ABSTRACT
Critical thinking and creative thinking are sometimes considered as different sets of abilities, though practically speaking they support and complement one another during philosophical enquiries: it takes as much a creative act of imagination to appreciate someone else's viewpoint as it does to challenge it through reasoning. An important element in any enquiry therefore is to link concepts with contexts. A key feature of philosophical enquiries, which sets them apart from mere discussion or debate, is the supporting of viewpoints and opinions by evidence and reasoned arguments. These can be highly abstruse: the logic used by professional philosophers can look more like mathematics. Right-answer, classroom environment, peer, curriculum and exam pressures can inhibit children from taking part in class discussions. A similar problem in striving towards clarity of meaning is the unquestioned use of oversimplification during an enquiry. Oversimplification can take a number of forms.
