The Excellent Mind: Intellectual Virtues for Everyday Life

by Nathan L King

Nathan L. King's The Excellent Mind considers the importance of the intellectual the character traits of excellent thinkers. He explains what it means to have an excellent one that is curious, careful, self-reliant, humble, honest, persevering, courageous, open, firm, and wise. Drawing from recent literature in philosophy and psychology, he considers what these virtues are like in practice, why they are important, and how we grow in them. King also argues that despite their label, these virtues are not just for they are for everyone. He shows how intellectual virtues are critical to living everyday life, in areas as diverse as personal relationships, responsible citizenship, civil discourse, personal success, and education. Filled with vivid examples and relevant applications, The Excellent Mind will serve as an engaging introduction to the intellectual virtues for students and anyone interested in the topic.

Genres: Philosophy, School, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

Published March 19, 2021

Reviews

[Sarah]

A simple, Aristotelian account of good qualities for a thoughtful mind. The book is divided into chapters based on each intellectual virtue--curiosity, carefulness, autonomy, humility, honesty, perseverance, courage, open-mindedness/firmness, and fair-mindedness/charity. Almost every chapter starts with an example of a moral exemplar from history, like the suffragists, Helen Taussig, or John Paul Stapp, or a counterexample. King copies Aristotle in discussing how means, motive, occasion, and object are important for virtue, and he usually gives examples of the excess and deficiency on either side of the virtue (servility and isolation for autonomy, for example). This means the structure ends up feeling formulaic, and the writing style is plain, although I'm not sure I enjoyed the attempt at embellishment in the fictionalized story of curiosity killing the cat, either. The readings of history tend to be black-and-white, most notably the story of autonomy during the Scientific Revolution. King admits that thinkers like Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler relied on other research and their predecessors, but his account of the Scientific Revolution was very much a bolt-from-the-blue kind of account, rather than the complicated story of politics, history, and scientific faux pas that it probably was. I really enjoyed the chapter on open-mindedness/firmness, which had some thoughtful reflections on what it means to be open to change without being wishy-washy.

[Maggie]

Read for class, and I love this book. He does a really good job using historical narratives and simpler terms to explain the epistemology of the virtues in a way that makes sense.
Also how sweet is it that his dad painted the cover?

[Maher Razouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

الشخصية الفكرية
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إنه اليوم الثالث من دورة الفكر الغربي - يوم أرسطو. أحيي الطلاب وهم يستقرون في المكان. جَهزوا دفاتر ملاحظاتهم وكتموا هواتفهم المحمولة. أتظاهر بمظهر كئيب : "لدي بعض الأخبار السيئة ،" أقول لهم . أتساءل ما الذي يفكرون فيه. هل هناك اختبار وشيك؟ هل هم في وضع محرج "لكسر الجمود"؟ التقط غطاء قلم المسح الجاف وأكتب : "ستموتون جميعًا."

الحضور صامتون ، مذهولون ومرتبكون . أحاول كسر التوتر بابتسامة ساخرة. أمشي إلى السبورة : "لنتحدث عما تريد أن ينشر في ورقة نعيك."

يعتبر التمرين شيئًا مبتذلًا بعض الشيء ، لكن الطلاب حريصون على المشاركة. يبدأون في التطوع بالطريقة التي يريدون أن يم تذكرهم بها : كانت صادقة ؛ كان متواضعا. كانت تحب أصدقائها وعائلتها ؛ كان لطيفا مع الغرباء. كانت شجاعة تغلبت على العقبات. كانت رحيمة. وهلم جرا. لقد أجريت هذا التمرين عدة مرات.

باستثناء المزاح ، لم يسبق لأحد أن ذكر الثروة أو الشهرة أو ذوق الموضة أو المظهر الجيد أو الدرجات الجيدة. تصل المناقشة دائمًا إلى نفس النتيجة: في النهاية ، الشخصية مهمة - كثيرًا. أشعر بوخز من الذنب لفرض هذا النشاط على طلابي.
لن ألومهم على استيائهم . التمرين قاتم بعض الشيء. كمجتمع ، نحن ندفع للأطباء بسخاء لإبعاد المرض والموت عنا. نحن ندفع للرياضيين والممثلين أكثر لمساعدتنا على نسيان الموت تمامًا. وها أنا ، الفيلسوف ، أجبر طلابي على التفكير في موتهم. لا عجب أن راتبي باهت مقارنة بأجور الأطباء والرياضيين والممثلين.

