KOMAR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE

AND TECHNOLOGY
SUMMER 2022

Academic Debate HUM1300

Lesson 13
Intellectual Virtues

Dr. Arsto Ahmed

Mr. Barham Abdulrahman
Mr. Brwa Omer
 VIRTUE
Moral virtues
aim at kindness, compassion, generosity,
justice, reduction of pain)

Intellectual virtues
aim at truth, knowledge, and
understanding).
Intellectual virtues vs. intellectual
vices
Intellectual humility: Admit what you don't know!

Intellectual humility is
having a consciousness of
the limits of human
knowledge. It depends on
recognizing that one should
not claim more than one
actually knows.
Intellectual humility does
not imply weakness, but it
implies the lack of intellectual
arrogance.
Intellectual humility
I don’t know everything.
There is a lot that I don’t
know. I shouldn’t say
things are true when I
don’t really know they are.
Lots of things I believe
may not be true. Lots of
things other people tell me
might not be true. Some
things I read or see on TV
are not true. I always try to
ask, “How do you know
that? How do I know that?”
Intellectual courage

I should be ready to
speak up for what I
think is right even if it is
not popular among my
friends.

I should be courteous,
but I should not be
afraid to disagree.
 Intellectual courage
Intellectual courage is having
a consciousness of the need to
face and address ideas, beliefs
or viewpoints toward which we
have strong negative emotions.
This courage is connected with
the recognition that ideas
considered dangerous or
absurd are sometimes rationally
justified (in whole or in part).
Intellectual empathy: Transcending our perspective

I try to understand
how other people
think. Whenever I
disagree with people,
I try to see the way
they do things.
Then I often find that
there are certain
things I am right
about and some
other things they are
right about.
Intellectual empathy
Intellectual empathy
is having a
consciousness of the
need to imaginatively
put oneself in the
place of others in order
to understand them,
which requires the
consciousness of our
egocentric tendency.
Intellectual autonomy

I try to do my own
thinking and to figure
things out for myself.
It’s good to listen to
others to find out what
they are thinking, but
I must always do my
own thinking to decide
who and what to
believe.
Intellectual autonomy

Osho:
Discover yourself,
otherwise you have to
depend on other
people’s opinions who
don’t know themselves.
Intellectual autonomy
Intellectual
autonomy is having
rational control of
one’s beliefs, values,
and inferences.
It is to learn to think for
oneself and to gain
command over one’s
thought processes.
Intellectual integrity

I try to be the kind of

person I expect others
to be. Because I
expect others to
respect me, I respect
them. Because I
expect others to
consider my feelings, I
consider their feelings.
Because I expect
others to not be rude, I
am not rude to them.
Intellectual integrity

Intellectual integrity
is recognition of the
need to be true to
one’s own thinking; it
is to hold one’s self to
the same rigorous
standards of evidence
and proof to which
one holds one’s
antagonists.
Intellectual perseverance
Sticking to a problem is
always better than giving
up. When my mind tells
me that I can’t learn
something, I tell my mind I
can. When reading is
hard, I stick to it so I can
learn to read better. When
writing is hard, I keep
trying so I can learn to
write better. I am not
afraid to work hard in my
mind.
 Intellectual perseverance

Intellectual perseverance
is having a consciousness of
the need to use intellectual
insights and truths in spite of
difficulties; it is firm
adherence to rational
principles despite the
irrational opposition of “I’m convinced that about
others; a sense of the need half of what separates the
successful entrepreneurs
to struggle with confusion from the non-successful ones
and unsettled questions over is pure perseverance.”
an extended period of time Steve Jobs
to achieve deeper
understanding or insight.
QUESTION EXAMPLE

Intellectual Autonomy is having a consciousness of

the need to imaginatively put oneself in the place
of others in order to understand them, which
requires the consciousness of our egocentric
tendency.

(a) True (b) False