I have covered the campaign on the part of some quarters against critical thinking in the past. The Chronicle runs another screed from that camp. I can't respond any better than Alex Reid:
"So really Prince's complaint is a political one. He holds a conservative intellectual position opposed to 'critical theory' and believes instead that writing courses 'should be about what all other college courses are about-not writing itself, but a learnable body of information: literature, art history, biology, political science, or any other substantial topic that furthers a students' real education.' Oh, and the courses should be about grammar and basic skills. This, of course, is also an conservative ideological position. The fact is that 'critical theory' is a 'learnable body of information,' whether he happens to approve of it or not. However I'm not sure that Prince even understands that, as he seems to conflate 'critical thinking' and 'critical theory' with 'rhetorical analysis.'"
What continues to elude me is why it is that this certain political faction has it in for critical thinking. What sort of political objective do they hope to achieve? What is it, really, that they find objectionable? Oh, and yes, why is the Chronicle running this stuff?
"So really Prince's complaint is a political one. He holds a conservative intellectual position opposed to 'critical theory' and believes instead that writing courses 'should be about what all other college courses are about-not writing itself, but a learnable body of information: literature, art history, biology, political science, or any other substantial topic that furthers a students' real education.' Oh, and the courses should be about grammar and basic skills. This, of course, is also an conservative ideological position. The fact is that 'critical theory' is a 'learnable body of information,' whether he happens to approve of it or not. However I'm not sure that Prince even understands that, as he seems to conflate 'critical thinking' and 'critical theory' with 'rhetorical analysis.'"
What continues to elude me is why it is that this certain political faction has it in for critical thinking. What sort of political objective do they hope to achieve? What is it, really, that they find objectionable? Oh, and yes, why is the Chronicle running this stuff?
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