28 Critical Thinking

EXAMPLES

• Critical thinking is a vital skill for students taking writing-intensive courses in unfamiliar disciplines. The humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences all utilize an arsenal of critical thinking skills, analytical methods, and theoretical material; critical thinking enables you to apply theories or methods from your area of expertise to another, and vice versa. You may even find commonalities between your discipline and the unfamiliar subject that you can use to expand the scope of your work or add a fresh perspective.
• Discovering a flaw in another source’s argument can inspire great paper ideas. An argument that directly engages with other writers in your discipline will make your work automatically relevant. This approach also demonstrates an active engagement with the current discourse surrounding your topic. As you read other sources, ask analytical questions to see if you can uncover any flaws or inconsistencies: Are key terms clearly defined, and do you agree with those definitions? Are the writers experts in their field? Upon what assumptions and theoretical frameworks do the argument rely? Are these assumptions and frameworks appropriate for the discipline? Is the methodology valid? Does the argument have consistent logic? Are the style and organization appropriate, or do they obscure certain details? What is the intended audience for this work? What is the author’s intent in writing this work? Does the author have any ulterior motives or conflicts of interest that might undermine credibility?
• French philosopher Michel Foucault based his famous book, The History of Sexuality, on his belief that the popular “repressive hypothesis” is a flawed. The repressive hypothesis suggests that the nineteenth century marked a rapid escalation in our centuries-old progression toward repressing sexual drives and discouraging conversations about sexuality. Foucault contends that, while references to sexuality became increasingly coded and symbolic in the nineteenth century, discussion of sexual matters actually increased. He cites examples of unprecedented expectations for official sexual disclosures in the nineteenth century, such as the Catholic Church’s focus on increasing the frequency and formal importance of confession. Foucault mocks his contemporaries as the “Other Victorians,” unable to stop talking about how they cannot talk about sexuality.
• Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss’ research plays an important role in Jacques Derrida’s landmark book Of Grammatology. The connection between the two thinkers is not immediately obvious: Derrida is primarily known for his theories about literary interpretation and linguistics; Derrida finds common ground with Lévi-Strauss, however, in their shared interest in the relationship between speech and writing. When he discusses Lévi-Strauss’ field research on native languages, Derrida reveals assumptions about the origin of language in a way that enriches his own text-based approach.