Term Paper on "Critical Thinking Is an Activity"

Term Paper 4 pages (1185 words) Sources: 0 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Critical thinking is an activity that each of us engages in on a daily basis, but can never fully define. It is a term filled with a certain mystique because it cuts to the core of what defines our humanity, yet at the same time it filled with an almost amorphous quality because of its lack of concrete definition and stature. In the two pre-course readings, "Beyond Feeling" by Ruggiero and "Thinking" by Kirby, both texts provide a concise examination of the reality of critical thought through definitions and critical analysis. Both of these texts provide similarities and differences in their approach and definition of critical thinking. These differences should be expected on a subject that touches upon all spectra of humanity from the physical to the spiritual.

Within Ruggiero's text "Beyond Feeling" he defines critical thinking through a series of steps. He first explains that thinking itself is a "conscious mental process performed to solve a problem, make a decision or gain understanding" (17). This definition is very concrete and allows a natural bridge to his definition of critical thinking. Ruggiero seems to interpret the whole concept of "thought" as a vehicle to analyze and break down our emotional decisions, what he terms our "feelings." He further breaks down thinking into two categories, creative thinking and critical thinking. By establishing critical thinking as a standard method to analyze situations and make decisions, he places the term "evaluation" as the core concept of critical thinking. His final definition of critical thinking is succinctly put as "the process by which we test claims and arguments and determine which have merit and which do not" (17). This definition focuses Ruggiero's concentration on the logical orientation of critical thinking as it applies to decision making.

Kirby's text on the other hand provides a slightly different approach to the definition of critical thinking by never explicitly providing a definition. However, it too similarly defines critical thought through a rhetoric-based paradigm. Kirby argues that the act of thinking is not a purely nonverbal and introspective process, but rather something that is inherently social. He asks the question "if they cannot talk about it or share it with us, their thinking cannot be useful to us" (6). Therefore he defines thinking as "the activity of the brain that can potentially be expressed in speaking or writing." Critical thinking defined through Kirby's analysis is also-based within logic and rhetoric, but with a specific emphasis on knowledge. He refers to the analogy of religion and culture to implicitly provide a definition of critical thinking, "our thoughts about religion are based more on feelings engendered by our faith and our culture than on critical thinking based upon knowledge" (16). The overall basis of his definition is steeped in the concept of knowledge and rhetoric in helping one understand express their opinions and reasoning.

Kirby's approach to critical thinking is very scientific; his book goes into detail on the scientific nature of critical thought. He explains that "What we consider to be critical thinking ability is located in the outer part of the brain, that wrinkled cap called the cortex" (60). In contrast, Ruggiero never provides a very substantative scientific definition of critical thinking but applies a rational approach to understanding this concept through providing empirical examples and through demonstration. He examines for instance the casual relationship between intuition and critical thought, and demonstrates the similarities inherent within these two policies. Ruggiero employs a much more show not tells approach to his definition of critical thinking, whereas Kirby goes into a deeper… READ MORE

How to Reference "Critical Thinking Is an Activity" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Critical Thinking Paper "Current Issue in Global Research Proposal

Critical Thinking Paper "Current Issue in Global Business"

Critical Thinking Paper -- E-Readers

With its Kindle, Amazon is currently the leader of the electronic readers market. In the near future,… read more

Research Proposal 8 pages (2431 words) Sources: 6 Style: MLA Topic: Computers / IT / Internet

---

Critical Thinking in Nursing Term Paper

Critical Nursing

I recently witnessed a medical decision that will weigh heavily upon my psyche for a long time. Having learned to critically ponder, analyze and think about such scenarios… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (811 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Nursing / Doctor / Physician

---

Critical Thinking Professional Nursing Issue Term Paper

Critical Thinking Professional Nursing Issue

Nursing work environment and its importance is introduced in this paper. Issues relating to professional nursing work environment are outlined. Further changes required in nursing… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (3335 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Compare and Contrast the Differing Definitions of Critical Term Paper

integrating critical as well as thinking. But several earlier conceptualizations try to concentrate primarily on the process of thinking and avoid its important qualifier, i.e of critical. Hence they tend… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1759 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA Topic: Philosophy / Logic / Reason

---

Critical Thinking Decision-Making Essay

Decision Making

2009 Stimulus Package I

President Obama's stimulus package, the $787 billion American Recover and Reinvestment Act of 2009, creates jobs and helps the economy. It provides a tax… read more

Essay 6 pages (2190 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA Topic: Economics / Finance / Banking

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>