The Bright and the Good

The Connection between Intellectual and Moral Virtues

Audrey L. Anton

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781786602367
• eBook ISBN:
  9781786602381
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Epistemology in Philosophy

The Bright and the Good examines the connection between intellectual and moral virtues both through the history of philosophy and as it can be illustrated in comprehensive examinations of specific virtues.

The first part of the book investigates the original assumptions posited by Ancient Western philosophers concerning the apparent connection between moral and intellectual virtues. The second part follows the assumptions through history from the Medieval and Modern periods of philosophy, noting how the assumption has been tweaked to accommodate specific ideological and scientific precepts. The third part showcases inquiries into specific virtues, taking the reader on an investigation unfettered by any specific time period or ideology so as to consider the apparent connection between the moral and the intellectual on a case-by-case basis. These essays relate both historical context and contemporary concerns and examine topics including vice, ignorance, hope, courage, patience, justice and mercy.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I: Ancient Origins of the Intellectual-Moral Relationship
• Chapter 2: Geometry in the Humming of the Strings
• Chapter 3: What the Theoretical Sciences Can Teach Us About Right Action
• Chapter 4: How Practical Wisdom Depends on Moral Excellence
• Chapter 5: Practical Wisdom and Happiness as a Political Achievement in Aristotle
• Chapter 6: Intellectual Virtue and the Non-Sage in Stoicism
• Part II: The Assumption Re-Examined
• Chapter 6: Pagan and Christian Paths to Wisdom
• Chapter 7: Moral and Intellectual Virtue from Greek to Arabic Philosophy
• Chapter 8: Moral and Intellectual Virtues in the Medieval Latin Tradition—and the Limits of Virtue Ethics
• Chapter 9: Hume, Intellectual Virtue, and Virtue Epistemology
• Chapter 10: Mill on Rousseau on the Sciences and Morality
• Chapter 11: Kant and the Intellectual Virtues
• Part III: Specific Virtues and Contemporary Reflections
• Chapter 12: How Second Nature Becomes Primary
• Chapter 13: Intellectual Trust in an Examined Life
• Chapter 14: Ignorance and Hope
• Chapter 15: Intellectual Courage
• Chapter 16: Patience and Practical Wisdom
• Chapter 17: The Virtues of Justice and Mercy
• About the Contributors