Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life

by Richard Paul, Linda Elder

Written by international authorities on critical thinking, this book details an integrated, universal concept of critical thinking that is both substantive and applicable to any and every situation in which human thinking is necessary. It provides students with the basic intellectual tools needed for life-long learning, helping them understand the mind and how its three functions—thinking, feeling, motivating—influence one another.

Critical Thinking fosters the development of fair-minded critical thinking and explores essential intellectual standards of clarity, precision, accuracy, logicalness, significance, depth, breadth, and fairness; the importance of skilled and deep questioning; and how to take thinking apart in order to find problems in thinking and then improve thinking.

The fourth edition features :
- Think for Yourself activities
- Glossary of critical thinking terms
- New chapter on argumentation
- New chapters on critical thinking in the professions (including critique of disciplines)
- Discussion of the Internet's effects on our lives
- Updated discussions of media bias and political propaganda, as well as egocentric and sociocentric thought as barriers to critical thinking

The Foundation for Critical Thinking continually offers new supplementary resources on its website (criticalthinking[dot]org) and in its online critical thinking community (criticalthinkingcommunity[dot]org).

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Business, Philosophy, Personal Development, Education

642 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Richel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical, though a difficult read; one has to take it real slow to appreciate it.

This book has to be "chewed" and "digested", not merely to be "tasted".

Highly recommended!

[Pete R]

This is an amazingly useful book whose insights are timeless. I constantly keep going back to read some sections of it, because the matters discussed therein touch on things that happen in our day to day lives.

It first guides one in understanding our thinking in today's world, which is ever changing. The reader is then encourage to critic their own thinking. Gradually, one is able to become a fair-minded thinker based on a deep self-understanding.

What I found most useful is details of the parts of thinking, the levels of thinking and standards of thinking after a careful outline of the four levels of development.

Ultimately, one can design their lives in order to make intelligent decisions, take charge of irrational tendencies and develop ethical reasoning among other strategic thinking abilities.

Totally recommended for anyone who seeks to better his or her life.

[Dave B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't exactly give it a full amazing rating. It is a very useful and helpful book. It provides all the helpful advice of most Stephen Covey books without the "feel-good" self help aspect. The authors provide clear details and examples of how we all error in thinking. Then provides great questions and recommendations that will help anyone improve how they think about life, issues and other people. I consider this book a reference book. I placed it on my office desk. Its full of highlights and folded pages that I will refer to throughout my career. The only reason this book was not considered completely amazing was the fact that it could have been shaved down by 100 pages or so. Other then slight repeatition, every leader and academic/intellectual person should have this book close at hand.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Done. There were so many important ideas about thinking and thought processes, but the voice and the tone of the writing was grating. They (perhaps the trouble comes from co-authoring) often descended into patronizing and glib examples and points of view. Too bad, because the subject is fascinating, important and relevant. I did learn a lot, but I became bored (as did my students) from reading chapter after chapter of the formulaic and oppressive prose.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

This over-stuffed, pretentious, self-aggrandizing textbook is one of the worst I've read, and I'm grateful to be done with the class. I passed the comprehensive final with a 90%, so off I go to another adventure!

[Charles Legg Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in learning how to become a critical thinker. Critical thinking will allow you to become a better thinker in your daily life from reading editorials to making major decisions. The book is well organized and easy to follow with exercises to help understand the six stages of critical thinking. Much of what I have learned about critical thinking has come from this book.

[Elif Uyar]

Öğrencilere önerecek Türkçe bir eleştirel düşünce kitabı arayışında olduğum için okudum. Özellikle argüman hatalarıyla ilgili Türkçe kaynak bulmakta zorlanıyordum. Bu konuda kitabın bazı bölümleri kullanılabilir. Ancak çevirisi çok sorunlu. Metin anlatım bozukluğu dolu ve orjinalinde ne dediğini tahmin bile edemediğim anlaşılmaz cümleler var.

