Critical Thinking - is nothing more, and nothing less, than taking a good look at the ideas that we are thinking and then making a commitment to live by the best ideas we can come up with.
THE FOUR PASSIONS
passion - the intensity of heart and soul, depth of desire coupled with a zeal found from the heart; emotion is connected, but emotion is mostly affected by passion.
Some may think that philosophers, scientists, and others who attempt to be precise about thinking are people without passion. They are dull and lifeless, without emotion in search of objective fact, and must have a dispassionate mind. NOT SO. The philosophic mind is a passionate mind. This mind is characterized by at least four passions.
A Passion for Freedom - Voltaire said, "My trade is to say what I think." Most specifically, Voltaire epitomizes one whose vocation is to think what he pleases and then to speak and write. The free thinker will resist external threat to the freedom of inquiry.
In this spirit, the true philosopher may grant all others the same freedom.
There is a passion for FREEDOM... Liberty... being free from restriction or control; having the right and power to act, believe and express oneself; a freedom from unjust control; the right to engage personal choices without interference.
A Passion for Information - The philosophic mind wants knowldge, facts, data. WHY? To have something to think with. We don't think very well with vacuums, though too often we try ; ) .... We need sufficient information to think our way to solutions. The prime purpose of gaining knowledge is to have information to think with.
THE PHILOSOPHIC MIND IS A QUESTION ASKING MIND
> What makes planets round?
> Is there life on other planets?
> Are birds really descendants of dinosaurs?
> What was Edgar Allen Poe really trying to express?
> Did Brittany Spears really go to Christian high school?
> What was Stravinsky attempting to express withi is Right of Spring?
> Why do some flowers only last a day?
> What is time?
> Where is we come from? What is my purpose? Where am I going? Why am I here? Why are there so many races? Do insects have feelings? Why do I care?
EPISOMOLOGY - The study of the origin, nature and limitations of knowledge.
AXIOLOGY - The study of the origin, nature and limitations of values.
How can I know right from wrong? Whose values should I adopt? Have I been fooled? What is justice? What is truth, beauty, art ? ? ?
The philosophic mind will not accept, will not tolerate, any stifling of this natural curiosity... it is the gift of thinking... the art of wondering.
METAPHYSICS - The study of the origin, nature and limitations of the non physical (what is the relationship between mind and matter; between substance and non-matter???) ONTOLOGY study of existence itself; being.
REASON / LOGIC -
A Passion for the Truth - Desire to know what is real. A desire to get it right, to face reality about the world, self, mankind . . . God.
A Passion for Understanding - Understanding the goal and purpose of acquiring knowledge. The mind naturally makes connections, but is must have data and ideas to connect. This a passion to SYNTHESIZE --- To combine ideas and information so as to form a fresh, new COMPLEX product. | 
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