Why These Specific Six Virtues? (Post #1 of 4)

October 2, 2009

This set of four posts describes and analyzes variations on the belief that being educated and leading a good life depends on six specific virtues. When I recently discussed The Six Virtues of the Educated Person with members of the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, one of them said she was drawn to my book because she heard about the six-virtue philosophy from people who had attended the workshops.

I was shocked and surprised because (silly me) I thought my six-virtue philosophy about life and education was a new idea. I thought I was the originator of the 6-virtue philosophy, and I had not presented any workshops.

Googling “six virtues” shows how wrong I was. There are many six-virtue lists, so the question is, “How do the six virtues of the educated person compare with other six-virtue schemes?” Similar to how I compared virtues in Chapter 4 of TSVOTEP, this blog series compares my six virtues with other six-virtue lists. Which schemes are the most conceptually consistent, fundamental, comprehensive, and useful?

I believe the six virtues of the educated person meet these criteria better than others, but I invite readers to disagree. Click on “Comment” at the end of this blog to share your ideas.

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