DEFINITION & FRAMEWORK
We take critical thinking to be the intentional process of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and constructing reasoning in deciding what conclusions to draw or actions to take.
As such, it encompasses a wide variety of activities, including argumentation, decision making, and problem solving, and is encouraged by habits of mind like curiosity, confidence, intellectual humility, and persistence.
OUTSIDE RESOURCES
Sites Relevant to Critical Thinking
Sites About Reasoning Mapping
Sites for Mapped Discussions
Arguments for Analysis and Evaluation
Online Lessons
Glossary
| Terms | Concept |
|---|---|
| Argument | A unit of reasoning that attempts to establish the truth of a claim by citing other claims as evidence. |
| Explanation | A unit of reasoning that takes for granted that something is the case and attempts to account for why it is the case. |
| Claim Assertion Proposition | An assertion that is either true or false (although we might not know which it is). |
| Inference Support | The relationship between one claim (or set of claims) C1 and another claim C2 such that the truth of C1 makes the truth of C2 more likely than not. |
| Conclusion Contention Claim (In Toulmin) | A claim that is supported by other claims. |
| Reason Premise | A claim that is being used to support other claims. |
| Premise Assumption | A claim that is taken for granted and used to support other claims. |
| Subconclusion Intermediate Step | A claim that is both being used to support other claims and is supported by other claims. |
| Main Conclusion Ultimate Conclusion Thesis Position Hypothesis (in the sciences) | A claim that is supported by other claims and that does not, itself, support other claims. |
| Dependent Reasons Co-premises | Two or more claims that must be accepted simultaneously in order to support another idea. |
| Independent Reasons | Two or more claims, each of which could support another idea on its own. |
| Objection | The relationship between one claim (or set of claims) C1 and another claim C2 such that the truth of C1 makes the truth of C2 less likely. |
| Rebuttal | An objection to an objection |