Pre-Reading:
The title of this text is “Critical Thinking and the Liberal Arts”, meaning that the author is going to be discussing critical thinking and how it applies to the liberal arts. The author is going to be explaining to us what critical thinking is and how you use it. And they are also going to be explaining and helping us understand what Liberal Arts are. I believe that liberal arts is a type of curriculum taught to students that encompasses history, sciences, and literature.
Section 1: What Are The Liberal Arts?
The Liberal Arts are a type of education. It is an integrated curriculum that brings together all nonprofessional higher learning. It is a higher level of thinking that doesn’t rely on a “normal” education, it brings in pieces from real world experiences that will create a more well rounded individual. “But however we define the liberal arts, no unique approach and no single method, text, or institution perfectly exemplifies the idea” is how the author describes the teaching of the liberal arts, there are many different variations of the liberal arts and how they can be presented in the classroom.
Section 2: Why Do We Need The Liberal Arts?
The liberal arts are a big part of democracy, and is what helps keep democracy going. There are three levels of the citizenship that the liberal arts cover, civic dimension, economic citizenship, and cultural citizenship. These three levels are just the stepping stones of democracy but they are heavily influenced by the liberal arts and what they stand for. “But we all need to be well-informed, critical citizens. And the liberal arts prepare students for citizenship in all three senses—civic, economic, and cultural”, as the author is saying here, we need well-informed citizens and it is the liberal arts duty to show people what it means to be a well rounded and educated citizen.
Section 3: What Is Critical Thinking?
“Critical thinking is the intellectual engine of a functional democracy: the set of mental practices that lends breadth, depth, clarity, and consistency to public discourse. It’s what makes thinking in public truly public and shareable” is how the author would describe critical thinking. It is taking the ideas discussed earlier about liberal arts and actually applying them. Critical thinking is part of the same umbrella that contains the liberal arts but it is a bit deeper, there is more that goes into thinking critically. It is creating independent ideas about a topic and trying to truly understand it, by drawing connections to other ideas and pulling in outside perspectives to understand what you are talking about and presenting to someone.
Section 4: The Importance of Critical Inquiry
Critical Inquiry has more to do with than philosophy, it has no rules and creates an openness between people. It is meant to create and stir up conversations between people that can take a deep turn. It is meant to reflect your knowledge and understanding of important ideas. “The college-level progression toward more sophisticated reasoning isn’t just a matter of analytic thinking as a formal process. It is also reflected in certain organizing concepts that (like critical inquiry itself) transcend the various disciplines and unify the liberal arts curriculum” showing here that there are many ways to think at this deeper level to create more understand for yourself and for others.
