Terms of Use

Please read these Terms of Use (‘Terms’) carefully before using the Critical Thinking Community website (‘website,’ ‘the website’) operated by The Foundation for Critical Thinking (‘FCT’). By visiting, utilizing, or otherwise accessing this website, you are agreeing to these Terms. If you disagree with any part of these Terms, then you may not use the website.

1. The term ‘use,’ as it applies to the website, refers to any visitation, access, or utilization of the website or any of its services.
2. The term ‘user’ refers to any individual who visits, accesses, or utilizes the website or any of its services.
3. The term ‘suspend,’ as it applies to web accounts, refers to the temporary disablement of a web account by a website administrator. During said disablement, the web account’s user may not log into or otherwise utilize the web account.
4. The term ‘delete,’ as it applies to web accounts, refers to the deliberate termination of a web account by its user or by a website administrator. Lapses in subscription renewal do not constitute deletion of a web account.
5. The term ‘web account’ refers to any subscription-based web account on the website, which provides access to resources and features that non-subscribing visitors do not have access to.
6. The term ‘website administrator’ refers to any employee or designee of the Foundation for Critical Thinking, with administrative privileges on the website that other website users do not have.

We aim to maintain a highly inclusive community, and must do so within the limits of reasonability and legality. Therefore:

1. Individuals under the age of thirteen (13) may not use the website.
2. Individuals over the age of thirteen (13) but under the age of eighteen (18) must have the permission of a parent or legal guardian to use the website. The parent or legal guardian must agree to these Terms to grant his or her child permission to use the website.
3. Individuals may not use the website if they are unable to do so lawfully.
4. Individuals whose web accounts have been suspended by a website administrator may not use the website for the duration of the suspension.
5. Individuals whose web accounts have been deleted by a website administrator may not use the website unless given written notice (by an FCT employee) to the contrary.
6. Individuals who cannot safely use the website due to one or more medical conditions may not use the website.
7. Individuals who refuse to agree to any part of these Terms may not use the website.

All users of the website must agree to our Privacy Policy.

The website allows you to post, link, store, share, and otherwise make available certain information, text, graphics, videos, or other digital material (‘Content’). You are responsible for any Content that you upload. You further acknowledge and agree that the website and the FCT shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with creation of, use of, or reliance on any such Content, or any goods or services, available on or through this website or its services. In addition, the website has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, usage terms, or practices of any third-party websites or services.

The FCT reserves the right to delete or otherwise moderate any and all content uploaded to the website. We strive to only moderate content in strict accordance with the rules and guidelines explicitly described in these Terms; however, there may be unique cases where content must be deleted or otherwise moderated, even if said content is not precisely described in this document.

You own the Content that you create and share on the website, and you are free to share your Content elsewhere. However, we require legal permission to utilize your Content in order to provide this website’s services to you and its other users. When you upload or otherwise share Content on this website, you are granting us a global license to maintain at least one copy of said Content, display it to other users of the website, and back up the Content (as a safeguard against potential data loss in the future). This license is non-exclusive, transferable, and royalty-free. You can terminate this license to your Content by deleting said Content or deleting your web account.

Users of the website must conduct themselves respectfully, maturely, and in accordance with applicable laws. The following are rules for users who share Content (including textual comments) on the website:

1. Do not share illegal Content. Sharing illegal Content includes engaging in defamation against any third party.
2. Do not personally insult/attack other users or behave in a needlessly confrontational, aggressive manner.
3. Do not engage in ‘trolling’ or other disingenuous behavior that serves to deliberately sabotage, derail, obstruct, or otherwise undermine any discussion.
4. Do not discriminate against others on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, etc.
5. Do not share or otherwise refer to personal data about other users unless 1) they have already shared that data with the website community at large, and 2) the data in question remains visible to the website’s community at large (i.e., has not been deleted by the member who shared it or by a website administrator).
6. Do not share or otherwise refer to personal data about any third-party unless that data has already been made publicly available in a lawful manner (for example, where that party has published said data on his or her public website).
7. Do not share Content that violates another person’s or entity’s copyright. This includes reproducing another user’s original Content as if it was your own, except where that user has authorized such usage in writing.
8. Do not share confidential or classified information.
9. Be cautious and discerning when discussing financial information, sales trends, business strategies and/or forecasts, legal issues, or promotional activities.
10. Do not upload any malicious code or file to the website. Do not share any malicious code or file with any other user.
11. Do not engage with the website by automated means – for example, by using ‘bots.’
12. Wherever you are recommending or discouraging use of a product, service, job listing, source of information, etc., and there is a potential conflict of interest, please straightforwardly disclose your associations with the benefitting party or parties.

If a website administrator determines that you have violated one of the above rules, he or she may take one or more of the following actions:

1. A verbal warning to the user in question and/or a request to modify or delete the Content in question.
2. Modification or deletion of the Content in question.
3. Suspension of the web account used to share the Content in question.
4. Deletion of the web account used to share the Content in question.

Whenever a website administrator takes any of the actions above, the user in question will be promptly notified at the email address which he or she provided when registering for a web account.

All users are encouraged to report Content that violates any of the above rules, but should avoid engaging in frivolous reporting (for example, by reporting non-violating Content merely because you disagree with or dislike it). To report Content that violates the Rules of Conduct, please flag the Content or get in touch with us via our Contact Us page.

If you believe that Content you’ve shared has been wrongly moderated or deleted, or that your web account has been wrongly suspended or terminated, please get in touch with us via our Contact Us page.

