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Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life, Second Edition

by Linda Elder, Richard Paul

August 2013

Beginner

480 pages

13h 15m

English

Pearson

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The Nature of the Post-Industrial World OrderA Complex World of Accelerating ChangeA Threatening WorldChange, Danger, and Complexity: InterwovenThe Challenge of Becoming Critical ThinkersChapter 1 SummaryRecommended Reading
How Skilled Is Your Thinking (Right Now)?The Hard, Cruel WorldBecome a Critic of Your Own ThinkingChapter 2 SummaryConclusion

Weak Versus Strong Sense Critical ThinkingWhat Does Fairmindedness Require?Intellectual Humility: Having Knowledge of IgnoranceIntellectual Courage: Being Willing to Challenge BeliefsIntellectual Empathy: Entertaining Opposing ViewsIntellectual Integrity: Holding Ourselves to the Same Standards to Which We Hold OthersIntellectual Perseverance: Working Through Complexity and FrustrationConfidence in Reason: Recognizing That Good Reasoning Has Proven Its WorthIntellectual Autonomy: Being an Independent ThinkerRecognizing the Interdependence of Intellectual VirtuesConclusionNatural Versus Critical ThinkingChapter 3 Summary
Monitoring the Egocentrism in Your Thought and LifeMaking a Commitment to FairmindednessRecognizing the Mind’s Three Distinctive FunctionsUnderstanding That You Have a Special Relationship to Your MindChapter 4 Summary
Stage 1: The Unreflective Thinker—Are You an Unreflective Thinker?Stage 2: The Challenged Thinker—Are You Ready to Accept the Challenge?Stage 3: The Beginning Thinker—Are You Willing to Begin?Stage 4: The Practicing Thinker—Good Thinking Can Be Practiced Like Basketball, Tennis, or BalletChapter 5 Summary
Reasoning Is Everywhere in Human LifeDoes Reasoning Have Parts?Beginning to Think About Your Own ReasoningThe Elements of Thought: A First LookAn Everyday Example: Jack and JillThe Elements of Thought in RelationshipThe Relationship Between the ElementsThinking to Some PurposeThinking with ConceptsThinking with InformationDistinguishing Between Inert Information, Activated Ignorance, and Activated KnowledgeSome Key Questions to Ask When Pursuing InformationDistinguishing Between Inferences and AssumptionsUnderstanding ImplicationsThinking Within and Across Points of ViewUsing Critical Thinking to Take Charge of How We See ThingsThe Point of View of the Critical ThinkerConclusionChapter 6 Summary
Taking a Deeper Look at Universal Intellectual StandardsClarifying a Problem You Face at WorkIn Search of Relevant FactsBringing Together the Elements of Reasoning and the Intellectual StandardsQuestion at Issue or Problem to Be SolvedPoint of View or Frame of ReferenceInformation, Data, ExperiencesConcepts, Theories, IdeasAssumptionsImplications and ConsequencesInferencesUsing Intellectual Standards to Assess Your Thinking: Brief GuidelinesChapter 7 Summary
Fate or Freedom: Which Do You Choose?The Very Idea of FreedomRecognizing the Dual Logic of ExperienceSocial Forces, the Mass Media, and Our ExperienceReading BackwardImplications for the Design of Your LifeChapter 8 Summary
Thinking Globally About Your LifeEvaluating Patterns in Decision-Making“Big” DecisionsThe Logic of Decision-MakingDimensions of Decision-MakingThe Early DecisionsAdolescent DecisionsEarly Adult DecisionsConclusionChapter 9 Summary
Egocentric Thinking“Successful” Egocentrism“Unsuccessful” EgocentrismRational ThinkingTwo Egocentric FunctionsPathological Tendencies of the Human MindThe Challenge of RationalityChapter 10 Summary
The Nature of SociocentrismSociocentric Thinking as PathologySocial StratificationSociocentric Thinking Is Unconscious and Potentially DangerousSociocentric Use of Language in GroupsDisclosing Sociocentric Thinking Through Conceptual AnalysisRevealing Ideology at Work Through Conceptual AnalysisThe Mass Media Foster Sociocentric ThinkingFreedom from Sociocentric Thought: The Beginnings of Genuine ConscienceConclusionChapter 11 Summary
Why People Are Confused About EthicsThe Fundamentals of Ethical ReasoningEthical Concepts and PrinciplesThe Universal Nature of Ethical PrinciplesDistinguishing Ethics from Other Domains of ThinkingEthics and ReligionEthics and Social ConventionsEthics and the LawEthics and Sexual TaboosUnderstanding Our Native SelfishnessChapter 12 Summary
Critical Thinking and Incremental ImprovementAn Obstacle to Critical Thinking Within Organizations: The Covert Struggle for PowerAnother Obstacle: Group Definitions of RealityA Third Obstacle: The Problem of BureaucracyThe Problem of Misleading SuccessCompetition, Sound Thinking, and SuccessAssessing Irrational Thinking in Organizational LifeThe Power of Sound ThinkingSome Personal ImplicationsConclusionChapter 13 Summary
Understanding and Using Strategic ThinkingComponents of Strategic ThinkingThe Beginnings of Strategic ThinkingKey Idea #1: Thoughts, Feelings, and Desires Are InterdependentA Caveat: Powerful Emotions That Seem Disconnected from ThoughtKey Idea #2: There Is a Logic to This, and You Can Figure It OutKey Idea #3: For Thinking to Be of High Quality, We Must Routinely Assess ItChapter 14 Summary
Key Idea #4: Our Native Egocentrism Is a Default MechanismStrategic IdeaKey Idea #5: We Must Become Sensitive to the Egocentrism of Those Around UsKey Idea #6: The Mind Tends to Generalize Beyond the Original ExperienceKey Idea #7: Egocentric Thinking Appears to the Mind as RationalKey Idea #8: The Egocentric Mind Is Automatic in NatureKey Idea #9: We Often Pursue Power Through Dominating or Submissive BehaviorKey Idea #10: Humans Are Naturally Sociocentric AnimalsKey Idea #11: Developing Rationality Requires WorkConclusionChapter 15 Summary

Content preview from Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life, Second Edition

Chapter 8. Design Your Life

The development of general ability for independent thinking and judgment should always be placed foremost, not the acquisition of specialized knowledge.

—Albert Einstein

Fate or Freedom: Which Do You Choose?

Many people talk about their lives as if the events in them were predetermined, as if some force in the universe had issued a timeless decree by which the order of all things (including their lives) was prescribed and all events were controlled by inevitable necessity. If you think about your life as a predetermined product of forces over which you have no control, you lose the chance of controlling your life.

The Very Idea of Freedom

The idea of designing one’s life comes from two primary insights: 1) there ...

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ISBN: 9780133115703Purchase book