Study smarter with Fiveable
Get study guides, practice questions, and cheatsheets for all your subjects. Join 500,000+ students with a 96% pass rate.
Epistemic virtues sit at the heart of epistemology because they answer a crucial question: what kind of thinker should you be to reliably gain knowledge? While much of epistemology focuses on what knowledge is and how we justify beliefs, the study of epistemic virtues shifts attention to the character traits that make someone a good knower. You're being tested on how these virtues connect to broader epistemological concepts like justification, reliability, intellectual responsibility, and the social dimensions of knowledge.
These virtues aren't just abstract ideals—they're practical tools for navigating disagreement, evaluating evidence, and recognizing your own cognitive limitations. Exam questions often ask you to distinguish between virtues, explain how they work together, or analyze cases where virtues conflict. Don't just memorize a list of traits—understand what epistemic problem each virtue solves and how it contributes to responsible belief formation.
These virtues address a fundamental challenge: our natural tendency to favor what we already believe. They counteract cognitive biases and create space for genuine learning.
Compare: Open-mindedness vs. Intellectual humility—both involve receptivity to change, but open-mindedness focuses on engaging with new ideas while humility focuses on acknowledging your own limitations. If an FRQ asks about belief revision, discuss how these virtues work together.
These virtues drive the pursuit of knowledge forward. They explain why good epistemic agents don't passively wait for truth but actively seek it out.
Compare: Intellectual curiosity vs. Perseverance—curiosity initiates inquiry while perseverance sustains it. Both are necessary: curiosity without perseverance leads to superficial understanding; perseverance without curiosity becomes mere stubbornness.
These virtues govern how we process information once we've gathered it. They ensure our reasoning meets standards of logical and evidential quality.
Compare: Critical thinking vs. Objectivity—critical thinking provides the methods for good evaluation (logic, argument analysis), while objectivity addresses the disposition to apply those methods impartially. You need both: rigorous methods applied with bias still yield distorted conclusions.
These virtues concern the ethical dimensions of knowledge-seeking. They ensure that epistemic agents remain trustworthy participants in the social enterprise of knowledge.
Compare: Intellectual honesty vs. Intellectual integrity—honesty focuses on accurate representation to others, while integrity concerns consistency between your reasoning and conclusions. Dishonesty deceives others; lack of integrity involves a kind of self-deception or intellectual cowardice.
| Concept | Best Examples |
|---|---|
| Counteracting bias | Open-mindedness, Objectivity, Intellectual fairness |
| Motivating inquiry | Intellectual curiosity, Intellectual courage |
| Sustaining inquiry | Perseverance, Intellectual courage |
| Self-assessment | Intellectual humility, Critical thinking |
| Social epistemology | Intellectual honesty, Intellectual integrity, Intellectual fairness |
| Belief revision | Open-mindedness, Intellectual humility, Intellectual integrity |
| Argument evaluation | Critical thinking, Objectivity, Intellectual fairness |
Which two virtues most directly address the problem of confirmation bias, and how do their approaches differ?
A philosopher argues that intellectual humility and intellectual courage are in tension—humility requires doubting yourself while courage requires defending your views. How might you resolve this apparent conflict?
Compare and contrast intellectual honesty and intellectual integrity. Could someone possess one without the other? Provide an example.
If an FRQ asks you to explain why epistemic virtues matter for social epistemology (how knowledge functions in communities), which three virtues would you emphasize and why?
A student says, "I'm very open-minded—I'll believe anything." Explain why this misunderstands open-mindedness and identify which other virtue this student is missing.