INTRODUCTION TO
LOGIC AND CRITICAL
THINKING
PHI 1
Reference: Bachhuber SJ, Andrew
Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Edmund Burke
Critical Thinking
1. What is Critical Thinking?
2. Importance of Critical Thinking
3. Components of Critical Thinking
Lesson Objectives
• explain the attributes of critical thinking
• is a domain-general thinking skill.
• is very important in the new knowledge economy
• enhances language and presentation skills
• promotes creativity
• is crucial for self-reflection
• is the foundation of science and a liberal democratic
society.
Lesson Objectives
•suggest how to improve his/her way of
thinking
• theory
• practice
• attitude
Critical Thinking: Objectives
• explain the relation between critical thinking
and creativity
• explain the three basic principles of creativity
• apply the creative cycle of creativity
• apply the outline of creative heuristic (adj
enabling a person to discover or learn something
for themselves; n a heuristic process or method)
What is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes
the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone
with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:
• understand the logical connections between ideas
• identify, construct and evaluate arguments
• detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
• solve problems systematically
• identify the relevance and importance of ideas
• reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values
What is Critical Thinking?
Critical thinking is not a matter of accumulating information. A person
with a good memory and who knows a lot of facts is not necessarily
good at critical thinking. A critical thinker is able to deduce
consequences from what he knows, and he knows how to make use of
information to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources of
information to inform himself.
What is Critical Thinking?
• Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative
or being critical of other people. Although critical thinking skills can
be used in exposing fallacies and bad reasoning, critical thinking can
also play an important role in cooperative reasoning and constructive
tasks. Critical thinking can help us acquire knowledge, improve our
theories, and strengthen arguments. We can use critical thinking to
enhance work processes and improve social institutions.
What is Critical Thinking?
• Some people believe that critical thinking hinders creativity because it
requires following the rules of logic and rationality, but creativity
might require breaking rules. This is a misconception. Critical thinking
is quite compatible with thinking "out-of-the-box", challenging
consensus and pursuing less popular approaches. If anything, critical
thinking is an essential part of creativity because we need critical
thinking to evaluate and improve our creative ideas.
IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL
THINKING
• Critical thinking is a domain-general thinking skill. The ability to think
clearly and rationally is important whatever we choose to do. If you
work in education, research, finance, management or the legal
profession, then critical thinking is obviously important. But critical
thinking skills are not restricted to a particular subject area. Being
able to think well and solve problems systematically is an asset for any
career.
IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL
THINKING
• Critical thinking is very important in the new knowledge
economy. The global knowledge economy is driven by information
and technology. One has to be able to deal with changes quickly and
effectively. The new economy places increasing demands on flexible
intellectual skills, and the ability to analyse information and integrate
diverse sources of knowledge in solving problems. Good critical
thinking promotes such thinking skills, and is very important in the
fast-changing workplace.
IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL
THINKING
• Critical thinking enhances language and presentation skills. Thinking
clearly and systematically can improve the way we express our ideas.
In learning how to analyse the logical structure of texts, critical
thinking also improves comprehension abilities.
IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL
THINKING
• Critical thinking promotes creativity. To come up with a creative
solution to a problem involves not just having new ideas. It must also
be the case that the new ideas being generated are useful and
relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking plays a crucial role in
evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones and modifying them if
necessary.
IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL
THINKING
• Critical thinking is crucial for self-reflection. In order to live a
meaningful life and to structure our lives accordingly, we need to
justify and reflect on our values and decisions. Critical thinking
provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation.
IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL
THINKING
• Good critical thinking is the foundation of science and a liberal
democratic society. Science requires the critical use of reason in
experimentation and theory confirmation. The proper functioning of a
liberal democracy requires citizens who can think critically about
social issues to inform their judgments about proper governance and
to overcome biases and prejudice.
OTHER DEFINITIONS
• Critical thinking is a meta-thinking skill. It requires thinking about
thinking. We have to reflect on the good principles of reasoning and
make a conscious effort to internalize them and apply them in daily
life. This is notoriously hard to do and often requires a long period of
training. The mastery of critical thinking is similar to the mastery of
many other skills. There are three important components: theory,
practice, and attitude.
COMPONENTS: THEORY
• If we want to think correctly, we need to follow the correct rules of
reasoning. Knowledge of theory includes knowledge of these rules.
These are the basic principles of critical thinking, such as the laws of
logic, and the methods of scientific reasoning, etc.
• Also, it would be useful to know something about what not to do if
we want to reason correctly. This means we should have some basic
knowledge of the mistakes that people make. First, this requires some
knowledge of typical fallacies. Second, psychologists have discovered
persistent biases and limitations in human reasoning. An awareness of
these empirical findings will alert us to potential problems.
