About the course:
Distinguishing good from bad arguments is a key academic skill. It is vital to the acquisition of knowledge: is that interesting looking article really going to make an important contribution to your research project? Or is it misleading, badly argued and ultimately a waste of time? And how can you judge? Critical thinking - at least as standardly conceived in the Anglo-Saxon tradition over the past 100 or so years - promises to teach these skills, and teach them in a way that transfers between different disciplines, and even different areas of everyday life.
This is a course on critical thinking which blends traditional critical thinking elements with critical thinking about critical thinking. To put it another way: during the first seven lectures we will be simultaneously studying critical thinking (by working through a standard introductory text book available) while trying to get to grips with why it can be so hard. Indeed, we will use these difficulties to subject the central claim of standard critical thinking (namely that it teaches a transferable skill) to critical analysis. We will do this by discussing such topics as cognitive biasses and fast versus slow thinking, drawing on the work of such authors as Cordelia Fine and Daniel Kahneman.
But critical thinking is not merely an individual matter, and the difficulties in attaining something worth calling ''critical thinking'' are not traceable simply to cognitive biasses: social and institutional factors play a crucial role. Moreover, in these days of fake news, many of the fundamental assumptions underlying even the desirability of critical thinking are being questioned. Hence the last three sessions will be devoted to such topics as the power of language, and the role of communities of learning.
This is a course on critical thinking which blends traditional critical thinking elements with critical thinking about critical thinking. To put it another way: during the first seven lectures we will be simultaneously studying critical thinking (by working through a standard introductory text book available) while trying to get to grips with why it can be so hard. Indeed, we will use these difficulties to subject the central claim of standard critical thinking (namely that it teaches a transferable skill) to critical analysis. We will do this by discussing such topics as cognitive biasses and fast versus slow thinking, drawing on the work of such authors as Cordelia Fine and Daniel Kahneman.
But critical thinking is not merely an individual matter, and the difficulties in attaining something worth calling ''critical thinking'' are not traceable simply to cognitive biasses: social and institutional factors play a crucial role. Moreover, in these days of fake news, many of the fundamental assumptions underlying even the desirability of critical thinking are being questioned. Hence the last three sessions will be devoted to such topics as the power of language, and the role of communities of learning.
Course plan:
- But this is all too difficult!
- Getting critical about critical thinking
- Biassed brains
- Fast and Slow
- The Lazy Controller
- Getting Associative
- But I read it on Wikipedia...!
- Words, words, words
- The critical university TUESDAY 25th April...!!! At 13.15 in 42.1-39.
- Still all too difficult...? DAY BEFORE EXAM: THURSDAY 4th MAY...!!! At 13.15 in 42.1-39.
COURSE READING:
The reading for this consists of a textbook, and a number of papers and extracts will be made available through the course. The textbook, Alex Fisher's ''Critical Thinking: An Introduction'' (see image below) clearly discusses strategies for evaluating the sort of arguments and information you are likely to encounter in your reading and project work. The book contains many exercises and example texts and is ideal for self study.
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CRITICAL thinking: an introductionAuthor: Alec Fisher
Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (2011)
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other reading:
Here are some other books which either fill in background information (why do we humans have such a tough time getting it right?) or come at the topic from a different angle.
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A mind of its own
A Mind of Its Own: How Your Brain Distorts and Deceives
Author: Cordelia Fine Publisher: Icon Books Ltd (2007)
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THINKING, FAST AND SLOW
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Author: Daniel Kahneman Publisher: Icon Books Ltd (2007)
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how we think
Author: John Dewey
Publisher: Forgotten Books (2012)
Arguably the first text on critical thinking. John Dewey, famed as one of the founders of American Pragmatism, was also a well-known educator. This little book is an accessible summary of his views. Well worth the effort- |
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EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION
Author: John Dewey
Publisher: Free Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 1997)
Experience and Education is a concise statement on education. |
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how to lie with statisticsAuthor: Darrell Huff
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue edition (1993)
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The Book of think
Book of Think: Or How to Solve a Problem Twice Your Size
Author: Marilyn Burns Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (1976)
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the logic of real argumentsThe Logic of Real Arguments: 2nd Edition
Author: Alec Fisher Publisher: Cambridge University Press (2004)
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