[Eve Mclain · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concepts in the book are great - spot on. Ironically, the author does not apply them well. He has bias and those bias comes blaring out in his writings.

[Chris Yarbrough · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author(s) of this book would have been much more convincing had they practiced what was preached. Instead, they used "critical thinking" as a ruse to spread liberal propaganda. The book included two compete chapters attacking United States foreign policy. Every example included to demonstrate "critical thinking" supported a liberal point of view. Sources for alternative news media only included liberal publications. The Nation was the author's favorite --no mention of conservative alternatives such as the Weekly Standard or National Review. The book was a whiny, biased diatribe against all the author's perceived ills of the world. The author is apparently a big fan of Castro, who he says shouldn't be referred to as an American enemy -never mind the whole Cuban missile crisis thing. He buys Cuba's state operated media and propaganda which employed skewed statistics and only one point of view -despite the author's instruction to look at diverse viewpoints. The author teaches that a consensus does not mean something is ethically right, but then, in a blatant twist of hypocrisy, proclaims that since most nations agree on an issue that their opinion carries more weight. Of course, the opinion was a liberal objective, otherwise the author would have used a different approach. I bet the guy sleeps in a Che Guevara nightshirt.

This was a required course. I did not have trouble with comprehending the material with my weak-thinking, conservative brain --I passed with an 87. But then, I was able to separate the author's valid points from his overabundance of mind-manipulating manure. I only hope that younger, more impressionable students are able to do the same.

What the authors fail to recognize in their quest for "fair-mindedness," is that you must get your behind off the fence --stand for something, or fall for anything.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am the only person I know of that reads a text book for fun. That being said, I am far from a critical thinker and know I have much room for development in this area. I am going to attempt to think critically about this book on critical thinking.

The first six chapters of this text I found useful. I did not attribute my academic success to my exceptional memory. I knew it was a big part, but I never considered myself intellectually lazy. The next 13 chapters I had some issue with. It feels like the authors are trying to tell you how to think about things and that rubs me the wrong way. I’ll come to my own conclusions, thank you very much. I very much appreciate the way they present fallacies. I feel other texts present them as set in stone and “fouls” you can call during a debate. This texts presents them more realistically as ways people manipulate others and themselves.

I gave it four stars because I think this is useful to exhibit the crap tendencies of the human mind and our fallibility in thinking egocentrically. I wish more people would talk about this stuff and help us all stretch our thinking muscles. Critical thinking seems to be a rare quality anymore.

But, that’s what those in power may want- if we’re aware we can’t be manipulated.

Meh. I’m like the example in chapter 17. I’m not going to change the world. So I may as well set myself up for a happy easy life. Amirite?

[Kipriadi prawira · Rating 4 out of 5]

You are what you think…
Everything you do in life is determined by the quality of your thinking. If you aren't thinking clearly, you're at the mercy of everyone else. Unfortunately, many people never give any thought to how they think. No wonder they're susceptible to the frustration, pain, ineffectiveness, and financial loss that result directly from poorly considered thinking. Critical Thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of your life as a professional, as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and even as a lover. This is an excellent book for anyone in learning how to become a critical thinker.Amazing book!

[Deniz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to critical thinking. However, I couldn’t give it five stars because of its arbitrary set of “elements” (purpose, problem, point of view, information, inference, concepts, consequences and assumptions) and “standards” (clarity, logic, accuracy, significance, precision, depth, relevance, breadth and fairness). I think these could have done with a little more explanation and justification. There is no mention of where they come from, or how they were selected. And to uncritically accept them would seem to defeat the very purpose of the book. Having said that, the authors claim that these elements are not strictly defined. They also offer free lectures on YouTube that are worth watching, and free resources on their website worth reading. Overall, I find the book to be a stimulating read despite its flaws.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read and worked through the exercises until page 9 in the library's copy of this book, then decided to buy the book. This book challenged me and convinced me to commit myself to becoming a critical thinker. I bought the "Concise" edition on a gamble. It was half the price of this edition. But I couldn't "look inside" it to find out exactly which topics it covers. If it covers half the topics of this book, it should be good enough to get me started in the practice of critical thinking.