لماذا التمرين المؤلم؟ لأن احتمال الموت يساعدنا على رؤية ما يهم في الحياة بوضوح. في اللحظة التي يستعدون فيها للتركيز على ما يهم حقًا ، يبدأ طلابي في إدراك أن امتلاك شخصية جيدة أمر أساسي لعيش حياة جيدة ، وهي النقطة التي أوضحها أرسطو منذ أكثر من 2000 عام.
نحن جميعًا على دراية بالفضائل الأخلاقية - سمات مثل العدالة والشجاعة والاعتدال. مثل هذه الفضائل تشكل شخصية الفرد الصالح أخلاقيا. هذه هي الفروق بين شخص ممتاز أخلاقيا وشخص متواضع أخلاقيا. ولكن هذه نقطة يسهل إغفالها: كل واحد منا ليس لديه شخصية أخلاقية فحسب ، بل شخصية فكرية أيضًا. عندما يتعلق الأمر بتفكيرنا ، يمكننا أن نكون شجعانًا أو جبناء. يمكن أن نكون متواضعين أو متعجرفين فكريا. يمكن أن نكون فضوليين أو غير مهتمين بالتعلم. يمكننا أن نكون حذرين فكريا أو أقل اهتماما. وهلم جرا.
الفضائل الفكرية هي السمات الشخصية للمفكرين المتميزين ، حيث يمتد مثل هذا التفكير ليس فقط إلى اكتسابنا للحقيقة والمعرفة والفهم ، ولكن أيضًا إلى الاحتفاظ بهم ومشاركتهم. على الرغم من أهمية الفضائل الأخلاقية ، فإنها لا تحتل مركز اهتمامي . بدلاً من ذلك ، هدفي هو اكتشاف ما يعنيه امتلاك عقل ممتاز - عقل فضولي ، وحذر ، ومعتمد على الذات ، ومتواضع ، وموثوق ، وصادق ، ومثابر ، وشجاع ، ومنفتح ، وخيري ، وعادل .
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Nathan King
The Excellent Mind
Translated By #Maher_Razouk

[Clover O'Mordha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of the whole 'virtue' v. 'vice' concept as I think most things are a lot more nuanced than that. Thankfully, King explores the nuances and clarifies what he means by virtue and vice in each instance. I did not always agree with his stance / explanations as some of them were a bit too vague, or too easy to manipulate, for my liking. In particular, the virtue of open-mindedness dances too much around topics that are and aren't worthy of deeper intellectual consideration, and I think that leaves things too broad and one can easily manipulate this point to fit their narrative, despite the author actively challenging that. On some things you have to be firm about what is and what isn't, and this felt like one of those times.

It was an overall good read and perfect for someone who is interested in exploring and expanding their own thought processes and becoming an overall better thinker.

[Clara Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

You may have heard of Aristotle's moral virtues - character traits of a morally good person. In this book, Nathan L. King introduces the concept of Intellectual virtues - character traits of an excellent thinker.
I can warmly recommend this read as it provides reflection on what characterizes an intellectually well thinking person and their virtues while also providing historical examples of the different virtues. For example, Susan B Anthony as intellectually courageous or Helen Taussig for intellectually perseverance. It was a pleasure to read and left me thinking more about my own shortcomings in intellectual virtues.
I'm a philosophy M.A. graduate but I'm sure anyone, no matter education or field of interest, will feel a kickstart of reflection and motivation after reading this book. It is accessible and entertaining.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great presentation of the role that intellectual virtues play in helping us live well, both in forming our beliefs and deciding what to do. King synthesizes the best current research on intellectual virtues in an easy to follow and reader friendly way. He makes good use of the idea of virtue as consisting in a mean between extremes without being too rigid about it. Helpful for all of us thinking through how to use our minds well.

[Neal Tognazzini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book wanting to use it to think more about a Critical Thinking project I’m working on, and I was deeply impressed. It’s a genuinely accessible yet detailed introduction to the intellectual virtues, and it’s written in a compelling (but not condescending) way with a ton of relatable examples. It’s perhaps a bit longer than ideal for a public audience, but it is thoroughly well-crafted. Also, the author comes across as a very likeable person. I appreciate that.

[Jeff Lochhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I’ve spread the reading of this book out this summer, I look forward to slowly integrating and highlighting the intellectual virtues outlined into my classroom this fall. I am particularly drawn to the ideas of curiosity and fair-mindedness (both of which are skills that seem to be abdicated from the middle school mind).

[Jim Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Signed up for a reading group on this book because it was with a professor I really like, turned out to be at a terrible time of week for me and was a huge pain in the butt. Still got something out of the book, it was a unification and solidification of a lot I had learned about virtue from various different sources over the years. Should probably be read in high school though instead of college.

[Josh Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book about intellectual virtues. The author does a great job explaining the different virtues and giving great examples of each. It is clear without being simplistic. I would recommend it to you, especially if you are a teacher. The vocabulary of intellectual virtues is incredibly helpful to communicate the why of education.

[Natalie Steponick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it for a high school into college program! Absolutely life changing for me and I still go back to read Ch.5 Autonomy, when I need a reminder that thinking for myself isn't a bad thing!

This book is amazing and other young people should read this book!

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting thoughts

An excellent book about intellectual virtues and how to attain them. He gives the whys of the virtues and the how's to effect and apply them. A worthy read.

[Aubrey Willcutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

out of my comfort zone but interesting read all the same

[sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh nah sir .

[sarah smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

said solid stuff, just kinda bored me

[Adagiobear · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author makes some good points but the treatment is disappointingly shallow.

[Vapula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though a tad repetitive at times, this is a good book for someone new, especially philosophical laypeople, to the topic of intellectual virtues. It takes a generally neo-Aristotelian approach to virtue and is very easy to follow.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the intellectual virtues. It would also be useful in either an introductory philosophy course or a Critical Thinking course for introducing the virtuous pursuit of knowledge. It is exceedingly well written, clear, succinct, and the examples - each interesting in its own right - are well deployed in support of their points. It is my habit always to be reading a number of books at the same time, and each of the other books I have been reading concurrently with this one have suffered by comparison. I can't recommend it highly enough.