The Counsel of Trent

writing is thinking

Friday, January 20, 2006

Humility: First Virtue of Philosophers

From an email from a student yesterday:

Prof. Dougherty
In light of our discussion in class today regarding the "brightness" of
the color black, I was "moved" to try to find a definition of the word
"bright" as it relates to color. However, I have found that the argument I
was struggling with, at first, is very different from the conclusion that I
have ultimately come to question.
[Trent Dougherty] Ah yes, so common. This is why being *humble* is the first virtue of a philosopher: we are often led by logic to conclusions we considered closed.

And yes, I purposefully let out the alliteration.

Black may not be aptly described as bright, but some of my students are!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home