FOUR KINDS OF QUESTIONS FOR ANY POSITION
1. ORIGINS
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HOW DID YOU COME TO THINK THIS?
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CAN YOU REMEMBER THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH YOU FORMED THIS BELIEF?
2. SUPPORT
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WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?
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DO YOU HAVE EVIDENCE FOR THIS?
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WHAT ARE SOME OF THE REASONS WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE THIS?
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IN BELIEVING THIS, AREN'T YOU ASSUMING THAT SUCH AND SUCH IS TRUE? IS THAT
A SOUND ASSUMPTION DOYOU THINK?
3. CONFLICT WITH OTHER THOUGHTS
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SOME PEOPLE MIGHT OBJECT TO YOUR POSITION BY SAYING . . .
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HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER THEM?
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WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS CONTRASTING VIEW?
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HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER THE OBJECTION THAT . . .?
4. IMPLICATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES
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WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF BELIEVING THIS?
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WHAT WOULD WE HAVE TO DO TO PUT IT INTO ACTION?
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WHAT FOLLOWS FROM THE VIEW THAT . . .?
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WOULDN'T WE ALSO HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT . . . IN ORDER TO BE CONSISTENT?
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ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT . . .?
Richard W. Paul. "Dialogical and Dialectical Thinking," Critical
Thinking: How to Prepare Students for a Rapidly Changing World. Foundation
for Critical Thinking, 1993.
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