What is Intellectual Character?

[coberst]

What is Intellectual Character?

 

What is character? Character is the network of habits that permeate all the intentional acts of an individual.

 

I am not using the word habit in the way we often do, as a technical ability existing apart from our wishes. These habits are an intimate and fundamental part of our selves. They are representations of our will. They rule our will, working in a coordinated way they dominate our way of acting. These habits are the results of repeated, intelligently controlled, actions.

 

Habits also control the formation of ideas as well as physical actions. We cannot perform a correct action or a correct idea without having already formed correct habits. “Reason pure of all influence from prior habit is a fiction. “The medium of habit filters all material that reaches our perception and thought…Immediate, seemingly instinctive, feeling of the direction and end of various lines of behavior is in reality the feeling of habits working below direct consciousness… Habit means special sensitiveness or accessibility to certain classes of stimuli, standing predilections and aversions, rather than bare recurrence of specific acts. It means will.”

 

I think that intellectual character, which is that system of habits that lead us to think in a certain manner and determine significantly what kind of person we are, is a reality in all of us that has a significant similarity with ’paradigm’.

 

What do I mean when I say ‘character is paradigm’? I mean that the concept ‘paradigm’ is a useful concept for comprehending ‘character’.

 

Intellectual character is a way of “seeing”, which transposes into a way of behaving. Without the habits of character our actions would be an untied bundle of isolated acts. ‘Character’ is a word representing the interpenetration of habits. If our habits are formed in an incoherent manner our behavior will be incoherent. Our actions, in the case of intellectual character, our thoughts would be a “juxtaposition of disconnected reactions to separated situations”.

 

My understanding of character and the quotations concerning the nature of character are taken from “Habits and Will” by John Dewey http://www.alexandercenter.com/jd/johndeweyhabits.html.

[Jehu]

Coberst

 

I would agree with you Sir, and with Mr. Dewey, that habit has a profound impact on our behaviour. Our past experiences undoubtedly affect the way that we perceive present experiences, and there is a inclination to revert to habitual patterns of behaviour as a means of coping with what’s happening right now. However there are two statements that I would like to examine more closely, (1) “We cannot perform a correct action or a correct idea without having already formed correct habits.”, and (2) “If our habits are formed in an incoherent manner our behavior will be incoherent.”

 

Let me begin with statement (1). There is an effect that takes place in times of grave danger, that is well known among police officers, firefighter, and soldiers, that ordinary people will, where there is not sufficient time to consider the full implication of a situation, simply do whatever needs to be done, regardless of the personal risk. Now most of the people in question are not extraordinary in any way, though their acts certainly are. Nevertheless, their normally habitual patterns of behaviour are temporarily short-circuited by the urgency of the situation, and they are able to function freely. Now, if the actions of these people do not arise from habit, where do they arise from? Is it possible that we all have an inherent sense of what is correct action, and that this innate humanity is simply obscured by our habitually selfish mode of thinking?

 

With regard to statement (2), I would question the compatibility of the terms “coherent” and “habitual”, unless one means by coherent “that which is easily followed”. Surely there is nothing logical in ones adopting an habitual pattern of dealing with any situation, for no two situations are ever completely alike, and neither are the mitigating circumstance that accompany them. There is, in my opinion, no intelligence attached to habitual activities, there is only stupidity.

 

Jehu

[coberst]

Jehu

 

I think that character traits guide our behavior at all times. Character traits are formed by our willfully developed habits. We cannot ‘jump over’ our habit developed character traits. That is why I think that intellectual character is so important.

 

I guess that our character is formed by the habits our family and community helped us develop as a child. An adult must examine those character traits and modify them to suit his or her world views. Habits formed by an adult are an act of will and thus they are what the adult considers to be his or her set of values. Know a person’s habits and you will know the will and values of the person.

 

I use coherent to mean systematical and logically organized. Habits are individual traits or aspects of character. Character is the habits placed in a coherent manner.

 

 

I would say that intellectual character consists of the following traits:

 

Intellectual Humility: Having Knowledge of Ignorance

Intellectual Courage: Being Willing to Challenge my Beliefs

Intellectual Empathy: Entertaining Opposing Views

Intellectual Integrity: Holding Myself to the Same Standards as I Hold Others

Intellectual Perseverance: Working Through Complexity and Frustration

Confidence in Reason: Obvious

Intellectual Autonomy: Obvious

 

I take these character traits from “Critical Thinking: Tools for taking charge of your professional and personal life” by Richard Paul and Lynda Elder.

[Jehu]

Coberst

 

It is quite clear Sir, that you believe this theory to be true, but it is not so clear why you believe it. Thus far you have presented no defence of the theory, beyond quoting a few individuals whom you obviously hold to be authorities on the subject. What evidence can you yourself provide in its defence, for it seems to me that this is matter that each of us might investigate for ourselves. Have you ever attempted to rid yourself of habit Sir? Have you ever said to yourself “I am going to drop everything that has gone before, and start life anew” ? Many people have tried this experiment, and the outcome has consistently been that they have become more benevolent and compassionate, for this is the true function of an authentic human being: that mode of activity whereby we fulfil our purpose in being.

 

Regards, Jehu

[coberst]

I am having computer problems. Sorry

[coberst]

Jehu

 

I think that independent thinking grounded in fundamental knowledge is great. I also think that independent thinking ungrounded in fundamental knowledge is ill advised. When facing a matter that I have little or no knowledge of I think it is advisable to learn those fundamentals before expressing an opinion especially a dissenting opinion.

 

John Dewey is a greatly respected thinker in philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy from the nineteenth century. I suspect you will find few knowledgeable people who would disagree with that statement.

 

I often write an OP that I think is about an important concept but one that few people have given much thought. My purpose is to supply sufficient information so that the curiosity of the reader is aroused and hopefully the reader will then try to acquire knowledge about that matter.

 

In the case of this post I liberally supply direct quotes and also an easy reference for the interested reader. I do this so the reader can easily begin the process of becoming knowledgeable

 

Now regarding habits and will and character; habits are changed one habit at a time. Everyone is familiar with the experience of habit but few people are knowledgably about these matters. One cannot successfully “drop everything that has gone before, am going to drop everything that has gone before, and start life anew”. If one comprehended what Dewey is saying about will, habit, and character one will understand why such an undertaking is impossible.

[Jehu]

Coberst

 

I mean no disrespect to Mr. Dewey nor to any other “respected thinker” of the past, however, this does not preclude the possibility that they may have been mistaken. Descartes was, and still remains, a highly respected thinker, but have you ever read his explanation of how a heart functions? An explanation, I might add, that he put forward with the utmost certainty, for he felt that there could be no other explanation possible, given his limited knowledge. Similar errors may be found in the works of nearly every great philosopher or scientist, for in the end, theories are constructed out of knowledge, and knowledge is inevitably incomplete. What’s more, most knowledge is obtained by observation and by inductive inference, both of which possess an inherent uncertainty. Now, you say that that it is impossible to rid yourself of habit, for Mr. Dewey, an eminent thinker, has argued plausibly that such a thing cannot be done. Very well, but why do you not look into the matter for yourself? Perhaps then you find the truth Sir, instead of mere knowledge.

 

Jehu