Wisdom

[brightlights]

Philosophy is, allegedly, the "love of wisdom" or perhaps the search for wisdom. (philo = love, sophia = wisdom). But what is wisdom? What is this thing that we love and are searching for? I recently spent some time searching the scriptures and thinking to get a clear definition. Here's where I've landed:

Wisdom is knowing how to live. Wisdom is more than knowledge. It's understanding how to use knowledge in order to live well and flourish in the world. Wisdom is the ability to discern good from evil -- the things that make for life and the things that make for death. Wisdom is understanding the way the world works so that we can live in harmony with creation and enjoy long life. Wisdom is knowing how to preserve life and avoid death. Put very simply -- wisdom is knowing how to live forever. A fool dies for lack of wisdom.

This is what philosophy claims to study. A few questions:

1. Is this what wisdom is? If not, what is wisdom?
2. Is this what philosophy is really doing today? What is the goal of philosophy if not learning how to live long and well?

 

[Paradoxum]

To some extent I agree, but I don't think it encompasses philosophy's pursuit of truth and reason enough. It is about good living, but also good thinking. You could say that good thinking is more foundational since one must have one's mind in 'order' to decide how to live.

I don't think I could come up with a fully definition of wisdom though. It may even be a mistake to assume that philosophy is just about wisdom just because that is how the word is made up.

I wonder why you connect wisdom to living forever.

 

[Gottservant]

Wisdom, forgets all.

Philosophy, reasons much.

To forget is to release and be free.

To reason is to contain and control.

One cannot be free without reason.

One cannot be controlled without forgetting.

 

[Gottservant]

I just read an interesting part of the Bible, in Proverbs that relates to this thread actually.

There is a verse in Proverbs that talks about the discretion of a man making him slow to anger, now Wisdom is typically referred to as discernment, but if you think about it, there is not that much difference between the two.

To gain discretion, lose discernment.

To gain discernment, hold to both discernment and discretion.

The point I think is to gain discernment and then move to a position where you can use discretion, that way you gain experience, and with experience you can enlighten the soul. This is the way of salvation.

 

[GrowingSmaller]

Wisdom I'll define (casually) as eutaxis, movement towards the benign. Taxis is a concept fro ethology, the study of animal behaviour. For example prochaemotaxis is a movement towards certain chemicals, and prophototaxis is movement towards light. Anyway eutaxis involves eugnosis (good knowledge) and eupraxis (Good practical action).

The "eu" or the good can be uncerstood in terms of contrast e.g. a healthy person (in a good state) as opposed to a sickly one. The analogy I like to use for the good is a well fed and watered plant, growing towards the light. Similarly for psychic, social and physical life there are conditions and actions that make for a benign state of affairs. Perhaps the "living vine" idea from the NT is similar to this?

 

[Received]

I go with Aristotle's idea: wisdom is an intuitive understanding of causes of things and reasoned conclusion based on these causes. I'd add more: a person is wise in proportion to how keenly he intuitively knows causes and how much he applies this to his own life.

 

[brightlights]

To some extent I agree, but I don't think it encompasses philosophy's pursuit of truth and reason enough. It is about good living, but also good thinking. You could say that good thinking is more foundational since one must have one's mind in 'order' to decide how to live.

Isn't the purpose of good thinking good living? If we know how to think and know truth but live destructively what good has truth done for us?

I don't think I could come up with a fully definition of wisdom though. It may even be a mistake to assume that philosophy is just about wisdom just because that is how the word is made up.

This is what classical philosophy was. If we've departed from that perhaps we're not really doing philosophy anymore and we should call it something else.

I wonder why you connect wisdom to living forever.

The Bible makes this connection. If wisdom is about knowing how to live in a sustainable way then a wise man will live longer and better than a fool. Perhaps the wisest man could even sustain life forever.

 

[JYJ]

Philosophy is, allegedly, the "love of wisdom" or perhaps the search for wisdom. (philo = love, sophia = wisdom). But what is wisdom? What is this thing that we love and are searching for? I recently spent some time searching the scriptures and thinking to get a clear definition. Here's where I've landed:

Wisdom is knowing how to live. Wisdom is more than knowledge. It's understanding how to use knowledge in order to live well and flourish in the world. Wisdom is the ability to discern good from evil -- the things that make for life and the things that make for death. Wisdom is understanding the way the world works so that we can live in harmony with creation and enjoy long life. Wisdom is knowing how to preserve life and avoid death. Put very simply -- wisdom is knowing how to live forever. A fool dies for lack of wisdom.

This is what philosophy claims to study. A few questions:

1. Is this what wisdom is? If not, what is wisdom?
2. Is this what philosophy is really doing today? What is the goal of philosophy if not learning how to live long and well?

I disagree that philosophy is any love of wisdom. I think rather that it is a love of knowledge. Wisdom, in it's turn, is simply something that may or may not be present in the mind of the knower.

 

[Eudaimonist]

Philosophy is, allegedly, the "love of wisdom"

It is precisely that.

Wisdom is knowing how to live. Wisdom is more than knowledge. It's understanding how to use knowledge in order to live well and flourish in the world.

Yes, it includes that.

Although, I think that Received has it right. Knowing how to live well is phronesis, but sophia is "an intuitive understanding of causes of things and reasoned conclusion based on these causes". Since philosophy is the love of sophia, it would make sense to use that understanding. But phronesis seems to be a special case of sophia, and so is included.

