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Study Guide Lesson 11
Philosophy and Contemporary Ideas (Liberty
University)
lOMoARcPSD|21126671
PHIL 201
Lesson Overview
STUDY GUIDE: LESSON 11
The Intellectual Virtues
In the lesson, we introduce a highly two important issues in epistemology: intellectual virtues
and virtue epistemology. We first introduce virtue itself and then go on the show how they can
be applied to our intellectual pursuits. After this, we show how specific intellectual virtues like
humility, honesty, courage, and carefulness helps us gain an accurate understanding of reality.
Tasks
In How Do We Know? (2nd ed.), read ch. 9, “What Is Virtue epistemology?” As you do,
consider the following questions and points:
•Aside from Epistemology, in which area of philosophy do discussions of virtues
and vices arise?
- Ethics and morality
•How was Aristotle’s understanding of happiness different from hedonistic
understandings of it?
- In Aristotle’s understanding, happiness is a sort of well-being or excellence of the soul
that is “in keeping with virtue.” In other words, like Plato, Aristotle thought that
virtues promote well-being and excellence in a particular person
•How should we define virtue?
- virtue to be some quality or characteristic of a person that promotes health, well-being,
or excellence. And they argued that a person acquires virtues through proper education,
practice, and good habits.
•What is a vice and how does it compare to virtue?
- vices are those qualities that are destructive to a person (opposite of a virtue)
•Describe Aristotle’s understanding of the Golden Mean.
- Aristotle defines virtue as a middle quality or characteristic—or golden mean—
that promotes well-being in those who possess it. Page 107
•What are the two kinds of vices that Aristotle mentions?
•How did Aristotle say that virtue develops in a person?
- they are not in us by nature but are developed in us as we practice the right kinds of
habits. Educating a person correctly is vital.
•What is an Intellectual Virtue?
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PHIL 201
- intellectual virtue is something that confers excellence on a person’s intellectual
processes. These intellectual virtues include craft or art (ability to reason about
production), science (the ability to deduce truth from things that are necessary), prudence
(the ability to choose rationally about good and bad), wisdom (knowing how to properly
apply our knowledge), and understanding (ability to apprehend the fundamental nature
of reality). What these abilities help us to do, according to Aristotle, is grasp the truth
and attain knowledge.
•According to Aquinas, what is the relationship between moral and intellectual
virtues?
- In order to do well, one must first think well. But, as Aquinas and others like him would
affirm, thinking well requires one to be guided by intellectual virtues. In his view, true
well-being and goodness in a person require both moral and intellectual virtues to work in
unison.
•What are the 5 ways that Wood says moral and intellectual virtues are parallel
to each other?
1. First, he suggests that like moral virtues, intellectual virtues are cultivated by a
“developmental process extending though a lifetime.” In other words, these are not like
skills that we can quickly acquire. They take time and maturity along the course of our
life.
2. Second, growth in moral and intellectual virtue “is not automatic.” Just because
someone gets older does not necessarily mean that the person becomes morally or
intellectually virtuous.
3. Third, both moral and intellectual virtues are best developed in the context of
a community, as opposed to personal isolation
4. Fourth, for both moral and intellectual virtues, when we have acquired a virtue, we must
work to prevent regression into a vice.
5. Fifth, “growing in intellectual virtue requires that we grow in moral virtues, and
vice versa.”
•Describe the way each of the intellectual virtues work towards helping us find
the truth.
- By doing so, they contend that many of the traditional problems in epistemology can be
overcome and genuine progress can be made.
- studiousness, humility, honesty, autonomy, courage, firmness, generosity, and prudence.
Pg 110
•How might virtue epistemology help us with the Gettier Problem?
Vices of Excess
Vices of Deficiency
Studiousness
Humility
Honesty
Courage
Carefulness
Virtue
Vice
Moral Virtues
Intellectual Virtues
Virtue Epistemology
Eudaimonia
Hedonism
Golden Mean
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PHIL 201
- some philosophers have suggested that JTB might still work as long as the justification
for a belief J is acquired in a virtuous fashion. In other words, if you have been as
careful as possible in acquiring the belief that you see your mom in the room and have
considered all the evidence necessary to draw that conclusion, then your JTB may very
well yield knowledge.
Terms
Make sure you can explain the following terms and concepts:
