Intellectual Humility & Higher Education

Abstract

Recent sociological studies show that the majority of emerging adults who constitute the bulk of college and university students doubt whether questions about value, meaning, and importance fall within the domain of rational inquiry. Many hold that deciding what constitutes a life well lived is left to the individual and that personal opinions are not subject to evaluation. Consequently, they are reluctant to engage life’s big questions, because, as they see it, there is nothing about meaning, value, and purpose that warrants discussion. In this essay, Echelbarger contends that in order to reengage students in an examination of what is true, good, and beautiful, stewards of the academy must encourage practicing the virtue of intellectual humility. With the help of Plato’s philosophy of education, Echelbarger begins by arguing that skepticism about our ability to rationally discuss matters of value is, ironically, the product of intellectual hubris. In light of this conclusion, he then draws upon Fides et Ratio and Paul Griffiths’ Intellectual Appetite to outline two sources of intellectual humility that can help us to adopt an appropriate vision of reason’s role in the exploration of life’s most important questions.