Inquiry and Agency: A Theory of Intellectual Virtues and Vice

In Inquiry and Agency, Jason Baehr develops a systematic account of the nature, structure, and evaluative status of intellectual virtues and vices. Drawing on a theory of moral virtue by Robert Adams (2006), Baehr argues that intellectual virtues like curiosity, open-mindedness, and intellectual courage are ways of ＂excellently being for epistemic goods＂ that reflect favorably on who we are as persons, and that intellectual vices like dogmatism, narrow-mindedness, and intellectual arrogance are ways of falling short of this standard that contribute negatively to our personal worth. Inquiry and Agency is the most in-depth and systematic treatment of intellectual virtues and vices since Linda Zagzebski’s pioneering work Virtues of the Mind (1996). While advancing several debates in virtue epistemology, it proposes a model of intellectual virtues and vices that will be accessible to non-experts and useful to researchers in other disciplines. Inquiry and Agency is the product of decades of reflection by a leading virtue epistemologist. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the characterological dimensions of the life of the mind.

Jason Baehr, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University

Jason Baehr has been teaching at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles for over 20 years. He is an expert in theoretical and applied virtue epistemology. He has published extensively in these areas and is a leading figure in the field. His book The Inquring Mind (OUP, 2011) is one of the most cited works in virtue epistemology.