Habits of the Mind

Habits of the Mind

Led by R.J. Snell

We tend to be familiar with the moral virtues—wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice, say—and many will know Aristotle’s articulation of the intellectual virtues, but Aristotle’s intellectual virtues seem abstract and not especially relevant to our lives. Since we’re intellectual beings, the intellectual virtues oughtn’t be alien to our well-being, however. In this seminar, we examine more contemporary texts, including Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil, and Iris Murdoch, on intellectual habits such as attention, reading, understanding, and judging. Thinking, it turns out, is not merely a technical, neutral matter of analytic capacity, but a commitment to being in the world in a certain mode and way, and we can have habits of thought contributing to, or taking away from, our flourishing.

Reading prior to seminar is not required.

Lunch is provided, as are all reading materials.