Central and East European
Society for Phenomenology

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235210

Perseverance as an intellectual virtue

Nathan L. King

pp. 3501-3523

Abstract

Much recent work in virtue epistemology has focused on the analysis of such intellectual virtues as responsibility, conscientiousness, honesty, courage, open-mindedness, firmness, humility, charity, and wisdom. Absent from the literature is an extended examination of perseverance as an intellectual virtue. The present paper aims to fill this void. In Sect. 1, I clarify the concept of an intellectual virtue, and distinguish intellectual virtues from other personal characters and properties. In Sect. 2, I provide a conceptual analysis of intellectually virtuous perseverance that places perseverance in opposition to its vice-counterparts, intransigence and irresolution. The virtue is a matter of continuing in one’s intellectual activities for an appropriate amount of time, in the pursuit of intellectual goods, despite obstacles to one’s attainment of those goods. In Sect. 3, I explore relations between intellectually virtuous perseverance and other intellectual virtues. I argue that such perseverance is necessary for the possession and exercise of several other intellectual virtues, including courage. These connections highlight the importance of perseverance in a comprehensive account of such virtues.

Publication details

Published in:

(2014) Synthese 191 (15).

Pages: 3501-3523

DOI: 10.1007/s11229-014-0418-1

Full citation:

King Nathan L. (2014) „Perseverance as an intellectual virtue“. Synthese 191 (15), 3501–3523.