MODR 1770 Lecture Notes - Philosophical Skepticism, Logical Form, Egalitarianism
21 Oct 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The power of critical thinking lecture 1. A question about the quality of your beliefs is the fundamental concern of critical thinking. Critical thinking is not about what you think, but how you think. Critical thinking focuses not on what causes a belief, but on whether it is worth believing. A belief is worth believing, or accepting, if we have good reasons to accept it. Critical thinking offers us a set of standers embodied in techniques, attitudes, and principles that we can use to asses beliefs and determine if they are supported by good reasons. Critical thinking: the systematic evaluation or formulation of beliefs, or statements, by rational standards. Is systematic because it involves distinct procedures and methods. Entails evaluation and formulation because it"s used both to asses existing believes (yours or someone else"s) and to devise new ones. Operates according to rational standards in that beliefs are judged by how well they are supported by reasons.
