Episode 49: What Is Virtue? Recovering a Lost Vocabulary of Education

In this episode, Dr. Christopher Perrin draws upon his forthcoming book with Carrie Eben, The Good Teacher and invites listeners to reconsider the meaning of virtue. It once stood at the heart of education but now often eludes clear definitions. Considering personal experience and the broader tradition of liberal education, Perrin explores how the modern educational landscape has drifted from its roots, leaving many unable to articulate what virtue—or even education—truly is. He explains the classical understanding of virtue as human excellence, rooted in the Latin virtus and Greek aretē, and discusses the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage.

Perrin then turns to the forgotten tradition of the liberal arts, challenging even well-educated listeners to name and understand them. From this foundation, he builds toward a vision of education as the cultivation of virtue—not only moral and civic but also intellectual and even physical and spiritual. He provides a taxonomy of intellectual or academic virtues—including wonder, zeal, humility, attentiveness, courage, and discipline—and discusses how these can and must be cultivated in students and educators alike. Throughout, Perrin emphasizes that true education forms not just the mind, but the whole person, and that the rediscovery of this vision requires a recovery of vocabulary, tradition, and purpose.