Critical Thinking: Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use, Concise Edition

[Dale Pearl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book! If you want to improve and clarify your thought processes then this book is a must. I would suggest using it more or less like a reference book once you do a quick read through. That is going to be my strategy at least.
Provides techniques to help deal with egocentric thinking which I confess that I often struggle with.
Provides several methods for which an individual can grasp the ability to improve their ability to think logically and identify when emotions are shadowing over logic.... again something that I also struggle with.

[Zhuo Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hopefully we can follow the principles mentioned in this book and think critically throughout our life.


Brief Guidelines
1. All reasoning has a purpose!
standards:
Clarity
Significance
Achievability
Consistency
Justifiability
Actions:
Take time to state our purpose clearly
Choose significant and realistic purposes
Distinguish your purpose from related purposes
Make sure your purpose is fair in context
Check periodically to be sure you are still focused on your purpose and haven’t wandered from your target
2. All reasoning is an attempt to figure out something, to settle some question, solve some problems
Standards:
Clarity and precision
Significance
Answerability
relevance
Actions
Take time to clearly and precisely state the question at issue
Express the question in several ways to clarify its meaning and scope
Break the question into subquestions
Identify the type of question you are dealing with: historical, economic, biological, etc and whether the question has on right answer is a matter of mere opinion, or requires reasoning from more than on point of view
Think through the complexities of the question


3. All reasoning is based on assumptions
Standards:
Clarity
Justifiability
consistency
Actions
Clearly identify your assumptions and determine whether they are justifiable
Consider how your assumptions are shaping your point of view
4. All reasoning is done from some point of view
Standards:
Flexibility
Fairness
Clarity
Breadth
relevance
Actions
Clearly identify your point of view
Seek other relevant points of view and identify their strengths as well as weaknesses
Strive to be fair minded in evaluation all points of view
5. All reasoning is based on data, information and evidence
Standards:
Clear
Relevant
Fairly gathered and reported
Accurate
Adequate
Consistently applied
Actions
Restrict your claims to those supported by the data you have
Search for information that opposes your position as well as information that supports it
Make sure that all information used is clear, accurate, and relevant to the questions at issue
Make sure you have gathered sufficient information
Make sure, especially, that you have considered all significant information relevant to the issue.
6. All reasoning is expressed through, and shaped by, concepts and ideas
Standards:
Clarity
Relevance
Depth
Accuracy
Actions
Clearly identify key concepts
Consider alternative concepts or alternative definitions for concepts
Make sure you are using concepts with care and precision
Use concepts justifiably (not distorting their established meanings)
7. All reasoning contains inferences or interpretations by which we draw conclusions and give meaning to data
Standards:
Clarity
Logicalness
Justifiability
Profundity
Reasonability
Consistency
Actions
Infer only what the evidence implies
Check inferences for their consistency with each other
Identify assumptions that lead you to your inferences
Make sure your inferences logically follow from the information
8. All reasoning leads somewhere or has implications and consequences
Standards:
Significance
Logicalness
Clarity
Precision
Completeness
Actions
Trace the logical implications and consequences that follow from your reasoning
Search for negative as well as positive implications
Consider all possible significant consequences.
—---------------------------
The ART OF MAKING INTELLIGENT DECISIONS
Reflecting critically on the nature and role of decisions in our lives
Systematically adopting strategies that enhance the reasonability of our decision-making, in the light of that nature and role.
Frequently comparing our global philosophy with the actual facts of our lives, seeking to find our contradictions and inconsistencies and gaining a more comprehensive view of the direction and quality of our lives.

