Wisdom
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Detail from the Allegory of Wisdom and Strength by Paulo Veronese (c. 1580) |
Wisdom is the ability, developed through
experience,
insight and
reflection, to discern truth and exercise good judgment. It is sometimes conceptualized as an especially well developed form of
common sense. Most psychologists regard wisdom as distinct from the cognitive abilities measured by standardized
intelligence tests. Wisdom is often considered to be a trait that can be developed by experience, but not taught. When applied to practical matters, the term wisdom is synonymous with
prudence. Some see wisdom as a quality that even a child, otherwise immature, may possess independent of experience or complete knowledge.
The status of wisdom or prudence as a
virtue is recognized in
cultural,
philosophical and
religious sources. Some define wisdom in a
utilitarian sense, as foreseeing consequences and acting to maximize the long-term common
good.
A standard
philosophical definition says that wisdom consists of making the best use of available
knowledge. As with all decisions, a wise decision may be made with incomplete
information. The technical philosophical term for the opposite of wisdom is
folly.
In his
Metaphysics,
Aristotle defines wisdom as knowledge of causes:
why things exist in a particular fashion.
Beyond the simple expedient of experience (which may be considered the most difficult way to gain wisdom as through the "school of hard knocks"), there are a variety of other avenues to gaining wisdom which vary according to different philosophies. For example,
Freethinkers and others believe that wisdom may come from pure
reason and perhaps experience, while others believe that it comes from
intuition or
spirituality.
* Beginning with the ancient Greeks, European culture associates wisdom with
virtue. For example, many philosophers talk about the virtue of wisdom in relation to courage and moderation, and in the
Roman Catholic church, wisdom (
Prudence) stands with
justice,
fortitude and
moderation as one of the four
cardinal virtues. They are outlined in the Hebrew book of Wisdom 8:7. These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.
Plato's dialogues mention the virtue of wisdom, as knowledge about the Good and the
courage to act accordingly. The
Good would be about the right relations between all that exists. The Good, as a Platonic
Form, would involve the perfect ideas of good government, love, friendship, community, and a right relation to the Divine. Perhaps the search or love of wisdom is more important than any proven claim. Socrates only claimed to know that he did not know, but this he was very certain of, and he showed the many contradictions in the claims of his fellow citizens.
*
Holists believe that wise people sense, work with and align themselves and others to
life. In this view, wise people help others appreciate the fundamental
interconnectedness of life.
*
Some religions hold that wisdom may be given as a gift from God.In the Christian Bible, for example, there were three wise men sent by God to give the newly born Jesus three gifts. Wisdom is also represented by the sense of justice by the lawful and wise king
Solomon. In the Koran the prophet Muhammed is chosen by Allah to represent his wisdom.
* The seventh verse of the first chapter of the
Jewish book of
Proverbs in the
Old Testament states "
Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7). The beginning of fear of God is hating evil, the ways of evil, arrogance, pride and a duplicitous mouth (Proverbs).
*
Confucius stated that wisdom can be learned by three methods: Reflection (the noblest), imitation (the easiest) and experience (the bitterest).
*
Buddha taught that a wise person is endowed with good bodily conduct, good verbal conduct & good mental conduct (
AN3:2) and a wise person does actions that are unpleasant to do but give good results and doesn't do actions that are pleasant to do but give bad results (
AN4:115). This is called
karma.
*
Thoreau believed that "it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things."
* PRACTICAL Wisdom may be described as: Knowing what to say and when to say it.--TAO
One modern philosopher, Nicholas Maxwell, has argued that the basic aim of academic inquiry ought to be to seek and promote wisdom - wisdom being construed to be the capacity to realize what is of value in life for oneself and others, wisdom thus including knowledge and technological know-how, but much else besides.
*
The Wisdom of Crowds*
Pirkei Avot*
Virtue*
Streetwise*
Wisdom literature*
Book of Wisdom (A
Jewish book, part of some
Christian Bibles)
*
School of Hard Knocks*
Philosophy*
Regret*
Living Wisdom - A Research Paper about Wisdom*
Atlas of Wisdom: Wisdom in Psychology and Spirituality*
Where is the Wisdom We have Lost in Knowledge?*
Wisdom: The Interval Between the Notes*
From Knowledge to Wisdom*
Words of Wisdom 4 U*
The Wisdom Project
