Module 01
5 lessons · ~56 minFoundations
The bedrock of clear thinking
Learn what critical thinking is, where it originated, and the simple building blocks behind every argument you encounter.
Overview
What this module covers
Foundations explains what critical thinking really is, where the discipline originated, and the basic units it operates on: claims, evidence, and arguments. It also introduces the distinct modes of thinking and the five types of reasoning, giving later modules the vocabulary they build upon.
Every argument you meet is built from the same few parts. A news story, a sales pitch, a group-chat debate: each one has a claim, the evidence behind it, and the reasoning that ties the two together. This module trains you to see those parts the way a mechanic sees an engine rather than just a car.
Five short lessons carry you from what critical thinking actually is, through a brief tour of the thinkers who shaped it, to the reasoning patterns sitting underneath almost every argument. No background required: if you can read a news article, you can do this.
Short on time? Begin with Claims, Evidence, and Arguments. It hands you the vocabulary the rest of the site builds on. Would you rather practice than read? Jump straight into Hidden Assumptions.
Outcomes
Learning objectives
- Understand what critical thinking really is and why it outperforms thinking on autopilot
- Trace where the toolkit originated, from Socrates through to the scientific method
- Extract the claims, evidence, and reasoning from any argument you encounter
- Match the right mode of thinking and reasoning to the problem in front of you
Contents
Lessons
5 lessons · about 56 minutes