The Intellectual Character Initiative

Virtues of the Lion Mind

Intellectual virtues are the personal qualities or character strengths required for the pursuit, refinement, and transmission of “epistemic goods” like knowledge, truth, and understanding. As the personal basis of good judgment, they are also essential to ethically and civically responsible action. While intellectual virtues are several and diverse, our initiative gives special attention to the following five “Virtues of the Lion Mind”:

1. Curiosity: a disposition to wonder, ponder, and ask why. A thirst for understanding and a desire to explore.
2. Intellectual humility: a willingness to “own” one’s intellectual limitations and mistakes. Unconcerned with intellectual status or prestige. 
3. Intellectual autonomy: an ability to "own" one's intellectual strengths. Expresses itself in active, self-directed thinking and judgment.
4. Open-mindedness: an ability to “think outside the box.” Gives a fair and honest hearing to competing perspectives. 
5. Intellectual courage: a readiness to persist in thinking or communicating in the face of fear, including fear of embarrassment or failure. 
6. Intellectual perseverance: a willingness to embrace intellectual challenge and struggle. Hangs in there and doesn’t give up. 

These virtues complement and constrain each other in important ways. Curiosity plays the role of a master motivational virtue. As such, it is critical to productive learning and intellectual growth. But intellectual growth doesn’t end with curiosity. We must also, when the situation calls for it, be willing to “own” our intellectual limitations and defer to qualified experts (humility). In other situations, it may be more important to “own” our intellectual strengths and to think for ourselves (autonomy). Similarly, successful inquiry sometimes requires keeping an open mind, not rushing to judgment (open-mindedness). Whereas, at other times, it may may require holding firm to a well-supported conviction, even when doing so feels risky (courage). Finally, to bring our intellectual efforts to completion, we’ll need a readiness to persist in the face of obstacles and challenges (perseverance). Guided by “phronesis” or good judgment, the Virtues of the Lion Mind equip us to meet these important epistemic demands, opening the way for intellectual growth and maturity.

Learn more about how we’re conceiving of intellectual virtues.