COMPONENTS: PRACTICE
• However, merely knowing the principles that distinguish good and bad reasoning is
not enough. We might study in the classroom about how to swim, and learn about
the basic theory, such as the fact that one should not breathe under water. But
unless we can apply such theoretical knowledge through constant practice, we might
not actually be able to swim.
• Similarly, to be good at critical thinking skills it is necessary to internalize the
theoretical principles so that we can actually apply them in daily life. There are at
least two ways. One is to do lots of good-quality exercises. Exercises include not just
exercises in classrooms and tutorials. They also include exercises in the form of
discussion and debates with other people in our daily life. The other method is to
think more deeply about the principles that we have acquired. In the human mind,
memory and understanding are acquired through making connections between
ideas.
COMPONENTS: ATTITUDE
• Good critical thinking skills require not just knowledge and practice. Persistent
practice can bring about improvements only if one has the right kind of motivation
and attitude. The following attitudes are not uncommon, but they will not help you
improve your thinking:
• I prefer being given the correct answers rather than figuring them out myself.
• I don't like to think a lot about my decisions as I rely only on gut feelings.
• I don't usually review the mistakes I have made.
• I don't like to be criticized.
• To improve one's thinking one must recognize that the importance of reflecting on
the reasons for belief and action. One must also be willing to engage in debate, to
make mistakes, to break old habits, and to deal with linguistic complexities and
abstract concepts. See also our next tutorial about the teaching of critical thinking.
The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come
from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth,
from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape,
from a spider’s web.
-Edmund Burke
CREATIVITY
1. Principles of Creativity
2. The Creative Cycle
3. Creative Heuristics
1.0 THREE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
CREATIVITY
• PRINCIPLE ONE: NEW IDEAS ARE COMPOSED OF OLD ELEMENTS
Critical thinking is mainly about correct thinking. Creativity is mainly about
alternative possibilities - how to come up with new and useful ideas. A new
idea might be a new theory, a new product, a new solution to a problem, or
a conception for a piece of art.
To come up with something new is to produce something that is distinctive
and special. The practical implication here is that in order to be creative we
must be ready to deviate from the ordinary and the traditional. Many
people have the habit of following instructions and are afraid of challenging
the status quo or exploring anything new. This implies a certain courageous
exploratory attitude and curiosity in one's character.
1.0 THREE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
CREATIVITY
• PRINCIPLE TWO: NOT ALL NEW IDEAS ARE ON A PAR
Creativity is not simply a matter of coming up with new ideas. The kind of
creativity that is valued is the ability to come up with new and useful ideas, ideas
that serve an important need or creates a new trend that makes an impact.
• Artistic creativity consists in the creation of artwork and expressing one's ideas
and emotions through various forms of art. Critical thinking as such is not
opposed to artistic creativity, but the enhancement of critical thinking skills
obviously might not improve one's artistic creativity.
• Cognitive creativity is a matter of coming up with solutions to practical or
theoretical problems. This includes for example creating a new scientific
theory, or launching a new commercial product.
1.0 THREE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF
CREATIVITY
• PRINCIPLE THREE: CREATIVITY IS ENHANCED BY THE ABILITY TO
DETECT CONNECTIONS BETWEEN IDEAS
Our store of ideas provides the ingredients to generate new ones, but it
is important to remember that useful ideas might come from
unexpected sources. A successful marketing campaign might appeal to
certain psychological studies and relate to particular trends in the
society. This involves seeing a connection between the subject matter
one is interested in (the marketing exercise) and other subjects
(sociology and psychology) which might seem somewhat remote.
2.0 THE CREATIVE CYCLE
• Typical Creative Thinking Process
• Andrew Wiles
2.0 THE CREATIVE CYCLE
• Typical Creative Thinking Process
EXPLORE
APPLY, REVIEW
CONNECTIONS RELAX AND
RESEARCH AND FOLLOW-
BETWEEN WAIT
UP
IDEAS
3.0 CREATIVE HEURISTICS
• HEURISTIC #1: FEATURE LIST
• HEURISTIC #2: ANALOGY
• HEURISTIC #3: SEARCH
• HEURISTIC #4: PERSPECTIVE SHIFT
3.0 CREATIVE HEURISTICS
• HEURISTIC #1: FEATURE LIST
A feature list for an object or process is simply a list of its main features.
Having obtained such a list, one can examine the features one by one
and consider how it might be changed. For instance, a typical table has
a fixed round or rectangular flat top that rests on one or more
supporting pole. An exotic designer table might instead have movable
multi-level worktops of irregular shapes supported by a wired frame.
