The Awakening of Intellectual Virtue

Developed through the rational exercise of thought, intellectual virtue was considered by Aristotle essential to the cultivation of excellence. When university teachers are exemplary, they instruct students on any number of levels. The exemplary teacher, for example, can awaken students to mystery through his or her teaching. What may seem paradoxical is that wisdom, an intellectual virtue, is built upon some acknowledgment of mystery. The best teaching in the arts and sciences will help students recognize that paradox. University educators must not only be scholars in their respective disciplines but also exemplars of intellectual virtue.