Christian Approach Analysis
Critical Thinking and the Christian Perspective:
A Response to Baird and Soden
by Wendy Dutton, Thomas Hart and Rebecca Patten
Patten College
In their article, "Cartesian Values and the Critical
Thinking Movement," Faculty Dialogue (Winter 1993), Dr. Forrest
Baird and Dr. Dale Soden critique the critical thinking movement
by suggesting that it is based on Descartes's paradigm. Unlike
educators who find the advocacy of critical thinking a worrisome
thing because it redefines the role of the educator as a
questioner who models thinking rather than as a lecturer who
prescribes knowledge, they raise questions about whether critical …show more content…
As with the exploratory stages of
any new movement or method of teaching, the approaches are myriad
and indeed in the experimental stages. Some teachers use
critical thinking to study across disciplines - science,
economics, politics, art, history. (Descartes -- with his strong
leanings toward math and science - was indeed a forefather of
cross-discipline studies.) Some use an issue-oriented approach,
applying critical thinking to everything from gender to humor,
war and peace, even the media's treatment of certain issues. At
the root, critical thinking is used as a tool to examine our very
thinking processes - assumptions, stereotypes, biases, reasoning.
Critical thinking strives to point out that there are not only
two sides to every issue, but multiple sides. Critical thinkers
strive to break down preconceived thinking patterns and build a
more sturdy path to sound reasoning. Indeed, the most standard
criticism of critical thinking today is, "Don't we all do this
anyway?" In fact, we should. There is a "critical thinking
movement" in which many scholars are writing and …show more content…
He also insisted that philosophical
discourse must start from scratch. His system of doubt advocated
a rigorous examination of preconceptions. This is where critical
thinking picks up the Cartesian tradition - as surely as it
relies on the work of other great thinkers. According to Baird
and Soden, critical theorists "are deeply committed to a mode of
thinking that will bring one closer to certitude, objectivity,
and dispassionate analysis" (Soden, p. 82). Further, Soden
accuses critical thinking of aiming for "perfections of thought:"
thinking which is clear, precise, specific, accurate, relevant,
consistent, logical, deep, complete, significant, fair, and
adequate. (Soden, p. 82 quotes Paul, What Every Person Needs, p.
563). Soden argues that these terms suggest "a debt to Descartes
and his followers." We propose the question: has any serious
thinker ever aimed for any other kind of thinking?
More basically, the important issue of doubt should be
examined here. First of all, according to one of Richard Paul's
major works, Critical Thinking, What Every Person Needs
A Response to Baird and Soden
by Wendy Dutton, Thomas Hart and Rebecca Patten
Patten College
In their article, "Cartesian Values and the Critical
Thinking Movement," Faculty Dialogue (Winter 1993), Dr. Forrest
Baird and Dr. Dale Soden critique the critical thinking movement
by suggesting that it is based on Descartes's paradigm. Unlike
educators who find the advocacy of critical thinking a worrisome
thing because it redefines the role of the educator as a
questioner who models thinking rather than as a lecturer who
prescribes knowledge, they raise questions about whether critical …show more content…
As with the exploratory stages of
any new movement or method of teaching, the approaches are myriad
and indeed in the experimental stages. Some teachers use
critical thinking to study across disciplines - science,
economics, politics, art, history. (Descartes -- with his strong
leanings toward math and science - was indeed a forefather of
cross-discipline studies.) Some use an issue-oriented approach,
applying critical thinking to everything from gender to humor,
war and peace, even the media's treatment of certain issues. At
the root, critical thinking is used as a tool to examine our very
thinking processes - assumptions, stereotypes, biases, reasoning.
Critical thinking strives to point out that there are not only
two sides to every issue, but multiple sides. Critical thinkers
strive to break down preconceived thinking patterns and build a
more sturdy path to sound reasoning. Indeed, the most standard
criticism of critical thinking today is, "Don't we all do this
anyway?" In fact, we should. There is a "critical thinking
movement" in which many scholars are writing and …show more content…
He also insisted that philosophical
discourse must start from scratch. His system of doubt advocated
a rigorous examination of preconceptions. This is where critical
thinking picks up the Cartesian tradition - as surely as it
relies on the work of other great thinkers. According to Baird
and Soden, critical theorists "are deeply committed to a mode of
thinking that will bring one closer to certitude, objectivity,
and dispassionate analysis" (Soden, p. 82). Further, Soden
accuses critical thinking of aiming for "perfections of thought:"
thinking which is clear, precise, specific, accurate, relevant,
consistent, logical, deep, complete, significant, fair, and
adequate. (Soden, p. 82 quotes Paul, What Every Person Needs, p.
563). Soden argues that these terms suggest "a debt to Descartes
and his followers." We propose the question: has any serious
thinker ever aimed for any other kind of thinking?
More basically, the important issue of doubt should be
examined here. First of all, according to one of Richard Paul's
major works, Critical Thinking, What Every Person Needs