#1256 Nathan King - The Excellent Mind: Intellectual Virtues for Everyday Life
RECORDED ON NOVEMBER 26th 2025.
Dr. Nathan King is Professor of Philosophy and Edward B. Lindaman Endowed Chair at Whitworth University. His scholarly work addresses such topics as intellectual virtue, business ethics, the philosophy of education, civil discourse, the epistemology of disagreement, and the philosophy of religion. He is the author of The Excellent Mind: Intellectual Virtues for Everyday Life.
In this episode, we focus on The Excellent Mind. We discuss what an excellent mind is, and why we should care about truth and intellectual virtues. We talk about the three components of intellectual virtues, and we explore the intellectual virtues of curiosity, carefulness, autonomy, humility, honesty, perseverance, courage, open-mindedness and firmness, and fair-mindedness and charity.
Time Links:
Intro
What is an excellent mind?
Why should we care about truth and intellectual virtues?
The three components of intellectual virtues
Curiosity
Carefulness
Autonomy
Humility
Honesty
Perseverance
Courage
Open-mindedness and firmness
Fair-mindedness and charity
A final message
Follow Dr. King’s work!
Follow Dr. King’s work:
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/4tsk3nh4
Website: https://www.nathan-king.org/about
The Excellent Mind (link with discount): https://tinyurl.com/yckca8nn