From Critical Thinking to Criticality

A Higher Education for a Troubled World
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-04700-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 302 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: World Issues in the Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education

From Critical Thinking to Criticality sets out a bold case for critical thinking across the university. It inquires into the need for, and the nature of, critical thinking; and it expounds new theories and arguments that are applicable not only across disciplines but, even more, across the university as the complex institution that it is.

Against the horizon of the contemporary world, this book notes how critical thinking is in jeopardy and considers the inadequacy of the technical debates in the academic literature. It picks up and radically develops the idea of criticality into a new idea of the university in a troubled world. Hidden potential lies within the university – independently of its study programmes – to advance students’ criticality.

With arguments situated in the contexts of ecological crises, the rise of artificial intelligence, the tense relationship of states and their universities, political populism and the emergence of a post-truth age, this book urges that criticality be re-instated and anew in the university. It is essential reading for students, academics, and senior leaders in universities, as well as anyone concerned to re-examine the significance of critical thinking for the world.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Professional Reference

Autoren/Hrsg.

Barnett, Ronald

Davies, Martin

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Enzyklopädien, Nachschlagewerke, Wörterbücher
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Schulen, Schulleitung Universitäten, Hochschulen
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Philosophie der Erziehung, Bildungstheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 Introduction: A troubling setting

Part one: The evaporation of critical thought

2 Heresies of critical thought

3 An algorithmic world

4 Myths of the framework

5 A critical dialectic

6 Thinking critically about critical thinking

7 Recapitulation and development: The myopia of ‘critical thinking’

Part two: Criticality and its modes

8 The standard view of critical thinking

9 A model of criticality

10 Seven modes of criticality

Part three: Advancing criticality

11 Curriculum matters: For a critical experientiality

12 Pedagogical matters: Emergent learning and two forms of criticality

Part four: The university—for a culture of criticality

13 Disagreeing well: the university as space of criticality

14 The university: the world’s critical conscience  Endnote: Pessimists and Optimists Unite! (At least in some ways)

References

Endorsements

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Ronald Barnett is Emeritus Professor of Higher Education, University College London, UK and Emeritus President of the Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education Society.

Martin Davies is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia.