCD/0779/2014
5.Mikiyas Getu RCD/0784/2014
6.Kidus Amare RCD/0774/2014

Date: - 11/01/2023
Sub. To: -M. R SOLOMON AND.
Table of Contents
Critical Thinking 1
History 1
Definition 2
Logic and rationality 3
Types of Logical definition 4
Functions 6
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest
level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically consistently attempt to live
rationally, reasonably, empathically. They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of
human thinking when left unchecked. They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and
sociocentric tendencies. They use the intellectual tools that critical thinking offers – concepts and
principles that enable them to analyze, assess, and improve thinking. They work diligently to
develop the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual humility, intellectual civility,
intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and confidence in reason. They realize that no
matter how skilled they are as thinkers, they can always improve their reasoning abilities and
they will at times fall prey to mistakes in reasoning, human irrationality, prejudices, biases,
distortions, uncritically accepted social rules and taboos, self-interest, and vested interest. They
strive to improve the world in whatever ways they can and contribute to a more rational,
civilized society. At the same time, they recognize the complexities often inherent in doing so.
They avoid thinking simplistically about complicated issues and strive to appropriately consider
the rights and needs of relevant others. They recognize the complexities in developing as
thinkers, and commit themselves to life-long practice toward self-improvement. They embody
the Socratic principle: The unexamined life is not worth living, because they realize that many
unexamined lives together result in an uncritical, unjust, dangerous world.
Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form
a judgment. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include
the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysis or evaluation of factual evidence. Critical thinking
is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking. It presupposes
assent to rigorous standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails effective
communication and problem-solving abilities as well as a commitment to overcome native
egocentrism and sociocentrism.

History
Sculpture of Socrates
Socrates established the fact that one cannot depend upon those in "authority" to have sound
knowledge and insight. He demonstrated that persons may have power and high position and yet
be deeply confused and irrational. Socrates maintained that for an individual to have a good life
or to have one that is worth living, he must be a critical questioner and possess an interrogative
soul. He established the importance of asking deep questions that probe profoundly into thinking
before we accept ideas as worthy of belief.
Socrates established the importance of "seeking evidence, closely examining reasoning and
assumptions, analyzing basic concepts, and tracing out implications not only of what is said but
of what is done as well". His method of questioning is now known as "Socratic questioning" and
is the best-known critical thinking teaching strategy. In his mode of questioning, Socrates
highlighted the need for thinking for clarity and logical consistency. He asked people questions

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to reveal their irrational thinking or lack of reliable knowledge. Socrates demonstrated that
having authority does not ensure accurate knowledge. He established the method of questioning
beliefs, closely inspecting assumptions and relying on evidence and sound rationale. Plato
recorded Socrates' teachings and carried on the tradition of critical thinking. Aristotle and
subsequent Greek skeptics refined Socrates' teachings, using systematic thinking and asking
questions to ascertain the true nature of reality beyond the way things appear from a glance.
Critical thinking was described by Richard W. Paul as a movement in two waves (1994). The
"first wave" of critical thinking is often referred to as a 'critical analysis' that is clear, rational
thinking involving critique. Its details vary amongst those who define it. According to Barry K.
Beyer (1995), critical thinking means making clear, reasoned judgments. During the process of
critical thinking, ideas should be reasoned, well thought out, and judged. The U.S. National
Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking defines critical thinking as the "intellectually
disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing,
or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection,
reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action."

Etymology and origin of critical thinking

In the term critical thinking, the word critical, derives from the Greek word critic and implies a
critique; it identifies the intellectual capacity and the means "of judging", "of judgement", "for
judging", and of being "able to discern". The intellectual roots of critical thinking are as ancient
as its etymology, traceable, ultimately, to the teaching practice and vision of Socrates, 2,500
years ago who discovered by a method of probing questioning that people could not rationally
justify their confident claims to knowledge.