The Center for Critical Thinking Community website exists partly as an alternative to mainstream social media, which is rife with inaccurate statements, ideas dictated by emotion rather than reason, ‘knee-jerk’ reactions, ‘trolling,’ and so forth. Discussion about controversial or otherwise complicated topics is welcome here, but should be done respectfully, maturely, and in the spirit of seeking truth, reaching new understandings, developing sounder judgment, and so on. The following are general guidelines for ensuring productive discussions on the website:

1. Approach communication with other users in good faith, especially where there is disagreement.
2. Assume good faith in other users – especially where there is disagreement – until you are given good reason not to.
3. Go to reasonable lengths to ensure that information you provide to others on this website is accurate; provide caveats to the extent that you are unsure of a statement’s accuracy.
4. Genuinely consider both the merits and shortcomings of what others are communicating before you respond. Avoid posting knee-jerk reactions.
5. Use memes sparingly.
6. To the best of your ability, avoid misrepresenting the work of the Foundation for Critical Thinking and its scholars. We understand that errors are inevitable when learning a new cognitive framework, and we do not expect anyone to demonstrate a perfect grasp of the Paul- Elder Framework for Critical Thinking™. However, we ask you to make a good-faith effort to minimize inaccurate portrayals of the work. This can include modifying our diagrams in ways that change or misrepresent what said diagrams communicate. For permission to use our work, email us at cct@criticalthinking.org.
7. Remember that the purpose of this community is to create and maintain a space for elevated and enlightened forms of thinking, learning, dialogue, and growth.

Guidelines for Productive Dialogue are not enforced as strictly as the aforementioned Rules of Conduct. That said, we ask all users to preserve the spirit of these guidelines in the interest of advancing fairminded, robust critical thinking within the community.

There may be occasions where you are contacted by an administrator with a reminder of one or more of these guidelines. There may also be occasions where, in the spirit of said guidelines, one or more of the following actions are undertaken by an administrator:

1. Contacting a user with a request to modify or delete the content in question.
2. Deletion or other moderation of the content in question.

In such instances, punitive action will not be taken except in extreme cases where egregious, repeated disrespect of the guidelines becomes disruptive to the community. In such cases, an administrator may take one or more of the following actions:

1. A verbal warning to the user in question.
2. Suspension of the web account used to share the Content in question.

Whenever a website administrator takes any of the actions above, the user in question will be promptly notified at the email address which he or she provided when registering for a web account.

If you believe a user is causing disruption by egregiously disregarding the Guidelines for Productive Dialogue, please get in touch with us via our Contact Us page. Please remember not to engage in frivolous reporting (for example, reporting non-violating Content merely because you disagree with or dislike it).

If you believe that Content you’ve shared has been wrongly moderated or deleted, or that your web account has been wrongly suspended or terminated, please get in touch with us via our Contact Us page.

If you wish to cancel your subscription to The Critical Thinking Community, you may do so anytime from either your Profile page, or your Account Options page. If you cancel after the beginning of a given month or year (depending on the billing schedule for your subscription), your account will retain its access for the duration of the aforementioned period and there will be no future charges. We do not provide refunds for these cancellations; once your card is charged for a given period, that period, or any part of that period, will not be refunded. If you no longer accept these terms and conditions, or future revisions of these terms and conditions, you must cease use of the website. Continued use of the website indicates acceptance of these terms and conditions.

If you no longer wish to have a registered web account on the website, you may delete your web account. If you no longer accept these terms and conditions, or future revisions of these terms and conditions, you must cease use of the website. Continued use of the website indicates acceptance of these terms and conditions.

If, for any reason, we believe that you have not complied with these Terms of use, we may, at our sole discretion, suspend or delete your web account immediately and without prior notice. If this is the case, you will be notified at the email address you provided us when you registered for a web account.

The website and its original Content (except Content generated by the website’s users), features, and functionality are owned by The Foundation for Critical Thinking and are protected by international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.

We make every effort to protect and preserve data that is submitted to the website (except where otherwise stated in these Terms), or to the FCT by other means when website-related support is being solicited (except where otherwise stated in these Terms). However, breaches or loss of data are a risk with any website and any storage medium that is connected to the internet; as such, the FCT shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with a loss or breach of the aforementioned types of data.

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material we will make a good-faith effort to provide reasonable advance notice prior to said revision taking effect. What constitutes a material change will be determined at our sole discretion.

If any portion of these Terms is found in any jurisdiction to be illegal, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable, the remaining Terms shall remain in force within that jurisdiction, and the Terms in their entirety (including said portion) shall remain in force in all jurisdictions where they have not been found illegal, invalid, or otherwise unenforceable.

Any claims, disputes, or other matters in question arising out of or related to this Agreement will be resolved by the following means.

1. The Parties will first attempt to resolve the matter through good-faith discussions among the Parties' officers having authority to resolve claims, disputes, and other matters in question as they relate to this Agreement. This period of attempted resolution shall last a minimum of twenty-one (21) days beyond the date when the claim, dispute, or other matter in question is first delivered in writing to one Party by the other.
2. Any claim, dispute, or other matter in question arising out of or related to this Agreement, if not resolved in accordance with section 27a above, shall be resolved by final and binding arbitration in accordance with the rules and procedures of the American Arbitration Association, unless otherwise noted in this Agreement or unless the Parties mutually agree otherwise. Arbitration will be held in Santa Barbara County, California using one arbitrator, unless the Dispute exceeds one million US dollars in which case there shall be three neutral arbitrators, as a panel. The arbitrators may award costs and/or attorneys' fees to the prevailing party. The parties understand that arbitration is final and binding and that they are waiving their rights to other resolution processes (such as court action or administrative proceeding).