Careful Curiosity: Curiosity as an Epistemic and Ethical Virtue Open Access
Stewart-Rozema, Jordan (Summer 2019)
Abstract
My dissertation argues for curiosity’s status as both an epistemic and ethical virtue, by exploring curiosity’s potential for aiding learning and care. In philosophical discourse, curiosity has historically been positioned within a framework of virtue and vice. In medieval contexts, curiosity was a vice that distracted us from religious duty by pulling us towards worldly knowledge. In the early modern era, curiosity was a crucial virtue for scientific discovery. In today’s philosophical landscape, curiosity has been discussed in the context of epistemic virtues—intellectual processes that reliably lead to knowledge. In each of these cases, curiosity’s status as virtue or vice has been established in regards to its function in knowledge acquisition, neglecting to consider other ways that it contributes to ethical life. Curiosity has both epistemic and moral relevance, and can operate as both benefit and detriment. However, there is a deep unevenness in which sides of curiosity have received attention over time. Though there are exceptions, curiosity has typically been lauded epistemically and lambasted morally. In this project, I seek to start correcting this uneven attention by providing a framework by which we can recognize the beneficial moral impact of curiosity. I first clarify the term “curiosity” through multidisciplinary exploration, bolstering my philosophical analysis with intellectual history, psychology, and everyday understandings, and in so doing, establish precedent for curiosity’s consideration as a virtue. I then propose that we widen our understanding of what it means for curiosity to be considered as a virtue to include connections to learning and care, as well as an understanding that considering curiosity as a virtue does not rule out the existence of vicious forms of curiosity. This allows me to defend curiosity’s status as both an epistemic and ethical virtue.
Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................2
Chapter One: An Intellectual History of Curiosity............................................................17
Chapter Two: A Philosophical History of Curiosity...........................................................38
Chapter Three: The Lived Experience of Curiosity............................................................77
Chapter Four: Curiosity as an Epistemic Virtue................................................................112
Chapter Five: Curiosity as an Ethical Virtue.....................................................................139
Conclusion....................................................................................................................... 167
About this Dissertation
| School | |
|---|---|
| Department | |
| Degree | |
| Submission | |
| Language |
|
| Research Field | |
| Keyword | |
| Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor | |
| Committee Members |
Primary PDF
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Careful Curiosity: Curiosity as an Epistemic and Ethical Virtue () | 2019-06-29 12:32:20 -0400 |
|
Supplemental Files
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|