It is our interest to think and act in a way that maximize our awareness of the following:
The patterns that underlie our decision-making
The extent to which our decisions presently are based on immediate gratification and short-term goals
The “big decisions” we face
Our ultimate and most primary goals
The alternative available to us
The self-discipline necessary to act on the “best” alternative
The need for adequate time for self-reflection in our decision-making
The need to be systematic
The nine dimensions of decision making
Knowledge of the major decisions of our childhood
Knowledge of the major decisions of our adolescence

Nine Dimensions of decision-making
Figure out, and regularly rearticulate, your most fundamental goals, purposes and needs
Whenever possible, take problems and decisions one by one. State the situation and formulate the alternatives as clearly and precisely as you can.
Study the circumstances surrounding the alternative possible decisions to make clear the kind of decision you are dealing with. Concentrate your efforts on the most important decisions and those on which you can have the most impact.
Figure out the information you need, and actively seek that information
Carefully analyze and interpret the information you collect, drawing what reasonable inferences you can
Figure out your options for action.
Evaluate your options in the situation, taking into account their advantages and disadvantages.
Adopt a strategic approach to the decision, and follow through on that strategy.
When you act, monitor the implications of your action as they begin to emerge.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It informs you how to draw a reasonable outcome and evolve a vivid, accurate, and logical process of thought.

It says, that thinking is a matter of preference. If we do not learn how to take on the perspective of others, and to think as they do, then will not be able fairly judge their ideas and belief.

[Derrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an interesting book. I just didn't care for it. The book just drug on and on forever. I do hope to use some of the ideas and concepts to evaluate my thinking, especially in my professional life. I thoroughly enjoyed the last three or four chapters. As they were summaries of the entire book with very specific, "ok now, how does this apply to me" questions and ideas.

[Zhengpeng Hou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I wanted to read

I watched the video of Paul about critical thinking, which was impress, then I bought this book tried to read it. I admit that the book is very useful with my thinking. I read it cover to cover, defiantly worth to re-read it.

[Ridzuan Ashim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good but rather heavy read. A book that brings to light one's thought processes and how we often make poor decisions because we 'automate' much of our thinking...

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

我们的内心或许都是趋向两个中心，自我中心寻求自利，社会中心寻求社会的认同感. 而前者的非理性的外在表现是对他人的支配性和服从性，后者则表现是的内在化的社会规则和禁忌，盲从的观点.

[Sabri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çeviride ciddi sorunlar var, oldukça ağır bir şekilde okunmalı ki anlaşılabilsin.

[Summer Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most important books I've read in the past two years. It completely shifted my perspective on everything I see, experience, and think. The book emphasizes that critical thinking is essential for happiness, yet our education system often fails to equip us with this skill.

Chapter 6 was a game-changer for me. It breaks down our thinking into eight distinct parts and provides a practical eight-step process for analyzing our thoughts. This framework forms the foundation for the remaining chapters. Depending on their prior knowledge and experience, readers might find they can skim later chapters after grasping these core concepts.

What surprised me most was how this book, or rather, the critical thinking it promotes, miraculously alleviated my anxieties about success, time management, and life in general. The book reveals that every anxiety stems from a thought. By dissecting each thought into these eight parts, we can evaluate it and develop an action plan. We focus on what we can control, change what's within our power, and accept what's beyond it. After all, excessive worrying won't alter unchangeable circumstances.

Often, our anxieties and negativity don't stem from a desire for perfection, but from a nagging feeling that there's a better solution we can't quite grasp. Critical thinking helps us eliminate these "what ifs" by providing a clear and logical framework. By acknowledging the limited but realistic options available, we achieve peace of mind and can take action without hesitation or doubt.

