Saint Mary University

Department of computer science

Logic and critical thinking
Group assignment one
Group member id no

1. aymen yusuf rcd/0752/2014

3. daniel hailu rcd/0761/2014

4. eyuel bilhatu rcd/0764/2014

5. kidus amare rcd/ /2014

6. mikiyas getu rcd/0784/2014

Submitted to INS. Solomon andualem

SUBMITTED DATE jan 11, 2022

 INTRODUCTION
Critical thinking involves the ability to evaluate and analyze information objectively with a
rational and logical mindset. It requires you to examine past experiences, interpret data,
challenge your assumptions, develop new solutions, and question traditional methods of
thinking. Critical thinking helps in making better decisions as it involves looking at all angles
before making a conclusion or taking action on any situation. It enables us to identify faulty
reasoning and think for ourselves rather than following accepted authorities or beliefs. Moreover,
critical thinking can also help in improving our communication skills by providing us with
essential tools for understanding complex ideas and arguments more effectively. Therefore, it
provides people with the capacity for creative problem-solving, which is an essential tool for
living in today's complex world.
 CRIRTICAL THINKING
Critical thinking is a process of thoughtfully analyzing information, challenging assumptions and
beliefs, considering strategies, and forming conclusions based on evidence. It involves evaluating
ideas, understanding arguments, and making informed decisions.

Critical thinking is an essential skill in any workplace or educational environment. It involves

being able to identify, assess, and challenge assumptions in order to make better and more
informed decisions. Critical thinkers are often able to approach problems from multiple
perspectives, meaning they are able to think outside of the box. Through regular practice and
implementation, critical thinking will improve decision-making abilities, help build confidence,
enhance problem-solving skills, and ultimately aid in the success of any endeavor.

Critical thinking is the ability to think rationally and analytically with an open mind. It involves
the evaluation of arguments and claims, as well as recognizing any underlying assumptions that
may be influencing one's thinking. Critical thinkers apply it in all areas of life, from personal
decisions to assessing scientific research and legal documents. At its core, it requires an
individual to take a closer look at evidence and base conclusions on facts rather than simply
emotion or predetermined beliefs.

In academic settings, critical thinking is used by students to analyze course material, form
reasoned arguments and synthesize different perspectives on complex topics, allowing for a more
holistic understanding of their subject matter. Critical thinking can also help identify
inconsistencies and flaws in an argument or piece of writing.

Beyond academics, critical thinking is essential for people who want to reason through complex
issues without jumping to conclusions or making rash judgments. In the corporate world, critical
thinkers are sought after because they make better decisions based on rational examination of
data rather than blindly following orders. To gain acceptance into a prestigious university or land
a high-paying job, the ability to think critically can be a huge advantage over competitors who
lack the skillset.
In daily life, critical thinking can aid individuals in solving problems such as financial issues or
relationship disputes by offering logical solutions instead of impulsively snap judgment calls. By
recognizing alternative viewpoints and potential outcomes and examining data before acting on
gut instinct, one can make better-informed decisions that often result in successful resolution of
difficult matters.

Philosophy has played a major role in the development and understanding of critical thinking.
Philosophers have studied critical thinking for centuries and have proposed various theories to
explain how it works, but there is still much more work to be done on this important topic. At its
core, critical thinking involves questioning assumptions that may limit our view of an issue,
making rational arguments about the evidence, being aware of possible bias or prejudice, and
being able to evaluate claims based on objective evidence. This type of deliberative approach is
necessary to find truth in complex topics.

There are many definitions. ENNIS (2016) lists 14 philosophically oriented scholarly definitions
and three dictionary definitions. Following Rawls (1971), who distinguished his conception of
justice from a utilitarian conception but regarded them as rival conceptions of the same concept,
Ennis maintains that the 17 definitions are different conceptions of the same concept. Rawls
articulated the shared concept of justice as

RAWLS define critical thinking is a characteristic set of principles for assigning basic rights and
duties and for determining… the proper distribution of the benefits and burdens of social
cooperation. (Rawls 1971: 5)

BAILIN ET AL. (1999b) claim that, if one considers what sorts of thinking an educator would
take not to be critical thinking and what sorts to be critical thinking, one can conclude that
educators typically understand critical thinking to have at least three features.

1. It is done for the purpose of making up one‟s mind about what to believe or do.

2. The person engaging in the thinking is trying to fulfill standards of adequacy and
accuracy appropriate to the thinking.

3. The thinking fulfills the relevant standards to some threshold level.

The American philosopher, JOHN DEWEY (1910), has defined critical thinking as an 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. In this definition, there
are three main points that we should focus on:

 Active, : critical thinking as an active process

 Persistent: critical thinking with the kind of unreflective thinking we all sometimes
engage in.
 Grounds: skillful reasoning.

EDWARD 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.

Glaser uses the term “evidence” instead “ground”.

RICHARD PAUL: Critical thinking is that mode of thinking about any subject, content or
problem in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking
charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them.

Critical thinking ability is through thinking about one„s thinking often called meta-cognition,
and consciously aiming to improve it by reference to some model of good thinking in that
domain.

MICHAEL SCRIVEN has defined critical thinking as skilled and active interpretation and
evaluation of observations and communications, information and argumentation. He argued that
critical thinking is an academic competency akin to reading and writing and is of similarly
fundamental importance.

He defines critical thinking as a skilled „activity for reasons similar to those mentioned above.
He points out that thinking does not count as critical merely because it is intended to be, any
more than thinking counts as scientific simply because it aims to be.
To be critical, thinking has to meet certain standards, (clarity, relevance, reasonableness and so
on), and one may be more or less skilled at this.

He defined critical thinking as an active process, partly because it involves questioning and
partly because of the role played by meta-cognition. He includes interpretation„ of texts, speech,
film, graphics, actions and even body language, because like explanation, interpretation typically
involves constructing and selecting the best of several alternatives, and it is a crucial preliminary
to drawing conclusions about complex claims„. He includes evaluation „because this is the
process of determining the merit, quality, worth, or value of something „and much critical
thinking is concerned with evaluating the truth, probability or reliability of claims.

Critical thinking is sometimes referred to as “criticocreative” thinking. This word is the

combination of two words: critical and creative. to be good at evaluating arguments and ideas,
one often has to be very imaginative and creative about other possibilities, alternative
considerations, different options and so on. To be a good judge of issues, it is not enough to see
faults in what other people say.

One could sum up the core concept that involves these three features by saying that critical
thinking is careful goal-directed thinking. This core concept seems to apply to all the examples
of critical thinking described in the previous section. As for the non-examples, their exclusion
depends on construing careful thinking as excluding jumping immediately to conclusions,
suspending judgment no matter how strong the evidence, reasoning from an unquestioned
ideological or religious perspective, and routinely using an algorithm to answer a question.

Finally, being able to think critically allows us to become smarter citizens who are better
equipped to distinguish fact from fiction when presented with false information whether it‟s from
politicians or other entities with an agenda such as corporate media outlets propagating their own
interests. It also enables us to spot fallacies in reasoning that could otherwise lead us astray if we
remained blissfully unaware.

In short, the capacity for critical thinking develops our cognitive abilities while helping us make
sounder judgment calls which ultimately improves not just ourselves but society as whole –
something that has never been more necessary given today‟s rapidly changing world.
 CONCLUSION
Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from,
or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to
belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend
subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence,
good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.
REFERENCE
 https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/critical-thinking/
 https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766
 Logic and critical thinking module course code: phil101