The Erosion of Academic Virtue

Abstract

Haack articulates something of what she takes the moral demands of academic life to be, calling for such virtues as industry, honesty, realism, patience, and consideration. She then explains why she believes the current academic environment is sapping the strength of character these virtues require, and why graduate students are caught in the middle. She writes primarily about philosophy, but much of what she has to say applies to other humanities disciplines and much of that to other disciplines as well---and while she writes primarily about the U.S. situation, much of what she says applies elsewhere too.

Keywords

• academic virtues
• industry
• honesty
• realism
• patience
• consideration
• research
• teaching
• graduate students
• university administration