Dave Monroe
&
Christy Powers
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Aristotle: Intellectual vs. Moral Virtues
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Intellectual Character vs. Moral Character
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Dispositional Properties
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Intellectually Virtuous = Critical Thinker
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Intellectually Vicious = Uncritical Thinker
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Uncritical Thinker = “Lazy Minded”
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Curiosity
Int. Honesty
Int. Boldness
Int. Integrity
Int. Empathy
Fair-mindedness
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Int.
Int.
Int.
Int.
Int.
Int.
Satisfaction
Dishonesty
Cowardice
Unprincipled
Apathy
Unfair.
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Attempts to persuade or mislead emotionally
or psychologically rather than rationally.
Tools of the lazy mind: rhetorical tricks.
Non-rational behavior producing intellectual
vice.
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The fallacy of using the fact that many people
believe a claim as evidence of the claim’s
truth.
Ex: “Of course Iraq has weapons of mass
destruction! Everyone knows that!”
Vice: Intellectual Satisfaction.
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Rejecting an argument or claim by criticizing
the person making the argument rather than
by confronting the argument itself.
“President Bush argued that we should go to
war in Iraq. Why should I believe him? He
skipped out on his own military service!”
Vices: intellectually unfair and intellectual
cowardice.
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The fallacy of twisting, distorting, weakening,
or oversimplifying another’s position so it is
more easily refuted.
Ex: “Fred is in favor of legislation against assault
weapons. Such unpatriotic thinking flies in the face
of American culture and is an affront to the
principles of our founding fathers. Many
Americans died for the right to own assault
weapons—how dare Fred and others like him
disrespect that?”
Vices: intellectually unfair, intellectually dishonest,
and intellectually cowardly.
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Dismissing another’s argument out of hand
because the claims presented are inconsistent
with one’s own (or one’s groups’) beliefs.
Ex: “What do you mean Veganism is morally better
than eating meat? Not as far as I’m concerned! My
daddy raised me to love cheeseburgers!”
Vice: Intellectual Apathy
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Arguing that some claim is true on the basis that
it hasn’t been shown false, or arguing that a
claim is false on the basis that it hasn’t been
show true—or, arguing to a definite conclusion
on the basis of lacking evidence.
“You can’t prove to me that God exists, therefore he
doesn’t!”
Vice: Intellectually Unprincipled (usually used
opportunistically—e.g., Ben Stein’s arguments against
evolutionary theory) & Intellectually dishonest.
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Using Fallacies makes us worse thinkers!
But so what? What’s wrong with being lazyminded?
A. Imprisoned
B. Encourages self-deception
C. Susceptible to manipulation
D. Inhibits authenticity (agency &
engagement)