Intellectual Virtues and Education: Essays in Applied Virtue Epistemology

285 Pages·2015·1.335 MB·English

by  Jason Baehr

Intellectual Virtues and Education
With its focus on intellectual virtues and their role in the acquisition and
transmission of knowledge and related epistemic goods, virtue epistemol-
ogy provides a rich set of tools for educational theory and practice. In
particular, characteristics under the rubric of “responsibilist” virtue episte-
mology, like curiosity, open-mindedness, attentiveness, intellectual courage,
and intellectual tenacity, can help educators and students define and attain
certain worthy but nebulous educational goals, like a love of learning, life-
long learning, and critical thinking. This volume is devoted to exploring the
intersection between virtue epistemology and education. It assembles lead-
ing virtue epistemologists and philosophers of education to address such
questions as: Which virtues are most essential to education? How exactly
should these virtues be understood? How is the goal of intellectual character
growth related to other educational goals, for example, to critical think-
ing and knowledge-acquisition? What are the “best practices” for achieving
this goal? Can growth in intellectual virtues be measured? The chapters are
prime examples of “applied epistemology” and promise to be a seminal
contribution to an area of research that is rapidly gaining attention within
epistemology and beyond.
Jason Baehr is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University,
USA. From 2012–2015, he served as director of The Intellectual Virtues
and Education Project and helped found the Intellectual Virtues Academy
of Long Beach.
Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com
44 Civic Virtue and the Sovereignty 52 The Ontology of Psychology
of Evil Questioning Foundations in the
Derek Edyvane Philosophy of Mind
Linda A.W. Brakel
45 Philosophy of Language and
Webs of Information 53 Pragmatism, Law, and Language
Heimir Geirsson Edited by Graham Hubbs and
Douglas Lind
46 Disagreement and Skepticism
Edited by Diego E. Machuca 54 Contemporary Dualism
A Defense
47 Philosophy in Schools Edited by Andrea Lavazza and
An Introduction for Philosophers Howard M. Robinson
and Teachers
Edited by Sara Goering, Nicholas 55 Reframing the Intercultural
J. Shudak, and Thomas E. Dialogue on Human Rights
Wartenberg A Philosophical Approach
Jeffrey Flynn
48 A Philosophy of Material Culture
Action, Function, and Mind 56 How History Matters to
Beth Preston Philosophy
Reconsidering Philosophy’s Past
49 A Philosophy of the Screenplay After Positivism
Ted Nannicelli Robert C. Scharff
50 Race, Philosophy, and Film 57 The Affordable Care Act Decision
Edited by Mary K. Philosophical and Legal
Bloodsworth-Lugo and Dan Flory Implications
Edited by Fritz Allhoff and
51 Knowledge, Virtue, and Action Mark Hall
Essays on Putting Epistemic
Virtues to Work 58 Realism, Science, and
Edited by Tim Henning and David Pragmatism
P. Schweikard Edited by Kenneth R. Westphal
59 Evidentialism and Epistemic 68 Music and Aesthetic Reality
Justification Formalism and the Limits of
Kevin McCain Description
Nick Zangwill
60 Democracy in Contemporary
Confucian Philosophy 69 Beyond the Analytic-Continental
David Elstein Divide
Pluralist Philosophy in the
61 Deleuze and Pragmatism Twenty-First Century
Edited by Sean Bowden, Edited by Jeffrey A. Bell,
Simone Bignall, and Paul Patton Andrew Cutrofello, and Paul M.
Livingston
62 Mind, Language and
Subjectivity 70 Science and the Self
Minimal Content and the Theory Animals, Evolution, and Ethics:
of Thought Essays in Honour of Mary
Nicholas Georgalis Midgley
Edited by Ian James Kidd and Liz
63 Believing Against the McKinnell
Evidence
Agency and the Ethics of 71 Resisting Biopolitics
Belief Philosophical, Political, and
Miriam Schleifer McCormick Performative Strategies
Edited by S.E. Wilmer and
64 The Essence of the Self Audronė Žukauskaitė
In Defense of the Simple
View of Personal Identity 72 Experiential Learning in
Geoffrey Madell Philosophy
Edited by Julinna Oxley and
65 Personal Autonomy and Ramona Ilea
Social Oppression
Philosophical Perspectives 73 On the Genealogy of Color
Edited by Marina A.L. Oshana A Case Study in Historicized
Conceptual Analysis
66 Domination and Global Zed Adams
Political Justice
Conceptual, Historical, and 74 Reification and the Aesthetics
Institutional Perspectives of Music
Edited by Barbara Buckinx, Jonathan Lewis
Jonathan Trejo-Mathys, and
Timothy Waligore 75 Intellectual Virtues and
Education
67 Hate Speech Law Essays in Applied Virtue
A Philosophical Examination Epistemology
Alexander Brown Edited by Jason Baehr
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Intellectual Virtues
and Education
Essays in Applied Virtue Epistemology
Edited by Jason Baehr
First published 2016
by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Baehr, Jason S., editor.
Title: Intellectual virtues and education : essays in applied virtue
epistemology / edited by Jason Baehr.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge studies in
contemporary philosophy ; 75 | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015032893 | ISBN 9781138887435 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Virtue epistemology. | Knowledge, Theory of.
Classification: LCC BD176 .I59 2016 | DDC 121—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015032893
ISBN: 978-1-138-88743-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-71412-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Steve Porter, with praise or blame (depending on the day)
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Contents
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction: Applying Virtue Epistemology to Education 1
JASON BAEHR
PART I
Which Intellectual Virtues Are Central to Education?
2 Open-Mindedness, Insight, and Understanding 18
WAYNE D. RIGGS
3 Why Should We Educate for Inquisitiveness? 38
LANI WATSON
4 Educating for Intellectual Humility 54
IAN JAMES KIDD
5 The Civic Virtues of Skepticism, Intellectual Humility,
and Intellectual Criticism 71
ALLAN HAZLETT
PART II
How Are Intellectual Virtues Related to Other
Educational Aims and Practices?
6 Critical Thinking and the Intellectual Virtues 95
HARVEY SIEGEL