Misplaced Tolerance and Educating for Intellectual Humility

Abstract

AbstractAlthough education for intellectual virtues, including the virtue of intellectual humility, has received increasing attention in recent years, less focus has been devoted to specific obstacles that can inhibit the cultivation of intellectual virtue. In this article, Kirsten Welch presents one such impediment to the development of intellectual humility: the obstacle of misplaced tolerance. After identifying the key features of intellectual humility and tolerance as intellectual and civic virtues respectively, Welch argues that tolerance, when exercised inappropriately, can work against the cultivation of genuine intellectual humility. If tolerance is misconstrued as an intellectual virtue rather than being understood correctly as a civic virtue, it can undermine intellectual humility by reinforcing a certain sort of relativism that is incompatible with genuine intellectual humility. In light of this potential obstacle, she suggests some approaches and considerations for educators seeking to help their students grow in intellectual humility and develop their intellectual character.