Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the
highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically, consistently attempt to
live rationally, reasonably, empathetically. They use the intellectual tools that critical thinking
offers – concepts, and principles that enable them to analyze, assess, and improve thinking. They
work diligently to develop the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, intellectual humility,
intellectual civility, intellectual empathy, intellectual sense of justice and confidence to reason
(Elder, L., 2007)