Ethics of Critical Thinking – Professor Evan Kreider

Do we as human beings have an ethical obligation to be critical thinkers? Professor Evan Kreider argues yes in this lecture to the Fox Association of Critical Thinkers (FACT) on March 13th, 2014.

Dr. Kreider is Associate Professor of Philosophy at University of Wisconsin Fox Valley in Menasha, WI

Dr. Kreider’s areas of expertise are Ethics and Ancient Greek Philosophy

Lecture Outline

Define critical thinking:

• Thinking strategies
• Correct use of data (science)
• The use of logic (create and evaluate arguments)
• Skepticism (does not mean cynical, it means not gullible)
• Avoid easy answers (learn to live with ambiguity)

Why we are ethically obligated to think critically:

• Any approach to ethics supports a need for critical thinking
• Utilitarianism the greatest good for the greatest number
• Aim to make decisions the result in good consequences
• Other approaches to ethics
  • Moral principals Emmanuel Kant = humans are special , treat others and ourselves with respect to our rationale
  • The theory of virtue (Aristotle) what character should I develop. Moral virtues and intellectual virtues
    • engage in habits that enforce the character, avoid the bad habits that degrade our character
• There are things about our brains that don’t lend it to critical thinking. The brain likes to take the easy way.
  • It takes training.

Common critical thinking errors:

• Intellectual bias (my beliefs are good because I looked into it, and others don’t really think about it.)
• Over identification of design and patterns (we see patterns where there are none)
• We impose rationalization to events (imaginary agents)
• Emotional reasoning (more powerful than rationalization) can lead to easy answers, biases and racisiscm
• Personal experiences bias (there I only so much information you can get from your own experiences)
• Confirmation bias (worst one for critical thinking)
  • Its easier for our brain to follow established path ways

What can we do?

• Education, learning (all classes teach critical thinking methods)
• The arts (not just a luxury, teaches critical thinking skills)
• Make a decision to care and incorporate the methods of critical thinking it into your own thinking
• Stop defending your beliefs against attacks and focus on finding the truth
• Skilled (experts) people tend think they are wise in all topics
• Constant vigilance, watch for when your uncomfortable(confirmation bias) and push through it
  • Listen to the opposition and think about their points (not as attacks)
• I read this about that what do you think? (Ask a question)

Thanks to FACT for hosting this event!