General provisions

The course is offered to C level students and students at advanced level. For students at advanced level, the examination requirements are higher than for students at C level.

Entry requirements

Fulfilment of the requirements for a Bachelor's degree in the humanities or a corresponding foreign degree

Learning outcomes

After completing the course the students are expected to:

• have an overview of how the notions of virtue and vice are used within epistemology
• be able to distinguish intellectual and moral virtues (and vices)
• know the central texts in which these concepts emerge in Classical Ancient Philosophy
• be able to discuss several individual virtues and vices relevant for inquiry, knowledge-acquisition, and communication.

Content

Knowledge is seldom something that we simply possess. Much of our intellectual effort goes towards processes of knowledge acquisition, such as inquiry. Inquiry is a goal-directed process aimed at settling a particular question. Inquiries can be conducted well and they can be conducted badly -- inquiries are subject to norms. What are those norms? Moreover, some people are good at inquiring and some people not, some are open-minded and intellectually humble, some are arrogant and dogmatic. What, exactly are these character traits and how should they be cultivated or avoided? The course starts from the ancient -- Platonic and Aristotelian -- insight that some of the virtues are primarily intellectual and hence useful in contexts that have to do with knowledge acquisition and inquiry. We will then proceed to contemporary theories of virtues that promote the acquisition of knowledge and vices that prevent such acquisition.

Instruction

Lectures and seminars. Seminar meetings are interactive and students are expected to participate and contribute. The language of instruction is English.

Assessment

One longer essay and one shorter writing assignment. A student's active participation and good performance during the lectures and seminars may be a positive factor in the overall assessment of the student's work for the course.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.