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Topics: Intellectual virtues, epistemic virtues, history of science, history of humanities, science pedagogy, research integrity, interdisciplinarity
Disciplines: History of science, philosophy, ethics, pedagogy
Admission requirements:
This course is an (extracurricular) Honours Class: an elective course within the Honours College programme. Third year students who don’t participate in the Honours College, have the opportunity to apply for a Bachelor Honours Class. Students will be selected based on i.a. their motivation and average grade.
Description:
Scientists don’t often talk about virtues. Yet they care a great deal about objectivity, open-mindedness, humility, honesty, and other traits or attitudes of which they say that they are essential for the pursuit of knowledge. Aren’t these virtues or, more precisely, intellectual virtues? The past decades have seen a surge of interest in such intellectual virtues, especially in academic contexts. Research ethicists insist on their importance, philosophers analyze them with help of Aristotle or Kant, historians see them everywhere in modern and early modern science alike, while scholars across the academic spectrum have been writing stimulating articles on intellectual virtues in mathematics, medicine, law, and literary studies. This course offers an accessible introduction to the topic. What are intellectual virtues, why do they matter, where do they come from, how can they be acquired, what they can do – and what not? The course offers a mix of lecture and seminar elements, while stimulating hands-on engagement with several practical assignments (interviews, presentations). Readings will be taken from fields as diverse as philosophy, history, and pedagogical science. The student’s end product can take a variety of forms: a traditional (short) research paper, a video, a podcast, or a series of academic blogs.
Course objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
understand what intellectual virtues are and how they relate to moral virtues and skills;
be able to assess the relative importance of intellectual virtues in various academic fields;
be aware of the limitations intrinsic to intellectual virtues;
have gained insight in the historical background and development of intellectual virtues;
have familiarized themselves in greater detail with one self-chosen virtue;
be able to develop an academic argument about a virtue-related topic of their own choice.
Programme and timetable:
The sessions of this class will take place on Wednesdays from 15:00 to 17:00.
Session 1: October 2
Introduction: Why intellectual virtues?
Session 2: October 16 (no class on October 9)
What are intellectual virtues? A philosophical perspective
Session 3: October 23
Where do virtues come from? A historical perspective (I)
Session 4: November 6 (no class on October 30)
Where do virtues come from? A historical perspective (II)
Session 5: November 13
How can virtues be acquired? A pedagogical perspective
Session 6: November 20
Where do virtues matter? Interdisciplinary perspectives (I)
Session 7: November 27
Where do virtues matter? Interdisciplinary perspectives (II)
Session 8: December 4
What can virtues do – and what not? A research integrity perspective
Session 9: December 11
Conclusion: 21st-century virtues?
Deadline final assignment: January 17, 2025 at 17.00
Location:
TBA
Reading list:
Examples of literature that will be used in this course:
Jason Baehr, Deep in Thought: A Practical Guide to Teaching for Intellectual Virtues (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2021).
Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison, Objectivity (New York: Zone Books, 2007).
Jeroen van Dongen and Herman Paul (eds), Epistemic Virtues in the Sciences and the Humanities (Cham: Springer, 2017).
David B. Resnik, “Ethical Virtues in Scientific Research,” Accountability in Research 19, no. 6 (2012): 239–43.
W. Jay Wood and Robert C. Roberts, Intellectual Virtues: An Essay in Regulative Epistemology (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2007).
All readings are electronically accessible through the University Library catalogue or will be made available in PDF in Brightspace.
Course load and teaching method:
This course is worth 5 ECTS, which means the total course load equals 140 hours:
Seminars: 9 seminars of 2 hours = 18 hours (participation is mandatory)
Literature reading: 5 hours/week = 45 hours
Book review/presentation assignment = 20 hours
Interview assignment: 5 hours
Final essay/end product: 52 hours
Assessment methods:
The assessment methods will look as follows:
10% Participation assessed continually through participation in seminars
15% Interview assignment
25% Presentation + 1,000-word book review
50% End product (a 4,000-word research paper, a video, a podcast, or a series of academic blogs)
It is not required to successfully complete all partial exams in order to pass this course. Students are allowed to compensate a ‘fail’ (grades up to and including 5.0).
The assessment methods will be further explained in the first session of the class.
Brightspace and uSis:
Brightspace will be used in this course. Upon admission students will be enrolled in Brightspace by the teaching administration.
Please note: students are not required to register through uSis for the Bachelor Honours Classes. Your registration will be done centrally.
Application process:
Submitting an application for this course is possible from Monday 19 August 2024 up to and including Sunday 8 September 2024 23:59 through the link on the Honours Academy student website.
Note: students don’t have to register for the Bachelor Honours Classes in uSis. The registration is done centrally before the start of the class.
Contact:
Prof. dr. H.J. Paul: h.j.paul@hum.leidenuniv.nl