The Inquiring Mind On Intellectual Virtues and Virtue Epistemology

by Baehr, Jason

• ISBN13: 9780199604074
• ISBN10: 019960407X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-09-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Inquiring Mindis a new contribution to 'responsibilist' or character-based virtue-epistemology -- an approach to epistemology in which intellectual character traits like open-mindedness, fair-mindedness, inquisitiveness, and intellectual courage, rigor, and generosity are given a central and fundamental role. Jason Baehr provides an accessible introduction to virtue epistemology and intellectual virtues, and establishes two main goals. The first is to shed light on the nature and structure of intellectual virtues and their role in the cognitive economy. To this end, he examines the difference between intellectual virtues and intellectual faculties, talents, temperaments, and skills, develops a 'personal worth' account of the nature of an intellectual virtue, contrasts this account with several others, and provides analyses of two individual virtues: namely, open-mindedness and intellectual courage. The second main goal is to account for the role that reflection on intellectual character virtues should play within epistemology at large. Here Baehr defends three main claims. The first is that the concept of intellectual virtue does not merit a central or fundamental role within traditional epistemology. The second is that it does, nonetheless, merit a secondary or background role in this context. The third is that intellectual character virtues and their role in intellectual life can form the basis of an approach to epistemology that is distinct from but complementary to traditional epistemology. Finally, Baehr examines the relation between intellectual and moral virtues.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Intellectual virtue: some examples	p. 3
Virtue epistemology	p. 6
A very brief history	p. 6
Four varieties of character-based virtue epistemology	p. 9
An overview of the book	p. 13
Intellectual Virtues	p. 17
Some natural groupings of intellectual virtues	p. 17
Virtues, faculties, talents, temperaments, and skills	p. 22
Faculties	p. 22
Talents	p. 25
Temperaments	p. 26
Skills	p. 29
Conclusion	p. 32
Knowledge and Intellectual Virtue	p. 33
Zagzebski's account of knowledge	p. 34
Are intellectual virtues (plus true belief) sufficient for knowledge?	p. 36
Are intellectual virtues necessary for knowledge?	p. 39
Low-grade "knowledge" is not genuine knowledge	p. 40
Mimicking an intellectually virtuous agent	p. 40
"Low-level" virtuous motives and actions	p. 41
Conclusion	p. 44
Prospects for Strong Conservative VE	p. 45
Virtue and Character in Reliabilism	p. 47
The exclusion of character virtues within reliabilist epistemology	p. 49
Character virtues as reliabilist knowledge-makers	p. 52
Theoretical reverberations	p. 60
Conclusion	p. 67
Evidentialism, Vice, and Virtue	p. 68
Problem cases	p. 69
Cases of defective inquiry	p. 70
Cases of defective "doxastic handling" of evidence	p. 75
Modifying evidentialism	p. 79
Bonjour's evidentialism	p. 83
Conclusion	p. 86
A Personal Worth Conception of Intellectual Virtue	p. 88
Preliminaries	p. 89
Personal worth and intellectual virtue	p. 91
Personal intellectual worth	p. 92
Clarifications	p. 94
The basis of personal worth simplkiter	p. 96
The basis of personal intellectual worth	p. 100
The account summarized	p. 102
The broad structure of an intellectual virtue	p. 102
Assessing the account	p. 104
Intellectual carefulness and thoroughness	p. 105
Creativity and originality	p. 106
Intellectual conscientiousness	p. 108
Intellectual generosity	p. 110
Conclusion	p. 111
The Personal Worth Conception and Its Rivals	p. 112
Similar conceptions	p. 113
Hurka's "recursive" conception	p. 113
Adams and "excellence in being for the good"	p. 118
Dissimilar conceptions	p. 123
Driver's consequentialist account	p. 123
Hursthouse's naturalism	p. 127
Zagzebski's "motivational" account	p. 132
Conclusion	p. 138
Open-Mindedness	p. 140
Some initial characterizations of open-mindedness	p. 141
Open-mindedness: a unified account	p. 148
The conceptual core of open-mindedness	p. 148
A definition of open-mindedness	p. 152
Open-mindedness and other cognitive excellences	p. 155
When to be open-minded?	p. 157
Conclusion	p. 162
Intellectual Courage	p. 163
Intellectual courage vs. moral courage	p. 163
Some examples	p. 164
The "context" of intellectual courage	p. 169
The "substance" of intellectual courage	p. 172
Intellectual courage: a definition	p. 177
Challenging cases	p. 179
Ill-motivated courage?	p. 179
Easy courage?	p. 183
When to be intellectually courageous?	p. 186
The Status and Future of Character-Based Virtue Epistemology	p. 191
Four varieties of character-based virtue epistemology	p. 192
Assessing the alternatives	p. 193
Strong Conservative VE	p. 193
Weak Conservative VE	p. 193
Strong Autonomous VE	p. 194
Weak Autonomous VE	p. 199
A final objection	p. 202
Appendix: On the Distinction between Intellectual and Moral Virtues	p. 206
Belief vs. action	p. 207
A unifying principle for intellectual virtues	p. 208
A teleological account	p. 209
An alternative proposal	p. 214
Implications	p. 218
Driver on intellectual and moral virtue	p. 220
References	p. 223
Index	p. 231
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