Creating an Honors Community:  A Virtue Ethics Approach*

Nancy A. Stanlick, Department of Philosophy, University of Central Florida

stanlick@mail.ucf.edu

April 13, 2006; 17th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning

*Forthcoming in The Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Summer 2006.

Some Aspects of an Honors Community: 

· Acceptance into a Community

· Becoming and Being a Member of a Community

· Actions and Character Development

· What is Honor? —

· Descriptive and Prescriptive

· Given and Received

· Meaningful ONLY in a community

Elements of the Argument:

 

                                                                    Community

 

 

 

Student Membership in a Community

Implications:

· Sharing common purposes—importance of honesty, friendship; developing a community

· Development of Identity

· Membership in a Community

· The Individual in the Community/The Individual and the Community/The Individual of the Community

Process/Creating

· The meaning of honor

· Being a member of a community

· Benefits and Obligations of Community Membership

· Responsibilities of the community & its members

Honor, Dishonor, Friendship and the Honors Community

· Presence

· Pretense

· Individual Good

· Tension/Conflict of Interest

· Individual Good vs. Community Good

· Full Membership

· Purpose

· Identity for the Self

· Conception of the Good

· Convergence of Interests

· and Honor