Definitions
Traditionally, critical thinking has been variously defined as follows:
 "The intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,
analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and
action."
 "Disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence"
 "Purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation,
and inference, as well as explanation of the evidential, conceptual, methodological,
criteriological, or contextual considerations upon which that judgment is based"
 "Includes a commitment to using reason in the formulation of our beliefs"
 The skill and propensity to engage in an activity with reflective skepticism (McPeck, 1981)

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 Thinking about one's thinking in a manner designed to organize and clarify, raise the
efficiency of, and recognize errors and biases in one's own thinking. Critical thinking is not
'hard' thinking nor is it directed at solving problems (other than 'improving' one's own
thinking). Critical thinking is inward-directed with the intent of maximizing the rationality of
the thinker. One does not use critical thinking to solve problems—one uses critical thinking
to improve one's process of thinking.
 "An appraisal based on careful analytical evaluation"
 "Critical thinking is a type of thinking pattern that requires people to be reflective, and pay
attention to decision-making which guides their beliefs and actions. Critical thinking allows
people to deduct with more logic, to process sophisticated information and look at various
sides of an issue so they can produce more solid conclusions."
Critical thinking has seven critical features: being inquisitive and curious, being open-minded
to different sides, being able to think systematically, being analytical, being persistent to truth,
being confident about critical thinking itself, and lastly, being mature.
Although critical thinking could be defined in several different ways, there is a general
agreement in its key component—the desire to reach for a satisfactory result, and this should be
achieved by rational thinking and result-driven manner. Halpern thinks that critical thinking
firstly involves learned abilities such as problem-solving, calculation and successful probability
application. It also includes a tendency to engage the thinking process. In recent times, Stanovich
believed that modern IQ testing could hardly measure the ability of critical thinking.
"Critical thinking is essentially a questioning, challenging approach to knowledge and perceived
wisdom. It involves ideas and information from an objective position and then questioning this
information in the light of our own values, attitudes and personal philosophy."
Contemporary critical thinking scholars have expanded these traditional definitions to include
qualities, concepts, and processes such as creativity, imagination, discovery, reflection, empathy,
connecting knowing, feminist theory, subjectivity, ambiguity, and inconclusiveness. Some
definitions of critical thinking exclude these subjective practices.
 According to Ennis, "Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively
and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating
information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection,
reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. “This definition Ennis
provided is highly agreed by Harvey Siegel, Peter Pacione, and Deanna Kuhn.
 According to Ennis' definition, critical thinking requires a lot of attention and brain
function. When a critical thinking approach is applied to education, it helps the student's
brain function better and understand texts differently.
 Different fields of study may require different types of critical thinking. Critical thinking
provides more angles and perspectives upon the same material.

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Logic and rationality
The study of logical argumentation is relevant to the study of critical thinking. Logic is
concerned with the analysis of arguments, including the appraisal of their correctness or
incorrectness.[31] In the field of epistemology, critical thinking is considered to be logically
correct thinking, which allows for differentiation between logically true and logically false
statements.

In "First wave" logical thinking, the thinker is removed from the train of thought, and the
analysis of connections between concepts or points in thought is ostensibly free of any bias. In
his essay Beyond Logicism in Critical Thinking Kerry S. Walters describes this ideology thus:
"A logistic approach to critical thinking conveys the message to students that thinking is
legitimate only when it conforms to the procedures of informal (and, to a lesser extent, formal)
logic and that the good thinker necessarily aims for styles of examination and appraisal that are
analytical, abstract, universal, and objective. This model of thinking has become so entrenched in
conventional academic wisdom that many educators accept it as canon". Such principles are
concomitant with the increasing dependence on a quantitative understanding of the world.
[citation needed]

In the 'second wave' of critical thinking, authors consciously moved away from the logocentric
mode of critical thinking characteristic of the 'first wave'. Although many scholars began to take
a less exclusive view of what constitutes critical thinking, rationality and logic remain widely
accepted as essential bases for critical thinking. Walters argues that exclusive logicism in the
first wave sense is based on "the unwarranted assumption that good thinking is reducible to
logical thinking".

Types of logical reasoning

There are three types of logical reasoning. Informally, two kinds of logical reasoning can be
distinguished in addition to formal deduction, which are induction and abduction.

Deduction involves making logical inferences from premises to conclusions, and is most
closely associated with mathematical reasoning. Deductive reasoning begins with some initial
premises or axioms which are taken to be true, and certain formal, logical rules of inference that
are assumed to be valid. The deductive rules are than applied (often repeatedly) to the initial
premises, yielding new propositions which are guaranteed to be true. For example, beginning
with the premises ‘Bob is a man’ and ‘if somebody is a man then they are mortal’, then using an
accepted deductive rule called monus ponens, it can be derived that ‘Bob is mortal’. This
inference, assuming that we do indeed accept the premises and the validity of modus ponens, is
proven to be true with certainty.

