A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking, 2nd Edition

7 CRITICAL THINKING IN ACTION

Critical thinking is reasonable and reflective thinking aimed at deciding what to believe and what to do. In Chapter 1, we saw that part of what makes critical thinking reasonable thinking is that it requires that we have reasons for our beliefs. More specifically, we saw that thinking critically requires having epistemic reasons: reasons for thinking that our belief is true, or for accepting some claim that we are considering. In Chapter 2, we studied the ways that concepts and terms help to frame our investigations and our problems and we identified some practical strategies for clarifying and defining concepts and claims. Chapter 3 focused on what it is for reasons to provide sufficient support for a belief, and in Chapter 4 we studied what it is for our reasons themselves to be acceptable and, more specifically, when we are justified in trusting the information we receive from observation, testimony, and measurement. In Chapters 5 and 6 we looked at several very common and very powerful forms of reasoning—reasoning about alternatives, reasoning about necessary and sufficient conditions, and reasoning with analogies. This final chapter is about pulling together the ideas, concepts, tips, and tricks we have learned into some practical strategies for helping us put critical thinking to work.

The aim of this chapter is to identify some general practical strategies that can help us to think critically at home, in our studies, and in the workplace. ...