Thinking Critically

John Chaffee, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at The City University of New York, where he has developed a Philosophy and Critical Thinking program that annually involves 25 faculty and 3,000 students. He is a nationally recognized figure in the area of critical thinking, having authored leading textbooks and many professional articles. He also has conducted numerous conference presentations and workshops throughout the country. In developing programs to teach people to think more effectively in all academic subjects and areas of life, Dr. Chaffee has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ford Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He was selected as New York Educator of the Year and received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Diversity in Teaching in Higher Education.

1. Thinking.
Living an “Examined” Life. A Roadmap to Your Mind. Working Toward Goals. Images, Decision Making, and Thinking About Visual Information. An Organized Approach to Making Decisions. Living Creatively. Thinking Ahead.
2. Thinking Critically.
Thinking Actively. Carefully Exploring Situations with Questions. Thinking Independently. Viewing Situations from Different Perspectives. Supporting Diverse Perspectives with Reasons and Evidence. Discussing Ideas in an Organized Way. Reading Critically. Analyzing Issues.
3. Solving Problems.
Thinking Critically About Problems. Introduction to Solving Problems. Solving Complex Problems. Accepting the Problem. Solving Nonpersonal Problems.
4. Perceiving and Believing.
Actively Selecting, Organizing, and Interpreting Sensations. Perceiving and Believing. Believing and Perceiving. Types of Beliefs: Reports, Inferences, Judgments. Reporting Factual Information. Inferring. Judging.
5. Constructing Knowledge.
Believing and Knowing. Knowledge and Truth. Thinking Critically About Your Beliefs. Using Perspective-Taking to Achieve Knowledge. Beliefs Based on Indirect Experience.
6. Language and Thought.
The Evolution of Language. The Symbolic Nature of Language. Using Language Effectively. Using Language to Clarify Thinking. Using Language in Social Contexts. Using Language to Influence.
7. Forming and Applying Concepts.
What Are Concepts? The Structure of Concepts. Forming Concepts. Applying Concepts. Defining Concepts. Relating Concepts with Mind Maps.
8. Relating and Organizing.
Chronological and Process Relationships. Comparative and Analogical Relationships. Causal Relationships.
9. Thinking Critically about Moral Issues.
What Is Ethics? Your Moral Compass. The Thinker’s Guide to Moral Decision Making.
10. Constructing Arguments.
Recognizing Arguments. Evaluating Arguments. Understanding Deductive Arguments. Constructing Extended Arguments.
11. Reasoning Critically.
Inductive Reasoning. Empirical Generalization. Fallacies of False Generalization. Causal Reasoning. Causal Fallacies. Fallacies of Relevance. The Critical Thinker’s Guide to Reasoning.
12. Thinking Critically, Living Creatively.
Living a Life Philosophy. Choose Freely. Deciding on a Career. Choosing the “Good Life.”