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Induction does not utilize strict logical entailment as deduction does, but rather makes
probabilistic inferences based on what is relatively likely to be true given the premises. Often,
though not always, induction involves drawing general conclusions from specific cases or
observations. For example, if we collect many different samples of a particular species of bird
and find them all to have brown features, we may deduce by induction that all birds from this
species have brown feathers. Such an inference is not deductively valid, since there are many
ways, it could turn out to be incorrect (for example we may have just gotten unlucky in finding
all brown samples, or perhaps our selected sample was biased in some way, etc.). Nevertheless,
in general we would regard inferences like this as having a reasonable probability of being true,
which is the best that can be achieved using inductive inference. Strong inductive arguments are
those in which strong support is provided by the evidence in favor of the conclusion, while weak
inductive arguments only provide limited or partial support. This degree of strength differs from
deductive arguments, which strictly speaking can only ever be sound or unsound.

Abductive reasoning, also called abductive inference or abduction, is a form of inference

which begins with some set of observations or known facts, and infers the truth of some theory
or explanation which best accounts for those facts. Abduction is sometimes also described as
‘inference to the best explanation’, meaning that the explanation which best accounts for some
phenomena is taken to be the most likely to be correct. Like inductive, abductive inferences can
never yield conclusions with certainty, and thus can only justify knowledge to varying degrees of
confidence. Though some philosophers consider abduction to be a variant of induction, a notable
difference between the two is that inductive inferences need not make any reference to
explanation, whereas this is central to the notion of abductive inference. The previous feather
color example of induction, for instance, would not constitute an example of abduction since no
appeal is made to formulating an explanation for a body of facts. Abduction is most commonly
applied to complex cases in which inferences are made on the basis of large and multifaceted
bodies of evidence. For example, the modern theory of plate tectonics is accepted as probably
true because it provides the best explanation for a wide body of otherwise inexplicable geologic,
biological, and physical observations, not because of any deductive proof of its truth, or even of
any simple induction based on past cases or experience.

Critical thinking and rationality

Kerry S. Walters, an emeritus philosophy professor from Gettysburg College, argues that
rationality demands more than just logical or traditional methods of problem solving and analysis
or what he calls the "calculus of justification" but also considers "cognitive acts such as
imagination, conceptual creativity, intuition and insight”. These "functions" are focused on
discovery, on more abstract processes instead of linear, rules-based approaches to problem-
solving. The linear and non-sequential mind must both be engaged in the rational mind.

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The ability to critically analyze an argument—to dissect structure and components, thesis and
reasons—is essential. But so is the ability to be flexible and consider non-traditional alternatives
and perspectives. These complementary functions are what allow for critical thinking to be a
practice encompassing imagination and intuition in cooperation with traditional modes of
deductive inquiry.

Functions
The list of core critical thinking skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference,
evaluation, explanation, and metacognition. According to Reynolds (2011), an individual or
group engaged in a strong way of critical thinking gives due consideration to establish for
instance:
 Evidence through reality
 Context skills to isolate the problem from context
 Relevant criteria for making the judgment well
 Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment
 Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand
In addition to possessing strong critical-thinking skills, one must be disposed to engage problems
and decisions using those skills. Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual
criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance,
and fairness.

Critical thinking calls for the ability to:

 Recognize problems, to find workable means for meeting those problems
 Understand the importance of prioritization and order of precedence in problem-solving
 Gather and marshal pertinent (relevant) information
 Recognize unstated assumptions and values
 Comprehend and use language with accuracy, clarity, and discernment
 Interpret data, to appraise evidence and evaluate arguments
 Recognize the existence (or non-existence) of logical relationships between propositions
 Draw warranted conclusions and generalizations
 Put to test the conclusions and generalizations at which one arrives
 Reconstruct one's patterns of beliefs on the basis of wider experience
 Render accurate judgments about specific things and qualities in everyday life
In sum:
"A persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the
evidence that supports or refutes it and the further conclusions to which it tends."

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