Virtuous Minds: Intellectual Character Development

Templeton Foundation Character Project's Character Essay and Book Prize Competition award winner

What does it mean to love God with all of our minds?

Our culture today is in a state of crisis where intellectual virtue is concerned. Dishonesty, cheating, arrogance, laziness, cowardice--such vices are rampant in society, even among the world's most prominent leaders. We find ourselves in an ethical vacuum, as the daily headlines of our newspapers confirm again and again. Central to the problem is the state of education. We live in a technological world that has ever greater access to new information and yet no idea what to do with it all.

In this wise and winsome book, Philip Dow presents a casefor the recovery of intellectual character. He explores seven key virtues--courage, carefulness, tenacity, fair-mindedness, curiosity, honesty and humility--and discusses their many benefits. The recovery of virtue, Dow argues, is not about doing theright things, but about becoming the right kind of person. The formation of intellectual character produces a way of life that demonstrates love for both God and neighbor.

Dow has written an eminently practical guide to a life of intellectualvirtue designed especially for parents and educators. The book concludes with seven principles for a true education, a discussion guide for university and church groups, and nine appendices that provide examples from Dow's experience as a teacher andadministrator.

Virtuous Minds is a timely and thoughtful work for parents and pastors, teachers and students--anyone who thinks education is more about the quality of character than about the quantity of facts.

Philip E. Dow (PhD, Cambridge University) is the head of school at Black Forest Academy in Kandern, Germany. His career in education, both as a teacher and a school leader, spans three continents and over thirty years.