Philosophy of Education Yearbook (
2006)
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Abstract
Critical thinking is often described by philosophers of education as a process of
transcendence: a way to take one’s beliefs, values, and actions as objects of thought,
and to reflect on them for the sake of evaluation and possible transformation. John
Dewey argues, for example, that “the essence of critical thinking is suspended
judgment”; it involves a pause that allows us to stand back to reflect, to “metaphori-
cally climb a tree...[to get] a more commanding view of the situation.”1 This process
calls for a difficult balancing act between commitment and suspicion. Effective
transcendence requires recognition of one’s fallibility, a degree of suspicion
regarding one’s views and methods of thinking as a motivation for distancing
oneself from these in order to evaluate them. Yet distancing must not be taken too
far — one must trust in and remain committed to certain beliefs and methods as
criteria for judgment in order to ground the evaluation made possible by stepping
back to reflect. Critical thinkers must recognize their own fallibility without being
paralyzed by it, and must commit to evaluative criteria without losing the suspicion
that motivates reflection and revision. Teachers who work to promote critical
thinking as transcendence must find a way to negotiate this balance, avoiding too
much emphasis on either extreme.