ACTUACIONES DE MOVILIDAD

Introduction

In th is ch ap ter, I b e g in to d e v e lo p further th e k e y th e m e s o f virtu e e p is te m o lo g y , w h ic h I h a v e alrea d y id en tified , d escrib ed and e x te n d e d , in order to elab orate and d efen d a virtu e ap p roach to tea ch in g and learning.

T h is p r o je c t is o n e w h ic h has n o t b een attem p ted in a n y su b stan tial w a y b y the virtu e e p is te m o lo g is ts th e m se lv e s. S in c e it is s u c h a n e w fie ld , th e a tten tion naturally ten d s to fo c u s o n the e m e r g in g e p iste m o lo g ic a l th e o ries rather th an o n their im p lic a tio n s for p ra ctice. V irtu e e p iste m o lo g ists R obert R ob erts and Jay W o o d ( 2 0 0 7 ) p a y m ore a tten tio n to ed u c a tio n than m o st, b y d e v o tin g tw o -a n d -a -h a lf p a g e s to ‘T e a c h in g and L e a r n in g ’ in th eir b o o k Intellectual Virtues, but th e in sig h ts th e y o ffe r o n th is to p ic are q u ite lim ite d . T h e y stress the im portance to learners o f p o s s e s s in g ‘w h a t th e m e d ie v a ls c a lle d th e virtu e o f d o c ility or te a c h a b le n e ss’,322 and ‘a d isp o sitio n to resp ect the te a c h e r b o th a s a h um an b e in g and for w h a t sh e k n o w s , and to b e g ra tefu l to her fo r w h a t sh e im p a rts’. T h e teacher is to d e p lo y ‘g e n tle n e s s ’,323 for sh e w ill thus ‘at the en d o f the d a y . . . h a v e transm itted m ore e p iste m ic g o o d s th an h er harsher cou n terp art.’

‘T e a c h in g ’ is ab ou t ‘p a ssin g in tellectu a l g o o d s o n from the le s s ign oran t to the m o re ig n o r a n t’.324 T h e au th ors’ so m e w h a t C o n fiic ia n ed u c a tio n a l sce n a r io - o f b e n ig h te d stu d en ts in fu se d w ith filia l p ie ty d irected to w a rd s the tea ch er as a fo u n t o f w isd o m , w h o g e n tly ‘im p a rts’ her k n o w le d g e to th em - w o u ld m a k e for a p le a sa n t w o r k in g e n v ir o n m e n t fo r teach ers. H o w e v e r , w h eth er th is is a g o o d w a y o f cu ltiv a tin g virtu e a n d d e v e lo p in g th e learn ers’ w e b s o f k n o w le d g e is o p en to doubt.

R ich ard Paul co n trib u tes a short chapter e n title d ‘C ritical T h in k in g , M o ra l In tegrity, an d C itiz e n sh ip : T e a c h in g fo r the In tellectu a l V ir tu e s’ to G u y A x t e ll’s ( 2 0 0 0 ) K n ow ledge, B e lie f an d Character. H e is c ritica l o f th e n e g a tiv e e f fe c ts o f the

322 Robert Roberts & Jay Wood (2007) Intellectual Virtues; an Essay in Regulative Epistem ology (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 142

323 Although Roberts and Wood do not mention the fact, ‘Gentleness’ is, w e recall, one o f the ‘crowning’

teacherly virtues o f Agathon/De La Salle.

324 Roberts & Wood (2007) op. cit., p.293

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‘in te lle c tu a l a r ro g a n ce’325 that can result from a sh a llo w learn in g b a se d o n algorith m s and u n r e fle c tiv e m em o risa tio n . H is m ain in terest h ere is in p ro m o tin g th e virtu es o f fa ir -m in d e d e ss and in tellectu al h u m ility as a b a sis for m oral ed u ca tio n . H ow ard G ard n er’s latest b o o k (p u b lish ed A p ril 2 0 1 1 ) is su b titled E ducating f o r the Virtues in the Twenty-First Century ,326 but it m ak es n o m e n tio n at a ll o f v irtu e e p is te m o lo g y and d o e s n o t e x p lo it any o f the in sig h ts o f S o sa , Z a g z e b sk i, N o z ic k , or th e other r e lia b ilist an d r e sp o n sib ilists w h o m w e h a v e d iscu ssed .

