This text examines the fundamental requirement of critical thinking as it emerges from the reflection of the thinking process itself. The author challenges the notion that criticality is a purely immanent feature of thought, asserting that such a view would be inherently uncritical. Through the lens of intentionality, the paper demonstrates that every mental act necessarily relates to something external—an intentional object that is not a component of the act itself. A key contribution is the expansion of this framework to include what the author terms intentional "non-objects." It is argued that intentionality is not exhausted by objective relations alone. Therefore, one must distinguish the intentional object from intentional non-objects, neither of which are immanent or inherent to the mental act. By narrowing the definition of the object and contrasting it with non-objects, the text highlights that critical thinking depends on recognizing the external orientation of consciousness. This ontological distinction provides a basis for understanding how thought engages with a reality that transcends the boundaries of the thinking subject's internal processes.