Intellectual virtues are qualities of mind and character that promote intellectual flourishing, critical thinking, and the pursuit of truth. They include: intellectual responsibility,
perseverance, 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, cog ...
,
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
Intellectual courage falls under the family of philosophical intellectual virtues, which stems from an individual's own doxastic logic.
Broadly differentiated from physical courage, intellectual courage refers to the cognitive risks strongly tied ...
, 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
Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased an ...
and
virtue epistemology.
Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...
analyzed
virtue
Virtue ( la, virtus) is morality, moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is Value (ethics), valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that sh ...
s into and virtues. In the ''
Posterior Analytics
The ''Posterior Analytics'' ( grc-gre, Ἀναλυτικὰ Ὕστερα; la, Analytica Posteriora) is a text from Aristotle's ''Organon'' that deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. The demonstration is distinguish ...
'' 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
Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to:
*Sophia (wisdom)
*Sophia (Gnosticism)
*Sophia (given name)
Places
*Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu
*Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana
*Sophia, North Carolina, an unincorpor ...
'' – 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 verbs, Ancient Greek verb ...
'' – scientific knowledge of objects that are necessary and unchanging
**''
Nous
''Nous'', or Greek νοῦς (, ), sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, is a concept from classical philosophy for the faculty of the human mind necessary for understanding what is true or real.
Alternative English terms used i ...
'' – 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 ...
'' – 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
Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased an ...
*
Epistemic virtue
*
Ethics of belief
*
Intellectual dishonesty
Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem solving, characterised by an unbiased, honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways:
* One's personal beliefs or politics do not interfere with the pursuit of truth ...
*
Intellectual responsibility
*
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-Rom ...
*
Virtue ethics
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