On the relationship between “education” and “critical thinking”

Abstract

In view of recent international efforts to identify and measure the ability “critical thinking,” this paper attempts to trace and reconstruct the core meaning of this concept in the light of its conceptual history in the German terminology of educational philosophy and research. In doing so, it becomes evident that it is necessary to clarify the relationship between “critical thinking” and “education,” both understood as terms designating a mental state. In German as well as in English educational research, it seems to be the prevailing view that “critical thinking” is a partial meaning, a facet, of “education” (in the sense of “being well educated”). The German language, however, differentiates between “education” in this latter sense (“Bildung”) and “education” as a label designating the approximate equivalent of the English term (“Erziehung”). Moreover, there is a long tradition and discussion in German-speaking countries around the meaning of “Bildung,” which has shaped “critical thinking” into one of its facets, setting it apart from its understanding in the English terminology with its own special history of this concept. Therefore, trying to make international comparisons with regard to measuring “critical thinking” first requires efforts to reach a common understanding of this concept.