Critical Thinking, Moral Courage, and Sustainable Development Goals. Universities as a Driving Force for Societal Change

This essay proposes that the university is the starting point of change and the point zero for the implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is argued that the university should reassume its moral ground, a teleological humanistic role, in which sustainability is the prime principle. To engage in critical thinking (CT) learning activities is also to develop courage, grit, and determination. Quality higher education involves critical thinking development because it should develop the personality for future work, as the World Economic Forum (2018), declared, identifying critical thinking as the third, in order of importance, among the required skills for twenty-first century jobs. However, if we also consider the SDGs, and in particular Goal 4, we realize that there must be another key ingredient to a successful education for the future, viz. moral and argumentative courage. Critical thinking is more than argumentation skills; it is a complex psychological reality (Dumitru in Proc Soc Behav Sci 33:143–147, 2012) comprising also dispositions for critical thinking (Facione in Critical thinking: a statement of expert consensus for purposes of educational assessment and instruction. Research findings and recommendations. The California Academic Press, Millbrae, 1990). Through developing these personality features, which requires a long period of time, another personality trait will emerge, namely courage, a virtue which is essential in tackling inequalities, achieving peace, and progressing toward building better institutions. Educating for CT in higher education means building the mental infrastructure which will allow the growth of character and values, including the courage and fortitude necessary to pursue the fulfillment of the SDGs. Only the brave can live authentically.