Virtues of the Mind: An Inquiry into the Nature of Virtue and the Ethical Foundations of Knowledge

by Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski

Almost all theories of knowledge and justified belief employ moral concepts and forms of argument borrowed from moral theories, but none of them pay attention to the current renaissance in virtue ethics. This remarkable book is the first attempt to establish a theory of knowledge based on the model of virtue theory in ethics. The book develops the concept of an intellectual virtue, and then shows how the concept can be used to give an account of the major concepts in epistemology, including the concept of knowledge.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 1996

Reviews

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shortly after writing this book (copyright 1996), Linda interviewed at the University of Oklahoma and became the Kingfisher College Chair of the Philosophy Of Religion and Ethics. She was in the vanguard leading a paradigm shift in the way epistemology was approached, from the belief-based theories which had become mired in Gettier problems to a virtue approach. We at OU were excited and lucky to get her.

At the time, while still in grad school, I put this book "on the list" to read sometime. But while in grad school itself, I was working on other topics, and there wasn't much time for reading philosophy books outside those disciplines. Then, I always meant to get around to it.

Finally, when I realized that I'd be preaching a series on the nature of belief (in the Gospel of John) I thought it would be good to finally read her book.

In this book she lays out the problems that existed for current approached to epistemology, her own well-developed theory of the virtues, and the nature of knowledge. It is thorough and well-done. I was able to skim over large sections in which she argues against theories prominent in the early nineties, largely because arguments like hers have been so successful.

This is one of those sorts of books that I read not just to gain information, but to become a better person. Hopefully I will come closer to possessing intellectual virtue because of this book.