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Intellectual virtues are qualities of mind and character that promote intellectual flourishing, critical thinking, and the pursuit of truth. They include: intellectual responsibility,
perseverance Perseverance may refer to: Behaviour * Psychological resilience * Perseverance of the saints, a Protestant Christian teaching * Assurance (theology) Geography * Perseverance, Queensland, a locality in Australia * Perseverance Island, Seychelles ...
, open-mindedness,
empathy Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. Definitions of empathy encompass a broad range of social, co ...
,
integrity Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. In ...
, intellectual courage, confidence in reason, love of truth, intellectual humility, imaginativeness, curiosity, fair-mindedness, and autonomy. So-called virtue responsibilists conceive of intellectual virtues primarily as acquired character traits, such as intellectual conscientiousness and love of knowledge. Virtue reliabilists, by contrast, think of intellectual virtues more in terms of well-functioning mental faculties such as perception, memory, and intuition. Intellectual virtues are studied extensively in both critical thinking and
virtue epistemology Virtue epistemology is a contemporary philosophical approach to epistemology that stresses the importance of intellectual and specifically epistemic virtues. A distinguishing factor of virtue theories is that they use for the evaluation of knowledg ...
.


Aristotle

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
analyzed
virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standards ...
s into and virtues. In the '' Posterior Analytics'' and '' Nicomachean Ethics'' he identified five intellectual virtues as the five ways the soul arrives at truth by affirmation or denial. These are then separated into three classes: *Theoretical **'' Sophia'' – wisdom (rational intuition and scientific knowledge directed toward the highest and most valuable objects) **''
Episteme In philosophy, episteme (; french: épistémè) is a term that refers to a principle system of understanding (i.e., knowledge), such as scientific knowledge or practical knowledge. The term comes from the Ancient Greek verb grc, ἐπῐ́ ...
'' – scientific knowledge of objects that are necessary and unchanging **'' Nous'' – rational intuition of first principles or self-evident truths *Practical **''
Phronesis ''Phronesis'' ( grc, φρόνησῐς, phrónēsis), translated into English by terms such as prudence, practical virtue and practical wisdom, or, colloquially, sense (as in "good sense", "horse sense") is an ancient Greek word for a type of w ...
'' – practical wisdom/prudence *Productive **''
Techne In philosophy, techne (; , ) is a term that refers to making or doing, which in turn is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "Teks-" meaning "to weave," also "to fabricate". As an activity, ''technē'' is concrete, variable, and context-dep ...
'' – craft knowledge, art, skill Subjacent intellectual virtues in Aristotle: *'' Euboulia'' – deliberating well, deliberative excellence; thinking properly about the right end. * '' Sunesis'' – understanding, sagacity, astuteness, consciousness of why something is as it is. For example, the understanding you have of why a situation is as it is, prior to having ''phronesis''. *'' Gnomê'' – judgement and consideration; allowing us to make equitable or fair decisions. *'' Deinotes'' – cleverness; the ability to carry out actions so as to achieve a goal.


See also

* Critical thinking *
Epistemic virtue The epistemic virtues, as identified by virtue epistemologists, reflect their contention that belief is an ethical process, and thus susceptible to the intellectual virtue or vice of one's own life and personal experiences. Some epistemic virtues h ...
*
Ethics of belief The ethics of belief refers to a cluster of related issues that focus on standards of rational belief, intellectual excellence, and conscientious belief-formation. Among the questions addressed in the field are: * Are there standards of some sort ( ...
* Intellectual dishonesty *
Intellectual responsibility Intellectual responsibility (also known as epistemic responsibility) is a philosophical concept related to that of epistemic justification. According to Frederick F. Schmitt, "the conception of justified belief as epistemically responsible belief h ...
*
Paideia ''Paideia'' (also spelled ''paedeia'') ( /paɪˈdeɪə/; Greek: παιδεία, ''paideía'') referred to the rearing and education of the ideal member of the ancient Greek polis or state. These educational ideals later spread to the Greco-Roman ...
*
Virtue ethics Virtue ethics (also aretaic ethics, from Greek ἀρετή arete_(moral_virtue).html"_;"title="'arete_(moral_virtue)">aretḗ''_is_an_approach_to_ethics_that_treats_the_concept_of_virtue.html" ;"title="arete_(moral_virtue)">aretḗ''.html" ; ...


References

*Aristotle, ''Nicomachean Ethics'', Book VI. *Richard Paul ''Critical Thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World'' (Rev. 2nd ed.). Santa Rosa, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 1992. *Richard Paul and Linda Elder, ''Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001. *Michael DePaul and Linda Zagzebski, eds. ''Intellectual Virtue''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. *James Montmarquet, ''Epistemic Virtue and Doxastic Responsibility''. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1993. *Robert C. Roberts and W. Jay Wood, ''Intellectual Virtues: An Essay in Regulative Epistemology''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.


External links

{{Wikiversity, Seeking True Beliefs
Virtue Epistemology
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Glossary of Critical Thinking Terms: An Educator's Guide to Critical Thinking Terms and Concept
Philosophy of Aristotle Virtue