Critical thinking and logical culture of personality and the models of the possible world

In today’s society, where information becomes a core value, the person is supposed to have a high culture of thinking: the ability to logically argue, relying on the knowledge of the laws, methods and forms of formal and dialectical logic, to give the definition and operate with concepts, to make inferences, to see the contradictions, to organize and classify existing knowledge, to distinguish truth from falsehood, relying on formal-logical criteria. The culture of thinking involves the implementation of practical and cognitive activity on the basis of logical rules and laws, conscious use of the conceptual apparatus of modern science with respect to the norms and principles of social cognition, including an active and critical attitude towards reality. Logical culture of personality is dependent on the logical culture of the society to which it belongs. The article shows that each culture creates not only a representation of the real, but also of the possible world that allows a person to think logically in generalized terms “possible experience.” A possible world is described with the use of deontic modality and stands as the world properly. There are two models of this description: relying on the formula “should be” and with the support formula “should be done”. It is shown that, according to the first model, the person needs to relate their actions primarily with moral maxims and is characterized by a low level of criticality. The second model, on the other hand, suggests that the rules regulate the procedure for action, and their use requires a high level of critical thinking. Logical culture of personality needs purposeful formation, which is provided by an organized cognitive activity within specialized social institutions, especially education institution. Responding to new social challenges, the education system should develop the trainees’ logical competence. The means of overcoming the described problem could consist in studying the discipline “Critical thinking”, along with formal logic. Critical thinking, relying on already established logical thinking skills, complements and develops them, raising a logical culture of the person.