O n ly a s m a ll nu m b er o f p e e r-r ev iew ed jou rn al articles d ea l w ith th e im p lic a tio n s o f the in te lle c tu a l v irtu es for ed u cation . C hristopher O ’T o o le ( 1 9 3 8 ) , in h is ‘T h e T e a c h in g o f In te lle c tu a l and M oral V ir tu e s’, te lls us that ‘T o teach , th erefo re, is to im part truth’,327 and ta k es a sim p listic approach to A r isto tle ’s a n a ly sis o f the d iffe r e n t aetio lo g ies o f the in te lle c tu a l and m oral virtues: ‘In tellectu al v irtu es, then, ca n b e taught d irectly . T h e stu d en t ca n en ter a c la ssro o m , and after an h o u r ’s w o r k h e ca n c o m e a w a y k n o w in g se v e r a l im portant in tellectu a l p r in c ip le s’ .328 W illia m A braham ( 2 0 0 6 ) , a th e o lo g ia n , w a rn s that an ed u ca tio n a l g o a l ‘o f so c ia l tran sform ation [can] m orph in to th e fo sterin g o f in te lle c tu a l v i c e ’.329 D ra w in g b riefly o n Z a g z e b sk i, and o n S o s a ’s ea r lie st w ork in th e fie ld , h e m a k e s an argum ent for sem in a ries a d o p tin g a w o r k in g m o d e l o f im p ro v in g in te lle c tu a l e x c e lle n c e and elim in a tin g in tellectu a l v ic e s T ik e w is h fu l th in k in g,

o b tu se n e ss and p a r o c h ia lism ’.330 R yan B e v a n ( 2 0 0 9 ) s u g g e s ts that ‘c itiz e n sh ip e d u c a tio n in p articular can b e n efit greatly from th is m o re e x p a n s iv e th eory [i.e. virtue e p is te m o lo g y ] w ith co n cre te p ed a g o g ic a l im p lic a tio n s’ .331 H o w e v e r , h e q u o tes n eith er S o sa nor Z a g z e b sk i and m en tio n s th e w o rk o f v irtu e e p is te m o lo g is t J a m es

M o n tm a rq u et o n ly b y w a y o f in trod u cin g the v irtu es o f ‘im p artiality, th e v irtu es o f in te lle c tu a l so b riety , and the v irtu es o f in te lle c tu a l c o u r a g e ’.332

325 Richard Paul (1993) Critical Thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a R apidly Changing World, pp.319-332 (Sonama: Foundation for Critical Thinking) reprinted as ch. 13, Guy Axtell (ed.) (2000) Knowledge, B elief an d Character (Lanham, Maryland: Rowtnan & Littlefield), p. 164.

326 Howard Gardner (2011) Truth, Beauty and Goodness Reframed: Educating f o r the Virtues in the Twenty-First Century (New York: Basic Books)

321 Christopher J. O ’Toole (1938) ‘The Teaching o f Intellectual and Moral Virtues’, Ethics, vol.49, n o .l, p p.81-84, p.81. To be fair to him, we note that this was written well before the advent o f contemporary virtue epistemology.

328 ibid., p.82.

329 William J. Abraham (2006) ‘Education, Transformation and Intellectual Virtue’, Christian H igher Education, 5, pp.3-19, p.3.

330 ibid., p. 16.

331 Ryan Bevan (2009) ‘Expanding Rationality: The relation between epistemic virtue and critical thinking’, Educational Theory, vol.59, no.2, pp.167-179, p .167.

