论批判性思维的临界性

Study on the Criticality of Critical Thinking

批判性思维(critical thinking)是一个英文外来词,在这个词中,critical除了具有"批判性的"的意义外,还有一个更重要的意义——"临界性的",但却被中文作者和中文文献所忽略。批判性思维的临界性首先表现为思维过程自身的临界性:一方面,人类思维具有自指性,即后起的思维可以对前行的思维进行再思维(反思),因此,人类思维可能产生自相缠绕,这是悖论产生的根源,也是思维临界性的一种表现;另一方面,人的思维过程是多维度、多通道的,演绎与非演绎,分析与综合,逻辑与心理,语言与修辞,语言与逻辑,语言与心理,这些都是思维过程的不同侧面,是不可分割的,批判性思维也是这种临界性的反映。除此之外,批判性思维还具有元思维或高阶思维的特征、具有多学科和多领域交叉的特征。批判性思维的这些特征可在语言学(语用学)、逻辑学(假言推理、三段论、溯因推理)、决策理论(博弈论、期望效用理论、前景理论、双系统加工理论)中获得证明。

The critical thinking is an English alien word whose original meaning will be discussed in this paper. This concept'critical' has two basic semantic items in The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English :a. critical of;b. of the borderline.But the second meaning is often ignored in the Chinese scholarship. The borderline state of critical thinking is the manifestation of the criticality of thinking process. That is,human thinking has its own reference,and regressive thinking will ruminate the progressive thinking,which is the reason for the source of paradox,and also a manifestation of the criticality of critical thinking.Critical thinking possesses the features of a certain meta-thinking and multidisplinary subject,which will be verified in linguistic theories(especially pragmatics),logic(especially modus ponens,syllogism,abduction),and decision-making theory(including game theory,expected utility theory and prospect theory,the dual system processing theory.