Reuniting Virtue and Knowledge

Abstract

Einstein held that intuition is more important than rational inquiry as a source of discovery. Further, he explicitly and implicitly linked the heart, the sacred, devotion and intuitive knowledge. The raison d'être of universities is the advance of knowledge; however, they have primarily focused on developing student's skills in working with rational knowledge. Given the paucity of attention to virtue and our intuitive abilities this article briefly explores the philosophical meaning of intuition and the role intuition plays in scientific discovery. It then turns to the ancient Greeks and Daoists for a perspective on a relationship between intuitive knowledge and virtue. A discussion ensues on how virtue and intuitive knowledge are cultivated according to the ancients.  The article concludes with questions for educators on how they might reintroduce the cultivation of virtue and knowledge in secular institutions.