“Cultivating Critical Thinking” Facione, PA., Facione, NC., Tiwari, A., & Yuen, F.. Page 1 Chinese and American Perspectives on the Pervasive Human Phenomenon of Critical Thinking Peter A. Facione, Loyola University Chicago Noreen C. Facione, University of California San Francisco Agnes Tiwari, Hong Kong University Felix Yuen, Hong Kong University Introduction What should I believe and what should I do? Throughout the world, and throughout time, these questions have been applied in the context of specific problems and purposes dominating human thinking. We are who we are, as human beings, because of the answers we have given ourselves. And among these answers is one that says: “We should always go on questioning in the hope of even better answers.” This consistent disposition to question, to ask why, to seek courageously and fair-mindedly the best possible answers to every possible question, lies at the very heart of critical thinking. In this essay we will briefly trace the rise of this consistent disposition toward critical thinking in the Western Philosophical Tradition. From its humble and practical roots in ancient Greece, we will jump forward through the centuries past the emergence of modern science all the way to how we define and measure the disposition toward critical thinking today. Finally, we will complete this story with suggestions about how we might build stronger critical thinking skills and cultivate a more robust disposition toward critical thinking. Because of the broad sweep of our story, the language in this essay will, necessarily, be quite general. But the research and teaching applications are none the less particular and practical. Our Common Human Critical Thinking Heritage Humans ask and answer a great many practical questions about what to do and what to believe each day. Fortunately for the vast majority of those daily questions we have useful answers ready to hand. Among other things, we know how to communicate with one another, how to show respect, how to apologize if we offend, how to make promises, how to negotiate for what we need, how to prepare meals, how to travel in relative safety, how to celebrate, how to comfort, how to deal with criminals, and how to respond to accidents or illness. Although down through history we have had many different answers to these common problems, as one community of humans we have shared the questions. And so, as humans grow from childhood to