1. Becoming A Fair-Minded Thinker
Samar zaki al-awami
Afia Zmaili
Nouf al-ali

2. Outline Introduction Conclusion Strong Critical Thinkers
Weak Vs. Strong Critical Thinking
Strong Critical Thinkers
Fair-Minded Thinkers
Traits of Strong Critical Thinkers
Conclusion

3. Critical Thinking Self-Centeredness:
Concentrating on making your opponent’s thinking look bad
Weak-Sense Critical Thinkers:
Noticing the mistakes in others without crediting their strengths.

4. Weak-Sense Critical Thinkers
Works in some sense, yet misses a vital point
Lacks fair-mindedness
Making good thinking look bad and vise versa
“Sophist”
The use of emotionalism and trickery in an intellectual manner
Examples include unethical lawyers & politicians

5. Strong-Sense Traits

6. Fair-Mindedness
Developing in such a way that we learn to see the mistakes in our thinking, as well as others
Leads to Strong-Sense critical thinking
Ethical thinkers
Strive to understand others’ viewpoints
Willing to listen to arguments that oppose your own beliefs
The ability to change your views when faced with better reasoning

7. Strong Critical Thinkers
Realize the ease with which the mind can ignore the rights & needs of others.
Treating viewpoints in an unbiased, unprejudiced manner.
Consciousness of the fact that we tend to prejudge views of others.
The ability to view others’ viewpoints who’s welfare is in conflict with our own interests.

8. Intellectual Self-Centeredness
Opposite of self-mindedness
Failure to treat others’ views by the same standards you treat your own.

9. Intellectual Humility
Consciousness of the limits to ones own knowledge.
Being aware of ones biases & prejudices.
Limitations of ones viewpoints
The extent of ones ignorance

10. Intellectual Ignorance
Not recognizing limits of our knowledge
Example: Police Force
Knowledge of ignorance leads to improved critical thinking
Recognizing our owns biases and prejudices
False beliefs
Habits of the mind that lead to false thinking

11. Intellectual Courage
A consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs, and viewpoints towards which one has negative emotion.
Intellectual cowardice
Fear of ideas that don’t conform to our own beliefs

12. Cont.
Personally threatened by ideas that conflict with out personal identity.
Courage is vital to overcoming fear of rejection
Not afraid to be proven wrong
Freely admitting past mistakes
Happy to correct current mistakes

13. Intellectual Empathy
To put oneself in the place of another in order to understand their views. Opposite is self-centeredness Blinds ones capacity to see the views, thoughts, feelings, and emotions of others.

14. Self-Integrity To stand by your view.
Act the same as you expect others to do.
Opposite is intellectual hypocrisy
Expecting others to hold standards or views that you yourself don’t uphold.

15. Intellectual Perseverance
To work through difficult situations Completing tasks regardless of obstacles. Opposite is intellectual laziness Giving up easily when met by difficult situations or obstacles

16. Confidence In Reason
Recognizing that good reasoning has proven its worth A belief that ones own higher interests and humankind will be served by giving the freest play to reason Opposite is intellectual distrust Irrational world surrounded by irrational beliefs and behaviors.

17. Uncritical/Blind Faith
Faith in folkways or a social group
Faith in ones own unanalyzed experience
Faith in ones unanalyzed emotions.
Faith in charismatic cult leaders
Faith in intuition.

18. Intellectual Autonomy
Being a independent thinker In charge of their lives Not irrationally dependent on others Not controlled by infantile emotions

19. Intellectual Conformity
Difficulty to develop autonomy because of social institutions depend heavily on passive acceptance of the status quo. Example: Ph.D can be intellectually dependent. Must accept beliefs without considering the merits and demerits of those beliefs for oneself.

20. Thank you for listening.