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Single Idea 8093

[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 3. Wisdom Deflated ]

Full Idea

To seek wisdom rather than truth. It is more within our grasp.

Gist of Idea

Seek wisdom rather than truth; it is easier

Source

Joseph Joubert (Notebooks [1800], 1797)

Book Ref

Joubert,Joseph: 'Notebooks', ed/tr. Auster,Paul [nyrb 2005], p.27


A Reaction

A nice challenge to the traditional goal of philosophy. The idea that we should 'seek truth' only seems to have emerged during the Reformation. The Greeks may well never have dreamed of such a thing.


The 16 ideas with the same theme [doubts about the high status of wisdom]:

Don't assume that wisdom is the automatic consequence of old age [Plato]
Our life is the creation of our mind [Anon (Dham)]
In much wisdom is much grief [Anon (Ecc)]
No wise man has yet been discovered [Stoic school, by Cicero]
No wisdom could make us comfortably walk a wide beam if it was high in the air [Montaigne]
Seek wisdom rather than truth; it is easier [Joubert]
'Wisdom' attempts to get beyond perspectives, making it hostile to life [Nietzsche]
Suffering is the meaning of existence [Nietzsche]
But what is the reasoning of the body, that it requires the wisdom you seek? [Nietzsche]
Wisdom is just the last gasp of a dying civilization [Cioran]
So-called wisdom is just pondering things instead of acting [Cioran]
Inspiration and social improvement need wisdom, but not professional philosophy [Quine]
Life will be lived better if it has no meaning [Camus]
There is more insight in fundamental perplexity about problems than in their supposed solutions [Nagel]
Because of Darwin, wisdom as a definite attainable state has faded [Watson]
The devil was wise as an angel, and lost no knowledge when he rebelled [Whitcomb]