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creo que es uno de estos libros que pondría en la lista obligatoria de lectura para mis hijos antes de entrar en el mundo adulto. Si lo hubiese leído cuando descubrí que la capacidad humana para el auto-engaño es infinita, me hubiese sido de mucha ayuda…
Es un libro denso, para leer despacio y practicar pero que en última instancia puede ser realmente útil para el desarrollo personal. Al final de cada capítulo tiene apartados para practicar los conceptos.
El mayor inconveniente es que es muy, pero muy repetitivo. La idea base se podría resumir en:
El Mal de este mundo es el egocentrismo y sociocentrismo innato en nuestra forma de pensar. Si desarrollamos un razonamiento crítico, tendremos un súper-poder que nos permitirá mejorar el mundo y nuestra vida. Esto se repite ad infinitum.
Los pocos ejemplos que van incorporando, tampoco son una maravilla. Pero no dejan de ser defectos de forma. En su conjunto, pienso que es un libro que merece la pena leer e ir incorporando en nuestro día a día.

[Daniel Mureșan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had huge expectations about it. I set myself reading it and applying it as goals for this year. The first chapters left me in awe about how good it is.

And it kept going down... As other have stated already, the book is very boring, very repetitive. I totally understand why most if not all statements are argued thoroughly and rooted in key principles... but come on, after some point everyone gets it how the pattern works. One can extrapolate questions and applications using the elements of thinking and the standards of thinking limitlessly. And doing that alone in your own in your hut would be much more efficient than reading the same statements with slight variations.

I feel sorry for having to skip so much of the book (I just couldn't help it... I am already familiar with cognitive biases, logical fallacies and how to read the news critically), yet I am very grateful for what it has taught me.

[Hamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

To develop a disciplined mind—a mind that takes responsibility for the quality of its inner workings and continually seeks to upgrade its abilities—presupposes two overlapping yet distinct principles. First, we must develop a deep understanding of how our mind functions. Concepts, principles, and theories serving this end are the focus of this book. It is not enough to read about these concepts, principles, and theories, though. We must internalize them to the point that we can use them routinely to develop unique strategies for targeting and improving the quality of our thinking. When we haven't internalized them well enough to effectively improve our thinking, they are of little or no use to us.

[Justin P · Rating 1 out of 5]

The authors have not published academically. Their approach has never been critiqued by experts in this field. Instead, the authors got advanced degrees and head up an Institute... that they themselves founded. Yet readers give them 5 stars?? Critical thinking, indeed! 😂

A quick scan of the book's Biblio and lack of page footnotes showed this critical reviewer than the authors haven't ran their ideas by other critics. Aka. it's their view of critical thinking.

For anyone serious about academically critiqued methods of thinking, there are experts with good books. Experts like Robert J. Sternberg, Harvey Siegel, Jay McTighe, Sam Wineburg, etc.

[Richard Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Critical Thinking provides a lot of good food for thought. It was well organized, and the exercises that followed sections and chapters help internalize important information. I did, however, get tired of the “I have the corner on right-thinking” attitude in the book. I was disappointed that universal assumptions were made for foundational principles of good ethics. The premises are merely presented without evidence supporting why they should be accepted over others (generally, I agreed with the choices offered, but they are not axiomatic like the author seemed to imply). If there are, as the book argues, absolute right and wrongs, then what is the rule that determines this? There was no such evaluation given. For this reason, I consider the book useful but flawed.

[ataman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yararlı olabilir belki ama o kadar sıkıcı bir dille yazılmışki okuması çin işkencesi. Sürekli tekrarlar, anlamsız basit örnekler var. 480 sayfa hedef etrafında dönüp hedefi 12den vuramayan fazla abartılmış başarısız bir kitap. Her tarafından amerikan kişisel gelişim sığlığı akıyor tam bir zaman kaybı. Bu konuda advanced critical thinking skills kitabı var, hem de uygulamalı çok daha pratik ve derin.

[Hollowaxis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is useful, and full of useful concepts. The useful bits have to be teased out of the awful presentation and convoluted writing style.
The book has a disjointed layout and no flow.

I have made my own notes and reformulated some of these key ideas for myself. Read this, but there are probably better books on the subject.

[Rebecca]

a very practical book about logic/critical thinking. some parts were very useful, but some parts seemed to state the obvious. a big portion of this book is geared towards students. most chapters could be summarized into a table or diagram; could have been more succinct.