So, you want to be a critical thinker? Listen to Marcus Aurelius

[image: Marcus Aurelius on horse, Vatican Museums, photo by the author]

These days there is much talk about “critical thinking,” though it’s hard to pinpoint what is meant by this rather abused phrase. At the college level, for instance, almost every department claims to be teaching critical thinking, but arguably only philosophy and, with caveats, psychology programs actually do. That’s because critical thinking isn’t just the notion that we should…