Aristotle’s Intellectual Virtues

Aristotle (384-382 BC), the Greek philosopher and polymath, may be most famous in contemporary thought for his discussions of moral virtue or excellence (see Excellence Comes by Habit: Aristotle on Moral Virtue). Of course, he also wrote extensively in almost every major subject area, from natural science to politics and economics, literary criticism and rhetoric. He can even be credited with inventing the categories and methods of logical thinking in his works on logic, which are often grouped together as the Organon, meaning “instrument” or “tool.” Aristotle has had a profound influence on the history of Western thought.

One overlooked area of Aristotle’s contribution to educational thought is his conception of five intellectual virtues. While Aristotle claims that moral virtue “comes by habit,” intellectual virtue “owes its birth and growth to teaching (for which reason it requires experience and time)” (Nicomachean Ethics 2:1 or 1103a15-b25; trans. W. D. Ross). In this way, he explicitly connected the intellectual virtues to the work of education.

Aristotle’s five intellectual virtues represent a different way of understanding the excellence of the mind. Contemporary discussions of intellectual virtues often feature qualities like humility and courage, virtues that would have fit squarely within the moral excellence category for Aristotle. This is because humility and courage are concerned primarily with a person’s habits and emotional state, rather than the intellect per se. For Aristotle there are five and only five intellectual virtues, because they are “the states by virtue of which the soul possesses truth by way of affirmation or denial” (Nicomachean Ethics, 6:3 or 1139b15ff.).

These five intellectual virtues are:

1. Artistry or craftsmanship (Greek: techne)
2. Prudence or practical wisdom (phronesis)
3. Intuition or understanding (nous)
4. Scientific knowledge (episteme)
5. Philosophic wisdom (sophia)

Explanations of the Intellectual Virtues

The first intellectual virtue, artistry, concerns “Man as Maker” engaging in “productive thinking,” in the words of Mortimer Adler (Aristotle for Everybody, pp. 17-18). The arts, then, in this tradition, 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). A person can develop artistry in several different categories, whether it be the performance of an athlete or a musician, a product like a chair, a sword or a painting, or an artistic communication, like a poem, speech, calculation or mathematical proof. These final examples illustrate the historical vision of the liberal arts as forms of artistry.

The second intellectual virtue, prudence, concerns “Man as Doer” engaging in “practical thinking” (see Adler, Aristotle for Everybody, pp. 17-18). 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. This type of practical wisdom is often overlooked in modern educational programs, but it determines in large measure whether a person will live a good life himself and be able to lead others in his household or community in a positive direction. 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. Adopting prudence as a major goal of education would help to avoid the typical outcome of modern education according to C.S. Lewis: “men without chests” (see The Abolition of Man).

The third through fifth intellectual virtues, intuition, scientific knowledge, and philosophic wisdom, concern “Man as Knower” engaging in “speculative” or “theoretical thinking” (see Adler, Aristotle for Everybody, pp. 17-18). Arguably the Enlightenment and Modernism elevated scientific knowledge, or knowledge that was provable, to the highest value in contemporary culture. This move has had the unfortunate effect of sidelining the important place of first principles and particulars for proper human reasoning. In Aristotle’s thought, however, nous or a person’s ability to perceive correctly the right starting points for thought by a kind of intellectual sight or intuitive leap was absolutely critical for the value of a demonstration or proof. A person can reason correctly from the wrong premises, but the result is still dead wrong. Therefore, a major part of early education involves stocking students’ memory with a vibrant encounter with reality, whether it be the created order itself or the sources of wisdom in human traditions. Of course, for Christians the scriptures will provide the primary lens through which all of reality will ultimately make sense. Philosophic wisdom is attained when a person combines a mastery of intuition and scientific knowledge in the highest or most godlike matters.

Resources on the Intellectual Virtues

In a series of articles on Educational Renaissance, Jason Barney proposed replacing Bloom’s taxonomy with Aristotle’s intellectual virtues as the proper goals of education:

1. Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Purpose of Education
2. Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Importance of Objectives: 3 Blessings of Bloom’s
3. Breaking Down the Bad of Bloom’s: The False Objectivity of Education as a Modern Social Science
4. When Bloom’s Gets Ugly: Cutting the Heart Out of Education
5. What Bloom’s Left Out: A Comparison with Aristotle’s Intellectual Virtues
6. Aristotle’s Virtue Theory and a Christian Purpose of Education

A series on “Apprenticeship in the Arts” explores and applies Aristotle’s intellectual virtue of artistry or craftsmanship (Greek: techne):

1. Moral Virtue and the Intellectual Virtue of Artistry or Craftsmanship
2. Practicing in the Dark or the Day: Well-worn Paths or Bushwalking, Artistry and Moral Virtue Continued
3. Apprenticeship in the Arts, Part 1: Traditions and Divisions
4. Apprenticeship in the Arts, Part 2: A Pedagogy of Craft
5. Apprenticeship in the Arts, Part 3: Crafting Lessons in Artistry
6. Apprenticeship in the Arts, Part 4: Artistry, the Academy and the Working World
7. Apprenticeship in the Arts, Part 5: Structuring the Academy for Christian Artistry
8. Apprenticeship in the Arts, Part 6: The Transcendence and Limitations of Artistry

A series entitled “Counsels of the Wise” explores and applies prudence or practical wisdom (Greek: phronesis):

1. Counsels of the Wise, Part 1: Foundations of Christian Prudence
2. Counsels of the Wise, Part 2: Why Reviving Moral Philosophy Is Not Enough
3. Counsels of the Wise, Part 3: The Practical Nature of Prudence
4. Counsels of the Wise, Part 4: Preliminary Instruction in Prudence
5. Counsels of the Wise, Part 5: Principles and Practice, Examples and Discipline
6. Counsels of the Wise, Part 6: A Pedagogy of Prudence
7. Counsels of the Wise, Part 7: Leadership, Liberal Arts, and Prudence
8. Counsels of the Wise, Part 8: Aiming at the Intermediate or Aristotle’s Moral Virtues
9. Counsels of the Wise, Part 9: The Limits and Transcendence of Prudence

More resources on Aristotle’s intellectual virtues are coming soon! Visit this page periodically to see the latest installments, as well as new books for teacher training.

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