In ‘Cultivating Good Minds’, Jason Baehr describes intellectual virtues as “virtues required to initially motivate learning”, “virtues required to guide the learning”, or “virtues required to overcome obstacles to learning.” According to ‘Intellectual Virtues’, “Intellectual virtues are traits that aim at things like truth, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. The intellectually virtuous person desires these things, is motivated to achieve them, and has the qualities that enable her to do so reliably. Exercising each virtue will require certain skills, and the good judgment to know when exercising those skills is appropriate.” Intellectual Virtues Academy writes, “Intellectual virtues involve the best practices of human thinking, whether the area of study is math, history, or any other subject. The focus is on developing a student’s mind to be a lifelong learner”, while Charlie Crerar in ‘Intellectual Virtues’ writes “Intellectual virtues are qualities that make us excellent thinkers.” Finally, “Intellectual virtues promote ways of thinking, reasoning and seeking the truth”, according to Dr. Duncan Pritchard in the podcast ‘What Are Intellectual Virtues?’. He continues with, “Learning intellectual humility, for example, can enhance open-mindedness and respect for other people’s opinions, whereas intellectual tenacity can improve students’ willingness to overcome intellectual obstacles.”
According to Aristotle, there are five intellectual virtues. These are: Artistry, Prudence, Intuition, Knowledge, and Wisdom. In ‘Nicomachean Ethics’, Aristotle states that intellectual virtue “owes its birth and growth to teaching (for which reason it requires experience and time)”. Aristotle continues by stating that, except for theoretical wisdom (sophia), the intellectual virtues are “natural endowments,” and “we do think that men have good sense (gnome), understanding (synesis), and intelligence (nous) by nature.” The third through fifth intellectual virtues – Intuition, Knowledge, and Wisdom – concern “Man as Knower” engaging in “speculative” or “theoretical thinking”, according to Mortimer Adler in ‘Aristotle for Everybody’. Let’s review the following intellectual virtues:
- Artistry
- Prudence
- Intuition
- Knowledge
- Wisdom
Artistry
“Artistry” is defined as “great skill in creating or performing something, such as in writing, music, sports.” The first intellectual virtue, artistry, concerns “Man as Maker” engaging in “productive thinking,” in the words of Mortimer Adler in ‘Aristotle for Everybody’. The arts, then, are traditions of craftsmanship that a student must be apprenticed into. For Aristotle, artistry is defined as “a state of capacity to make [something], involving a true course of reasoning” (Nicomachean Ethics Book VI, ch. 4).
Prudence
“Prudence” is defined as “the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason; sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs; skill and good judgment in the use of resources; caution or circumspection as to danger or risk.” The second intellectual virtue, prudence, concerns “Man as Doer” engaging in “practical thinking”, as said by Mortimer Adler in ‘Aristotle for Everybody’. According to ‘Aristotle’s Intellectual Virtues’, “Human beings not only make choices, they also reason about their choices, and communicate their rationale for planning and deciding on a course of action to others. For Aristotle, the ability to deliberate well intellectually is connected to the habituated application of all the moral virtues. In this way the head and the heart are intertwined in Aristotle’s educational ideal.” According to ‘Is every virtue a moral virtue?’, “Moral virtue cannot exist without prudence, because moral virtue is an elective habit, i.e., a habit that affects a good act of choosing (habitus faciens bonam electionem), and two things are required for a good act of choosing.” Finally, according to ‘The Cardinal Virtues’, “Prudence is the virtue that disposes of practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. The integral parts of prudence are memory of the past, understanding of the present, docility, shrewdness, reasoning power, foresight, circumspection, and precaution”.
Intuition
“Intuition” is defined as “is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning or needing of an explanation.” According to ‘Is every virtue a moral virtue?’, “It is through understanding that one has cognition of naturally known principles (per intellectum cognoscuntur principia naturaliter nota), both in speculative matters and matters having to do with action.” According to Neel Burton in ‘The Psychology and Philosophy of Intuition’, “What is interesting in Aristotle’s schema is that scientific knowledge (and reason more broadly) is not independent of intuition. Rather, it is intuition that makes scientific knowledge possible. Centuries later, Locke made a similar point in contrasting intuition and demonstration: demonstration requires conscious steps, but each step is or should be intuitive. At the very least, intuition underpins the reasoning process, since fundamental axioms and elementary rules of inference cannot be established by any other means – and, of course, the same is also true of our fundamental moral beliefs, of ‘practical wisdom’.”
Knowledge
“Knowledge” by definition is “the sum of what is known; the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by humankind”. In Posterior Analytics, we find Aristotle’s definition of scientific knowledge. According to Lucas Angioni in ‘Aristotle’s Definition of Scientific Knowledge’, “The definiens is taken to have only two informative parts: scientific knowledge must be knowledge of the cause and its object must be necessary.” According to Jarosław Olesiak, “Aristotle believes that the object of knowledge must be objectively true and necessary; it must subjectively be seen as necessary; the true cause has to be known; and the necessity of the causal connection must be perceived. The most important criterion for knowledge is objective necessity.” Some philosophers divide knowledge in categories such as explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge, and empirical knowledge.
Wisdom
“Wisdom” is defined as “ability to discern inner qualities and relationships, good sense”. In another source, “wisdom” is defined as “knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.” According to Got Questions, however, “wisdom and knowledge are related but not synonymous. Wisdom is ‘the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting.’ Knowledge, on the other hand, is ‘information gained through experience, reasoning, or acquaintance.’ Knowledge can exist without wisdom, but not the other way around.” In agreement with the previous definition of wisdom, Cambridge states that “wisdom” is “the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgments.” Finally, ‘Aristotle’s Intellectual Virtues’ states that, “Philosophic wisdom is attained when a person combines a mastery of intuition and scientific knowledge in the highest or most godlike matters.”
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