Critical thinking is the attentive and meticulous judgment and evaluation of one’s beliefs and thoughts. It helps to establish the steps to be taken in response to a one’s own observations, experiences, arguments and expressions. The process of critical thinking embarks with the conscious evaluation of our thoughts and ideas to improve and enhance them in accordance with the changing environment. It is a means of increasing our own awareness and take command of our own thinking processes so as to think more effectively. It results in more rational, accurate, clear, and consistent thoughts that are apt for the surrounding ever-changing environment.
McPeck (1981) maintains that critical thinking skill is “a reflective skepticism” (see Atkinson, 1997, p.75). In McPeck’s view, a critical person’s thoughts and attitudes are not influenced by external factors in such if they prove irrelevant to their merits in his/her life.
As Carroll (2005) points out, when one thinks critically, they apply their wisdom and intellect successfully to obtain the most acceptable outcome. Socrates traditional definition of critical thinking encompasses three elements: quest of evidence that ends in disclosure of truth, testing the line of reasoning and assumptions that lie
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While the former highlights such elements as argument analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, the latter refute ego-centrism in favor of fair-mindedness. In other words, the weak-sense critical thinker is a pseudo-intellectual in that although he is highly skilled, yet egoistically motivated to achieve his selfish goals without taking into account the moral consequences. On the other hand, strong-sense critical thinker employs logic to solve the problems. He does not include his selfish intentions in the way he sees problems. In fact, he fair-mindedly unravels the stumbling blocks in a reflective and systematic