ABSTRACT
Critical Thinking deals with dubitanda. Yes, that is Latin for what is doubted. Philosopher Stephen Pepper used the Latin term to jolt us into realizing everyday knowledge—“common sense”—is accepted without reflection, and not the result of critical examination. Intelligent, responsible people refine inferences from data, testing against more and more varied data, thinking out logical inconsistencies, seeking corroborative data. Pepper drew out how refining knowledge leads to, “On the one side, irresponsible but secure common sense; on the other, responsible but insecure critical cognition” (Pepper 1942:47).