332 ibid. p. 177

W e s e e , th en , that the co n v ersa tio n b e tw e e n virtu e e p is te m o lo g y an d ed u c a tio n has b e e n lim ite d , and co n fin e d m a in ly to c itiz e n sh ip and m oral ed u c a tio n . T h e sm a ll a m o u n t o f d is c u s s io n that has taken p la ce has b e e n restricted to th e n e o -A r isto te lia n r e s p o n s i b i l i s t va riety, h as virtu ally ignored th e in sig h ts o f S o s a ’s r e lia b ilist strain, and ty p ic a lly in v o lv e s p ro p o sin g a list o f the in te lle c tu a l v irtu es to b e c u ltiv a te d in

e d u c a tio n a l se ttin g s. T h e rem ainder o f th is th e sis thus c o n c e r n s i t s e l f w ith the q u e stio n , ‘H o w ca n virtue e p iste m o lo g y o f b oth m ain ty p e s (that is, r e lia b ilist and r e sp o n sib ilist) b e e x p lo ite d to inform the p r a ctices o f te a c h in g an d le a r n in g in g en eral (that is , n o t o n ly m oral and citzen sh ip e d u c a tio n )? ’

I start w ith S o s a ’s v ersio n o f virtue e p is te m o lo g y - v irtu e r e lia b ilis m 333 - w h ic h se e m s to h a v e r e c e iv e d n o attention at all from e d u c a tio n a lists (u n le s s w e in c lu d e the p a ssin g m e n tio n b y A b rah am ). In h is m o st recen t Work, ( 2 0 1 1 ) S o s a d e s c r ib e s teach ers as m o u th p ie c e s for in stitu tio n a lised in fo rm a tio n ,334 so h is o w n e d u c a tio n a l in sig h ts, u n lik e h is e p is te m o lo g y , m ay b e c o n sid ered to b e o f lim ited v a lu e . I e v a lu a te th e ex ten t to w h ic h h is e p iste m ic m o d e l stands up w h e n c o n sid e r in g n ot ju s t the a c t o f a cq u irin g an iso la te d true b e l i e f reliab ly, but a lso the o v e r a ll learn in g p r o c e ss o f b e l i e f r e v isio n . I s h o w that in ed u c a tio n it is not o n ly S o s a ’s ‘accu rate, ad roit an d a p t’335 h ittin g o f true p r o p o sitio n p w h ic h is im portant, but a lso an e n g a g e m e n t w ith th e c o u n te r fa c tiv e c la s s o f p r o p o sitio n s su ch that -p. F urtherm ore, b y u sin g s o m e p r in c ip le s draw n from a rtificia l in te llig e n c e theory, I co n n e ct r e lia b ilist n o tio n s o f k n o w le d g e to the a c tiv e p r o c e s s e s o f learn in g qua w e b -m o d ific a tio n .

T h is w o r k s h o w s that in th e m ature ep iste m ic a g e n t th e w arrant for p o u g h t g e n e r a lly to b e lea rn ed a lo n g s id e p ro p o sitio n p itself. T h e w arrant ca n p r o te c tp fro m ««w arranted h o s tile e p is te m ic input. I f there is a c h a lle n g e stro n g e n o u g h to o v e r c o m e p ’sp articular d e g r e e o f e p is te m ic en tren ch m en t, h o w e v e r , it w ill c a u se th e ju s tifie d d e ro g a tio n o f p

in fa v o u r o f ~p fro m the learn er’s b e lie f-c o r p u s, C. B e c a u s e o f the nature o f the a rg u m en ts d e p lo y e d , there is an u n a v o id a b le co re o f s y m b o lic m a n ip u la tio n , u s in g s o m e e le m e n ts o f form al lo g ic and a rtificia l in te llig e n c e th eo ry , w h ic h o c c u p ie s the

333 Sosa describes his own approach as ‘virtuep erspectivism ', but Guy Axtell places Ernest Sosa, John Greco and Alvin Goldman in the camp o f ‘virtue re lia b ilism \ and I feel that Sosa’s close connections with N ozick ’s reliabilism makes A xteil’s a plausible taxonomy. [Axtell (2001) quoted in Robert Lockie (2008) 'Problems for virtue theories in epistem ology’ Philos. Stud 138: p p.169-191].

334 Sosa (2011) op. cit., p.47

335 Sosa (2007) A Virtue Epistemology. Apt B elief an d Reflective K n ow ledge, vol.I (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p.22.

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m id d le part o f the chapter. T h is is fram ed b y m o re o b v io u s ly ed u ca tio n a l co n cer n s at the b e g in n in g and tow ards the en d , but the th em e o f e p is te m ic a lly relia b le and v irtu o u s e d u c a tio n runs throughout.