Critical thinking and the argumentational and epistemic virtues (original) (raw)
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EXPANDING RATIONALITY: THE RELATION BETWEEN EPISTEMIC VIRTUE AND CRITICAL THINKING
Educational Theory, 2009
Abstract In this essay, Ryan Bevan explores the pedagogical implications of taking virtue epistemology as the philosophical foundation of educational theory rather than following the instrumentalist approach that is currently dominant. According to Bevan, the critical thinking strategies characteristic of instrumentalism generally work to further the vocationalization of educational discourse as well as the cultivation of unreflective moral agents. He contends that critical thinking should be expanded beyond its rationalist criteria to focus on the process of inquiry. Such a virtue epistemology approach, according to Bevan, has the potential to uncover and change fundamental misconceptions that pervade current theoretical assumptions by encouraging learners to engage in a more inclusive inquiry that draws out alternative perspectives. Bevan concludes that citizenship education in particular can benefit greatly from this more expansive theory with concrete pedagogical implications.
Intellectual Virtue in Critical Thinking and Its Instruction
Informal Logic
How is intellectual virtue related to critical thinking? Can one be a critical thinker without exercising intellectual virtue? Can one be intellectually virtuous without thereby being a critical thinker? How should our answers to these questions inform the instruction of critical thinking? These were the questions informing the 2023 Charles McCracken endowed lectureships given at Michigan State University by Professors Harvey Siegel and Jason Baehr. This brief commentary introduces their respective papers, which appear in the current issue of Informal Logic.
The Virtues of Critical Thinkers
2014
Critical thinking is an educational ideal with an accumulating canon of scholarship, but conceptualizing it has nevertheless remained contentious. One important issue concerns how critical thinking involves an interplay between cognitive abilities and associated character traits, dispositions, and motivations. I call these and other aspects of the critical thinker “critical thinking virtues”, taking them to be intellectual excellences of character, cultivated by people who tend to aim towards making reasoned judgments about what to do or believe. The central virtue that motivates any critical thinker to engage her skills in critical thinking I call “willingness to inquire”, connecting the character of the person to the skills she must use consistently to be a critical thinker. Willingness to inquire is the virtue that ranges over the application of all critical thinking skills, a basic motivational drive guiding a person towards the educational ideal. Other critical thinking virtues, such as open-mindedness, fairness, and respect for dialectical partners, also facilitate the appropriate application of critical thinking skills in a process of inquiry. Pedagogues should therefore seek not only to instruct for skills, but also to explicitly mention and instruct for the virtues as well. I conclude by offering curricular recommendations in this regard.
Critical Thinking and Character
Handbook of Research on Advancing Critical Thinking in Higher Education, 2015
This chapter advances the view that critical thinking and character must be redefined as mutually reinforcing capabilities, and taught in the light of this redefinition. After an analysis of how critical thought and character came to be separated into independent skill sets, the chapter surveys the limited efficacy of skills-based, character-neutral education in critical thinking. Next, the chapter presents rationales and methods for uniting critical thinking and character in higher education, drawing upon philosophical, sociological, and pedagogical evidence in support of this unification. Educational recommendations and directions for future research round out the chapter. Included among these recommendations is an emphasis on relationship-building as an instructional model to integrate education in character and critical thinking. Ultimately, the chapter makes the case that critical thinking cannot be taught effectively to students who have not developed the character necessary to face the consequences of critical thought.
Philosophical Psychology, 2024
This paper addresses the complexity of critical thinking, a multifaceted concept that includes cognitive skills, knowledge, and dispositions. We argue that existing literature has largely overlooked the vital role of dispositions, which are essential for understanding why individuals engage in critical thinking. Therefore, at the heart of our research is the challenge of motivation: how can we best encourage individuals to engage in critical thinking? To answer this question, we begin by conceptualizing critical thinking as a five-steps temporal process, thereby refining and clarifying its definition. Then, drawing on Self-Determination Theory, we argue that intrinsic regulation not only boosts engagement but also cultivates a long-term commitment to critical thinking. This insight establishes a direct link between intrinsic motivation and intellectual virtues, prompting us to propose a pedagogy focused on developing these virtues. Furthermore, we explore the challenges of initiating, sustaining, and completing the critical thinking process. We suggest that a virtuecentered pedagogy offers a holistic solution, promoting enduring intellectual engagement and completion of the critical thinking process. This approach promises to deepen intellectual inquiry and foster more robust analytical skills in educational contexts.
Know Thy Biases: Bringing Argumentative Virtues to the Classroom
Proceedings of OSSA 10 (forthcoming), 2013
We present empirical evidence from social psychological research which suggests that standard methods ("show & tell") employed when teaching the heuristics and biases program in the context of critical thinking (CT) instruction are likelier to facilitate the discernment and correction of biases in others' reasoning than to have a similar effect in the self-monitoring case. Therefore, standard CT instruction likely fails to foster one of the virtues of argumentation: to know one's biases. Exemplified by the social phenomenon of false polarization (i.e., the systematic overestimation of the degree of disagreement between polarized individuals and groups), we suggest that CT instruction may be improved by fostering student's abilities at counterfactual meta-cognition (aka seriously considering the other side). The article lays out a corresponding teaching and learning activity that can be adapted to various issues arising in social policy debate. It may be deployed either in a dedicated CT course, or as an instrument in teaching CT across the curriculum.
Critical thinking as an intellectual right
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1986
Philosophers and educational theorists have long held that a central aim of education is the fostering of rationality, or critical thought. According to this view, a well-educated person is one who is able to think well-to evaluate claims and arguments put forward by others, to reasonably formulate his or her own beliefs, and to act and be disposed to act in accordance with the dictates of reason. At present, there is a significant amount of work, both theoretical and practical, being done on behalf of critical thinking. Curricula are being formulated, programs developed, and tests constructed, all aimed at the educational enhancement of critical thinking. At the same time, theorists are attempting to refine the concept of critical thinking, to define its proper role in education, and to justify it as an educational ideal.
Educating for Good Thinking: Virtues, Skills, or Both?
Informal Logic
This paper explores the relationship between intellectual virtues and critical thinking, both as such and as educational ends worth pursuing. The first half of the paper examines the intersection of intellectual virtue and critical thinking. The second half addresses a recent argument to the effect that educating for intellectual virtues (in contrast to educating for critical thinking) is insufficiently action-guiding and therefore lacks a suitable pedagogy.