Virtue epistemology is a contemporary philosophical approach to epistemology that stresses the importance of intellectual (epistemic) virtues. It combines the central tenets of virtue theory (also called “virtue ethics”) with classical epistemological approaches.
Intellectual virtue has been a subject of philosophy since the works of Plato and Aristotle, but virtue epistemology is a development in the contemporary analytic tradition. It is characterized by efforts to solve problems of special concern to modern epistemology, such as justification and reliabilism, by directing attention on the knower as agent in a manner similar to virtue ethics.
Read more about Virtue Epistemology: The Raft and The Pyramid, Theory, Varieties of Virtue Epistemology, Potential Advantages of Virtue Epistemology
Famous quotes containing the word virtue:
“In order for the wheel to turn, for life to be lived, impurities are needed, and the impurities of impurities in the soil, too, as is known, if it is to be fertile. Dissension, diversity, the grain of salt and mustard are needed: Fascism does not want them, forbids them, and that’s why you’re not a Fascist; it wants everybody to be the same, and you are not. But immaculate virtue does not exist either, or if it exists it is detestable.”
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)