letter to the reader..........iiiintroduction: the power of essential questions..........1part one: analytic questions..........3questioning the structure of thinking..........3three kinds of questions..........6asking one system, no system, and conflicting system questions..........7questioning dogmatic absolutism and subjective relativism..........8questioning concepts..........9conceptual tools for conceptual questions..........11questioning data, information, and experience..........13questioning questions: identifying prior questions..........14asking complex interdisciplinary questions..........15interdisciplinary questions: an example..........16questioning in decision-making and problem-solving..........17guidelines and guideline questions for effective problem-solving..........19part two: evaluative questions..........20determining value, merit, and worth..........20evaluating reasoning (overall)..........21evaluating reasoning (the parts)..........23questioning clarity and precision..........24questioning as we read..........25questioning as we write..........26asking ethical questions..........27questioning bias and propaganda..........30part three: questioning within academic disciplines..........32questioning the fundamental logic of academic disciplines..........32applying the elements of reasoning to questioning within a discipline..........34questioning the status of disciplines..........35questioning to understand the foundations of academic disciplines..........36part four: questioning for self-knowledge and self-development..........39questioning ourselves as learners..........39questioning our egocentrism..........41questioning our sociocentrism..........43questioning to develop intellectual dispositions..........44socratic thinking is an integrated, disciplined approach to thinking..........4