Abstract

In a scene from C. S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew, a handful of humans watch as Aslan sings the new world of Narnia into existence. Everyone is amazed to find they can understand the animals speaking--except Uncle Andrew, who only hears barkings, howlings, and the like. But why is this so? Lewis gives hints throughout the book that Uncle Andrew does not possess the kinds of characteristics that later philosophers would identify as epistemic virtues. In this article I introduce Lorraine Code's four central virtues of a responsible seeker of knowledge, showing how Uncle Andrew possessed none of them and how this seemingly prevented him from seeing and hearing what was plain to others.