Critical Thinking by Alec Fisher and Friedrich Nietzsche - Essay Example

Critical Thinking Total Number of Words 647 Introduction In response to our personal experiences and observation in our environment, critical thinking is important in our daily lives since having a good critical thinking enables us to reflect and develop a better judgement regarding the things or issues we believe is right. Because of our ability to have a good critical thinking, we are empowered in understanding the nature of a problem and eventually finding ways on how we could effectively and accurately solve the main cause of a given problem. Aside from the importance of solving problems, critical thinking or valid reasoning is also widely used in reporting events that is happening around us, tell jokes to our friends and colleagues, extending an invitation to a special someone, making promises to other people, telling stories, giving orders or instructions to our subordinates or co-workers, describing something, entertaining other people, the act of evoking emotions, and a lot more (Fischer a, pp. 15 - 16). To have a good critical thinking, having a good logic is never enough in enabling us to solve problems. It is equally important for us to have positive attitude and the necessary skills and knowledge in terms of solving problems. With regards to the importance of critical thinking, the definition of critical thinking as mentioned by Alec Fisher and Friedrich Nietzsche will be discussed followed by comparing and contrasting the two traditions of critical thinking. As part of going through the main discussion, specific examples coming from its respective texts will be provided accordingly. As part of the conclusion, my personal reflection will be expressed in details explaining how I view the two traditions of critical thinking as explained by Fisher and Nietzsche. Definitions of Critical Thinking that Evolved Over the Years Alec Fisher acknowledges the different definitions of critical thinking as provided by the famous contributors behind the development of critical thinking which includes John Dewey, Edward Glaser, Robert Ennis, Richard Paul, and Michael Scriven. According to Fischer, John Dewey – known as the ‘father’ of the modern critical thinking tradition defined critical thinking or ‘critico-creative thinking as “active, persistent, and careful consideration of a belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds which support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Fisher b, p. 2). Upon analyzing the definition of critical thinking as provided by Dewey, it simply means that critical thinking is an ‘active’ process or the process wherein the receiver of information or new ideas is personally thinking about the input the he or she has recently received before the receiver of information would derive to a conclusion. In the process of thinking about the new idea or information received by the receiver, the receipient is extected to raise important questions which could enable him/her to come up with a valid conclusion. Dewey also stated the importance of considering a belief based on ‘the light of the grounds which support it’. It simply means that what matters most is the reason the receiver of new information have which made him/her able to derive to what he/she believes in and not on what other people think is right. Building on the ideas of Dewey with regards to critical thinking, Glaser defined critical thinking as “an attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one’s experience, knowledge of the methods of logical enquiry and reasoning, and some skill in applying those methods” (Fisher b, p. 3). The only difference between the definition provided by Dewey and Glaser is that Glaser considered ‘attitude’ as a significant factor in analyzing a problem aside from recognizing the fact that we can always apply ‘the methods of logical enquiry and reasoning’ when solving a problem. As defined by Ennis, critical thinking is “reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do” whereas Paul defined critical thinking as “the mode of thinking – about any subject, content or problem – in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skilfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them” (Fisher b, p. 4). Based on the definition of Scriven, critical thinking is “skilled and active interpretation and evaluations and communications, information, and argumentation” (p. 11). In the case of Nietzsche, he described the process of critical thinking as philogy – meaning “love of words” and “love of reason” (John Hopkins University). Upon going through the definitions of critical thinking that existed from one generation to another, it is clear that the main definition of critical thinking was based on Dewey’s definition which was eventually re-defined based on what other philosophers understand and believe about the concept of rational thinking. Comparing and Contrasting the Two Traditions of Critical Thinking The concept of critical thinking as explained by Fischer can be used in learning and increasing knowledge of students by encouraging them to be passive and receptive instead of being inventive or imaginative. (Fischer a, p. 1) This is primarily due to the fact that teachers and experts are in the position to know more about a given subject. For this reason, the students tend to rely more on the judgement of the teachers. Despite being a passive learner, students are expected to be