Put very simply -- wisdom is knowing how to live forever.

No, wisdom has nothing to do with knowing how to live forever. It has to do with flourishing in life, however long that may be.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[GrowingSmaller]

I am not sure how far intuition will actually take us. The neocortex is associated with the more difficult problems that are brought to conscious awareness. This focus on intuition sounds a bit mystical to me. At any rate, it is often the case that knowing the causes of things, and also philosophising in general, takes a lot of conscious labour. Plato, Aristotle and Newton etc were not automatic writers, but labouring thinkers. The causes of things, including the good life are not given in automated awareness but only understood after hard work IMO.

I get the idea that consciousness is used for difficult stuff from this book, the happiness hypothesis (the example given was working out how long it would take to get to the airport).

 

[astein]

Wisdom

GOD IS ALL WISDOM!

 

[Paradoxum]

Isn't the purpose of good thinking good living? If we know how to think and know truth but live destructively what good has truth done for us?

Perhaps, but it is probably also just caring about the truth too.

The Bible makes this connection. If wisdom is about knowing how to live in a sustainable way then a wise man will live longer and better than a fool. Perhaps the wisest man could even sustain life forever.

Well I would think that many fools have lived longer than wise people. Disease and accident can happen to anyone. The rain falls on the good and the bad alike... to paraphrase the Bible.

The body falls apart with age anyway. Science may save humans from ageing one day, but does that count as wisdom?

 

[astein]

Perhaps, but it is probably also just caring about the truth too.

If truth says love is the way, do you believe in it? Love.

 

[Received]

I am not sure how far intuition will actually take us. The neocortex is associated with the more difficult problems that are brought to conscious awareness. This focus on intuition sounds a bit mystical to me. At any rate, it is often the case that knowing the causes of things, and also philosophising in general, takes a lot of conscious labour. Plato, Aristotle and Newton etc were not automatic writers, but labouring thinkers. The causes of things, including the good life are not given in automated awareness but only understood after hard work IMO.

I get the idea that consciousness is used for difficult stuff from this book, the happiness hypothesis (the example given was working out how long it would take to get to the airport).

If intuition is defined as "ascertaining without reasoning," then it's by definition the basis of our reasoning and knowing. How do we "know" the reasoning works or is valid? We don't; we intuit that it does, and we have the belief that reason is valid just because. How do we "know" that sensation works or is valid? We don't; we intuit. It has a mystical feel because mysticism is all about trusting one's experiences in their immediacy. So there's something mystical that's the basis of our reason, sensations, and other basic faculties.

 

[Living in the Light]

This is a great post and I love the description of wisdom. I would add "being able to evaluate all options to see if the equation balances." While I did many stupid things when I was younger, I now seem to be able to make the decisions that work well for my journey.

 

[brightlights]

Well I would think that many fools have lived longer than wise people. Disease and accident can happen to anyone. The rain falls on the good and the bad alike... to paraphrase the Bible.

Yes. This is the problem of wisdom. Both Job and Ecclesiastes recognize this. The Bible solves it with Jesus. Though it appears as if the foolish prosper and the wise die in vain, in the end it will not be so by virtue of the resurrection. In the apocalypse (literally -- lifting of the veil) all will be made clear.

The body falls apart with age anyway. Science may save humans from ageing one day, but does that count as wisdom?

Yes.

 

[Loudmouth]

Yes. This is the problem of wisdom. Both Job and Ecclesiastes recognize this. The Bible solves it with Jesus. Though it appears as if the foolish prosper and the wise die in vain, in the end it will not be so by virtue of the resurrection. In the apocalypse (literally -- lifting of the veil) all will be made clear.



Yes.

I would define wisdom as knowing that armageddon and the rapture are a bunch of nonsense, but that's just me.

Wisdom is also knowing that you will not live forever.

 

[Paradoxum]

If truth says love is the way, do you believe in it? Love.

What do you mean?

I like love and truth.

Yes. This is the problem of wisdom. Both Job and Ecclesiastes recognize this. The Bible solves it with Jesus. Though it appears as if the foolish prosper and the wise die in vain, in the end it will not be so by virtue of the resurrection. In the apocalypse (literally -- lifting of the veil) all will be made clear.

You say the Bible solves that problem with Jesus... that makes it sound alot like Jesus was made up to answer an existential problem, like Job.

Anyway, salvation has little to do with wisdom. It is easy to be a Christian and fools and wise people do it all the time. Many people have faith in Christ simply because they were brought up that way in a 'Christian' culture. Equally a wise person or a fool could be a non-Christian.

Yes.

I'm not sure I would call science wisdom, but perhaps it is.

 

[brightlights]

I would define wisdom as knowing that armageddon and the rapture are a bunch of nonsense, but that's just me.

I agree that these things are nonsense but I don't think that this has anything to do with wisdom. This is knowledge.

Wisdom is also knowing that you will not live forever.

This also is knowledge. Wisdom concerns what you do with it.

 

[brightlights]

Anyway, salvation has little to do with wisdom. It is easy to be a Christian and fools and wise people do it all the time. Many people have faith in Christ simply because they were brought up that way in a 'Christian' culture. Equally a wise person or a fool could be a non-Christian.

Only a fool can become a Christian.

I'm not sure I would call science wisdom, but perhaps it is.

If it's used to enhance life then I would call it wisdom, in a fashion.