• Here are two definitions,
Critical thinking
is the analysis of any attempt at persuasion, based on an evaluation of the
form and content of
that attempt. Thinking critically is a strategy for determining how to
persuade others, and whether to be persuaded ourselves. As simple as
this sounds, that process of determination can involve literally all we know
about ourselves and our world. { San Jose State University }
Critical Thinking is essentially applying the principles of Informal Logic to a variety of
academic disciplines. In doing so, we hopefully become aware of the
successful patterns of reasoning — successful in that they allow
us to move closer to the truth rather than farther away from it. {
Longview Community
College }
• And a page written by Barbara Fowler where she quotes "Attributes of a Critical Thinker" (by Peter Facione) and "Critical Readers" (by Schumm & Post) and "Uses of Critical Thinking" (by Ellis). In her introduction, she says "The following are definitions of Critical Thinking according to the people who write textbooks and articles on the subject. While this does not make them automatically correct, it does indicate that they have spent some time thinking about the topic. ... The best approach to the topic I found was written by Peter A. Facione."
note: Originally, I had linked to a page called "19 definitions collected by Barbara Fowler" that unfortunately has been "retired" from websites (of Harvard University, and Metropolitan Community College of Kansas City) where it once was. Wayback Machine has not archived her page, and (oops) neither did I. Although today (7-10-2018) I couldn't find her 19 definitions, I did find the page linked-to above, which might contain most of the ideas in her "19 definitions" although in a different format.
My original link, now broken, was
http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic204027.files/Critical_thinking_definitions.pdf
Another former link, also broken, is
http://www.mcckc.edu/longview/CTAC/definitions.htm