Overview

"Should we stop teaching critical thinking? Meant as a prompt to further discussion, Critical Condition questions the assumption that every student should be turned into a """"critical thinker."""" The book starts with the pre-Socratics and the impact that Socrates' death had on his student Plato and traces the increasingly violent use of critical """"attack"""" on a perceived opponent. From the Roman militarization of debate to the medieval Church's use of defence as a means of forcing confession and submission, the early phases of critical thinking were bound up in a type of attack that Finn suggests does not best serve intellectual inquiry. Recent developments have seen critical thinking become an ideology rather than a critical practice, with levels of debate devolving to the point where most debate becomes ad hominem. Far from arguing that we abandon critical inquiry, the author suggests that we emphasize a more open, loving system of engagement that is not only less inherently violent but also more robust when dealing with vastly more complex networks of information. This book challenges long-held beliefs about the benefits of critical thinking, which is shown to be far too linear to deal with the twenty-first century world. Critical Condition is a call to action unlike any other."

Full Product Details

Author:   Patrick Finn ,  Patrick Finn
Publisher:   Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Imprint:   Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 0.90cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.220kg
ISBN:  

9781771121576

ISBN 10:   1771121572
Pages:   145
Publication Date:   30 June 2015
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

"Critical Condition: Replacing Critical Thinking with Creativity by Patrick Finn Acknowledgements Preface: An Invitation Chapter 1 A Foolish Question: Isn't It Time We Replaced Critical Thinking? Chapter 2 The Baby and the Bathwater: The Birth of Critical Thinking Chapter 3 A Hitch or Two: Polemic, Violence, and the Case for Critical Thinking Chapter 4 We Can't Go On Together (with Suspicious Minds) Chapter 5 An Immodest Proposal: Let's Replace Critical Thinking with Creative, Loving, Open-Source Thought Chapter 6 """"Sure, It Works in Practice, but Will It Work in Theory?"""" Chapter 7 Conclusion: An Open Invitation-Some Final Ideas and Questions Notes Bibliography Index"

Reviews

“In this engaging and important book, Patrick Finn attacks traditional critical thinking for promoting hurt, anger, suspicion, and violence. He argues persuasively that critical thinking encourages the use of speech as a tool for dominance, control, and repression. He makes an eloquent and revolutionary plea for replacing critical thinking with ‘creative, loving, open-source thought.’ Critical Condition should be read by everyone who cares about the harmonious advance of the human project, particularly in the universities, but also in the world beyond.” - Philip Slayton, president, PEN Canada, author of Mayors Gone Bad (2015)

Patrick Finn has written a book for the academy, but its implications are much wider. The critical thinking that drove the academics who wanted to 'teach him a lesson' by beating him in debate is well represented outside the Ivory Tower as well (think Question Period). But there is a growing awareness--and this book is part of it--that progress, collaboration, and creativity move hand in hand; that the emphasis belongs on 'and, ' not 'but.' Finn is careful to differentiate critical thinking of the constructive kind from the rest; it is puzzling why it gets academics in such a huff. But surely that is a reason for reading it!''--Jay Ingram

Patrick Finn has written a book for the academy, but its implications are much wider. The critical thinking that drove the academics who wanted to 'teach him a lesson' by beating him in debate is well represented outside the Ivory Tower as well (think Question Period). But there is a growing awareness--and this book is part of it--that progress, collaboration, and creativity move hand in hand; that the emphasis belongs on 'and, ' not 'but.' Finn is careful to differentiate critical thinking of the constructive kind from the rest; it is puzzling why it gets academics in such a huff. But surely that is a reason for reading it! --Jay Ingram, science writer and broadcaster, author of <i>The End of Memory: A Natural History of Aging and Alzheimer's</i> (2015)

Author Information

Patrick Finn is an associate professor in The School for Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary. His research and teaching focus on performance and technology, where technology can be anything from vocal technique and alphabets to complex computer algorithms. He is an active artist and founding artistic director of The Theatre Lab Performance Institute in Calgary, Alberta.

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