Currently, there are several conceptualizations about critical thinking, most of them classify it in definitions, methodological approaches and instruments. Objective of this article is to offer an ontological classification based on theoretical review, analyzing goals define critical thinking as human praxis, considering two approaches: intrapersonal process, seeing it as a process of refining information; and as interpersonal process where thought is interactive in its nature and culturally situated. A literature review was carried out, analyzing programs developed in higher education, and linking those programs to approaches, based on objectives and working procedures. We conclude that critical thinking is a complex process, which has experienced a conceptual and epistemological evolution, guiding it today towards social praxis and not merely individual, because of it's framing in epistemology and actions that promote interaction among people.