Abstract
Questioning is a familiar, everyday practice which we use, often unreflectively, in order to gather information, communicate with each other, and advance our inquiries. Yet, not all questions are equally effective and not all questioners are equally adept. Being a good questioner requires a degree of proficiency and judgment, both in determining what to ask and in deciding who, where, when, and how to ask. Good questioning is an intellectual skill. Given its ubiquity and significance, it is an intellectual skill that, I believe, we should educate for. In this paper, I present a central line of argument in support of educating for good questioning, namely, that it plays an important role in the formation of an individual’s intellectual character and can thereby serve as a valuable pedagogical tool for intellectual character education. I argue that good questioning plays two important roles in the cultivation of intellectual character: good questioning (1) stimulates intellectually virtuous inquiry and (2) contributes to the development of several of the individual intellectual virtues. Insofar as the cultivation of intellectually virtuous character is a desirable educational objective, we should educate for good questioning.
Highlights
Questioning is a familiar, everyday practice which we use, often unreflectively, in order to gather information, communicate with each other, and advance our inquiries
Insofar as the development of intellectually virtuous character is a desirable educational objective, we should educate for good questioning
I am again failing to achieve the goal of good questioning, namely, eliciting information, due to a faulty judgement on my part, and so I am failing to exercise the intellectual skill of good questioning
Summary
A discussion of intellectual skills, intellectual virtues, and the relationship between them will be helpful. The skilled pianist who plays purely for financial gain is still a skilled pianist, whereas the honest man who is motivated to tell the truth purely for financial gain will not (under most circumstances) be considered virtuously honest These two key differences point towards a more general distinction between skills and virtues: virtues are characterological, and skills are not. This close relationship between intellectual skills and intellectual virtues can be traced back to the Aristotelian account of the virtues in which the intellectual virtues are seen to require a degree of skill that is learned or cultivated (Nicomachean Ethics, II., Aristotle 2011) It is skill, at least in part, that distinguishes the virtuous from the nonvirtuous. I first offer some remarks on the intellectual skill of good questioning
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
