Critical thinking (CT hereon) is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully, analyzing, evaluating and applying information gathered from observation, experience, reflection and communication, as a guide to belief and action.
CT is based on universal intellectual values, such as clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.
It entails the examination of those elements of thought implicit in reasoning: purpose, question-at-issue; assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences and very importantly: alternative view points.
CT is incorporated in a family of modes of thinking, among them: scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, moral thinking, and philosophical thinking.
CT can be seen as having two components: 1) belief generating and processing skills, and 2) using those skills to guide behavior.
We need to contrast CT with:
1) the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated;
2) the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and
3) the mere use of those skills ("as an exercise") without acceptance of their results.
4) No one is a critical thinker through-and-through, but only to such-and-such a degree, with such-and-such insights and blind spots, subject to such-and-such tendencies towards self-delusion. For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions is a life-long endeavor.