3.0 CREATIVE HEURISTICS
• HEURISTIC #2: ANALOGY
The use of analogies might help us imagine new features. By comparing
X with Y we can consider whether special features of Y might have
analogues in X. Thinking of an airplane as a bird leads us to see whether
the evolutionary solutions for aviation in birds might be applied to the
building of aircrafts. Similarly, a new kind of swimming suit designed to
reduce drag for swimming competitors was actually inspired by shark
skins.
3.0 CREATIVE HEURISTICS
• HEURISTIC #3: SEARCH
Sometimes solving a problem is a matter of searching through a long
list of possible solutions. It then becomes important to find a
systematic search method. When we have a large search space we
should divide the space into portions to that the search can be done
systematically, and device tests of representative samples from
different regions to eliminate unlikely candidates.
3.0 CREATIVE HEURISTICS
• HEURISTIC #4: PERSPECTIVE SHIFT
Perspective shift involves also thinking about different ways of
formulating a problem. Sometimes when we are dealing with a
difficulty we might be fixated on one particular aspect. Trying to
formulate the problem differently can help us discover new
approaches.
the science and art
of correct thinking
Reasons for Studying Logic
1. The Specific Purpose of Logic
2. An Introduction to Philosophy
3. Historical Reason
The Specific Purpose of Logic
• Logic gives us norms for recognizing correct or good thinking, as well
as incorrect or bad thinking, and develops in us a habit of analyzing
our thought, of distinguishing carefully between our evidence and our
conclusion, and of adverting to the structure of our arguments.
The Specific Purpose of Logic
• By familiarizing us with both correct and incorrect procedures, it helps
us know for certain whether or not our evidence justifies our
conclusions, and teaches us what to look for in order to test the
validity or arguments.
The Specific Purpose of Logic
• The study of logic will enable us to pinpoint the
defects of faulty arguments‑to explain exactly what is
wrong with them and to give the flaw a name.
• Logic, then, has the very practical purpose of helping
us think with order and ease and without error.
• It should enable us to discover defects in the thinking
of others and to avoid defects in our own thinking.
The Specific Purpose of Logic
• The strictly philosophical portions of logic, which
show the connection of the laws of logic with the
basic principles underlying them, should give us a
deep understanding of the conditions of sound
argument and therefore a profound trust in the
competence of the human mind, as well as great
mental satisfaction.
An Introduction to Philosophy
• Branch of Philosophy
• Logic introduces us to philosophy by inviting (or
even compelling) us to philosophize. It introduces
us to the abstract thinking of philosophy and
familiarizes us with some of its technical
terminology.
An Introduction to Philosophy
• A Tool of Philosophy
• Logic is a tool of philosophy just as it is a tool
of reason in general. Much of what was said
about the specific purpose of logic (under a) is
applicable in a special way to the use made of
logic throughout philosophy.
An Introduction to Philosophy
• An Introduction to Problems of Philosophy
• Logic also introduces us to philosophy by
introducing us to various philosophical
problems that are considered from one point
of view in logic and from other points of view
in other branches of philosophy.
HISTORICAL REASON
• There is also a very cogent historical reason for studying logic. Logic
has been an important subject of study for more than 2400 years.
From before the time of Aristotle (d. 322 BC) down to our own day,
the study of logic, and especially or Aristotelian logic, has remained
an important part of a liberal education.
• Now, the mere fact that a subject has flourished for over 2400 years
and still continues to be taught gives us a very strong presumption in
favor of its being worthwhile.
• The definition of logic as the science and art of correct thinking
defines logic by stating its proximate end or purpose.
QUIZ
• Write TRUE in the space provided if the statement is
TRUE.
• If the statement is false, underline the word that
makes it false and write the correct word in the space
provided.
• Enjoy!
______1. Critical Thinking and Creativity are incompatible
______2. Logic is the study of the first causes of things with the use of natural
reason alone.
______3. Critical Thinking is very important in the new knowledge economy
______4. Critical thinking is the ability to think rationally and straightforwardly
______5. Critical Thinking is a matter of accumulating information
______6. Critical Thinking promotes creativity
______7. Critical Thinking is a meta-thinking virtue
______8. Critical Thinking enhances language and presentation attitude.
______9. Critical Thinking is used to solve problems systematically.
______10. Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or
being compassionate of other people
ANSWER
TRUE OR FALSE
1. Critical Thinking and Creativity are incompatible (compatible)
2. Logic (philosophy) is the study of the first causes of things with the use of
natural reason alone.
3. Critical Thinking is very important in the new knowledge economy
4. Critical thinking is the ability to think rationally and straightforwardly (clearly)
5. Critical Thinking is (is not) a matter of accumulating information.
6. Critical Thinking promotes creativity
7. Critical Thinking is a meta-thinking virtue (skill)
8. Critical Thinking enhances language and presentation attitude. (skills)
9. Critical Thinking is used to solve problems systematically.
10. Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being
compassionate (critical) of other people