imaginative and inventive instead of simply accepting the teachers’ personal opinion upon receiving new information or data from the teachers. For example: The teacher explains that a heavier body will fall faster to the ground as compared to the light body and that combining the heavy and light body would fall even faster than the heavy body. (Fischer a, p. 1) The students cannot simply accept the fact that the heavier body will fall faster than the light body and that combining the heavy and light body will fall even faster to the ground as compared to the heavy body since the students are encouraged to do critical thinking in order to search for the truth. Before accepting this idea, the students should either conduct their own actual experiment or research work in order to search for the truth and is correct. This is necessary to prevent the students from accepting or believing in false assumptions. In the process of searching for the truth, Fischer revealed that the students should undergo a process of reasoning in order to check whether or not the reasoning is valid and correct. One of the best qualifications to accept whether the reasoning is valid is to establish a scientific basis prior to deriving at a conclusion. Based on the given example, the students are encouraged to conduct simple scientific based experiment to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the conclusion the students will be deriving out of their research findings. Rather than conducting scientific experiments in order to search for the truth as suggested by Fisher’s concept of critical thinking, the idea of Nietzsche with regards to critical thinking is totally different from the concept of Fishers in the sense that critical thinking for Nietzsche requires the passion for words and reasoning. It means that the process of critical thinking is more focused on analyzing the words being used in a given situation rather than solving mathematical or scientific-based problems. In line with this, Zarathustra uses dialogues reated to literature and poetic composition such as the “Homeric epics, the fragments of Heracltus, Plato’s dialogues, the Luther Bible, Goethe’s Faust, Holderlin’s Hyperion, Emerson’s Essays, and Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelungen and Parsifal” which makes it difficult on the part of the readers to comprehend and fully understand what Nietzsche has written in the book “Thus Spake Zarathustra” (Parkes, p. xii). For example: “Whoever is the wisest among you is also a mere conflict and cross between plant and ghost. But do I bid you become ghosts or plants?” or “I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? … Behold, I teach you the overman! The overman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth! I beseech you, my brothers, remain faithful to the earth, and do not believe those who speak to you of otherworldly hopes!” (Kaufmann a, § 3). Given that the philosophical work of Nietzsche is heavily based on literature and poetic commentary of famous personalities like Luther, Heracltus, and Wagner, it is more difficult for an ordinary student to understand Nietzsche’s concept of critical thinking as compared to Fischer’s concept of critical thinking which can be readily applied in our educational system to improve the students’ learning process. Issues Regarding Enlightenment and Formal vs. Informal Logic Enlightenment or the age of reasoning is about having a good understanding and clear perception about something. Contrary to the concept of Enlightenment as suggested by Kany, Nietzsche attacked the concept of Enlightenment by stating that this concept is naïve because of the Cartesian rationality claiming that this particular representation of human existence is misleading and inaccurate (Call). Logic is the art and science of reasoning. With regards to the essence of logic in critical thinking, Fisher considered informal logic as either descriptive or normative study of real arguments as a way of convincing other people (Fisher c). In the case of Nietzsche, he rejected the usual basis of logic such that rejecting idealisation means that he also reject the truth (Kaufmann b). Conclusion Critical thinking is necessary in enabling us to develop a rational and logical reasoning which could enable us to effectively solve the problems we face in our daily lives. Upon going through the works of Alec Fisher and Friedrich Nietzsche, it is clear that critical thinking is not only limited with the use of scientific method in solving problems. It is also possible for critical thinking to be applied within the context of literature. *** End *** References Call, Lewis. "University of California." 1995. Nietzsche as Critic and Captive of Enlightenment. 16 September 2009 . Fischer, Alec. The Logic of Real Argument. 2nd Edition. United Kingdom: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 2004a. Fisher, Alec. Critical Thinking. An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2001b. Fisher, Alec. "Informal Logic and Its Implications for Philosophy." Informal Logic (2000c): Vol. 20, No. 2, 109 - 115. "John Hopkins University." 2009. What is Critical Thinking? 15 September 2009 . Kaufmann, Walter. Thus Spoke Zarathustra, translated by Walter Kaufmann. Random House, 2000 a. Kaufmann, Walter. The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Walter Kaufmann. Vintage Book, 1974 b. Parkes, Graham. Friedrich Nietzsche. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Read More