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1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 1. Nature of Wisdom

[defining and explaining the nature of true wisdom]

37 ideas
Speak the truth, for this alone deifies man [Pythagoras, by Porphyry]
     Full Idea: Pythagoras advised above all things to speak the truth, for this alone deifies man.
     From: report of Pythagoras (reports [c.530 BCE]) by Porphyry - Life of Pythagoras §41
     A reaction: Idea 4421 (of Nietzsche) stands in contrast to this. I am not quite sure why speaking the truth has such a high value. I am inclined to a minimalist view, which is just that philosophy is an attempt to speak the truth, as fishermen try to catch fish.
Serene wisdom is freedom from ties, and indifference to fortune [Anon (Bhag)]
     Full Idea: Who everywhere is free from all ties, who neither rejoices nor sorrows if fortune is good or is ill, his is a serene wisdom.
     From: Anon (Bhag) (The Bhagavad Gita [c.500 BCE], 2.57)
     A reaction: This is very similar to the 'apatheia' of the Stoics, though they are always more committed to rationality. This is quite a good strategy when times are hard, but as a general rule it offers a bogus state of 'wisdom' which is really half way to death.
Wisdom is called 'beautiful', because it performs fine works [Plato]
     Full Idea: Wisdom [phronesis] is correctly given the name 'kalon' [beautiful], since it performs the works that we say are beautiful and welcome as such.
     From: Plato (Cratylus [c.377 BCE], 416d)
     A reaction: 'Phronesis' in Aristotle is more like prudence, or common sense, rather than wisdom ['sophia']. 'Kalon' also means fine or noble. This translation seems fair enough, though.
Spiritual qualities only become advantageous with the growth of wisdom [Plato]
     Full Idea: If virtue is a beneficial attribute of spirit, it must be wisdom; for spiritual qualities are not in themselves advantageous, but become so with wisdom…..Hence men cannot be good by nature.
     From: Plato (Meno [c.385 BCE], 88c)
     A reaction: Personally I haven't got any 'spiritual qualities', so I don't really understand this.
Wisdom makes virtue and true goodness possible [Plato]
     Full Idea: It is wisdom that makes possible courage and self-control and integrity or, in a word, true goodness.
     From: Plato (Phaedo [c.382 BCE], 069b)
     A reaction: Aristotle also says that prudence (phronesis) makes virtue possible.
The finest branch of wisdom is justice and moderation in ordering states and families [Plato]
     Full Idea: By far the greatest and fairest branch of wisdom is that which is concerned with the due ordering of states and families, whose name is moderation and justice.
     From: Plato (The Symposium [c.384 BCE], 209a)
     A reaction: ['Justice' is probably 'dikaiosune'] It is hard to disagree with this, and it relegates ivory tower philosophical contemplation to second place, unlike the late books of Aristotle's Ethics.
For Plato true wisdom is supernatural [Plato, by Weil]
     Full Idea: It is evident that Plato regards true wisdom as something supernatural.
     From: report of Plato (works [c.375 BCE]) by Simone Weil - God in Plato p.61
     A reaction: Taken literally, I assume this is wrong, but we can empathise with the thought. Wisdom has the feeling of rising above the level of mere knowledge, to achieve the overview I associate with philosophy.
Wisdom is scientific and intuitive knowledge of what is by nature most precious [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Wisdom is scientific and intuitive knowledge of what is by nature most precious.
     From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1141b03)
     A reaction: Precious for what? Theoretical or practical? Note the implied rational and empirical routes to wisdom.
Wisdom does not study happiness, because it is not concerned with processes [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Wisdom studies none of the things that go to make a man happy, because it is not concerned with any kind of process.
     From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1143b20)
     A reaction: This seems to be a very Platonic view, and not really consistent with Aristotle's overall metaphysics. It strikes me as simply wrong. Maybe all of reality is a process, and wisdom is then a maximum understanding of that process.
Knowledge chosen for its own sake, rather than for results, is wisdom [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: Knowledge chosen for itself and for the sake of knowledge is wisdom, more than that which is chosen for results.
     From: Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 0982a12)
     A reaction: Well something has to be for its own sake! But what about trivial knowledge? That question led Plato to the Forms.
Wisdom seeks explanations, causes, and reasons why things are as they are [Aristotle, by Politis]
     Full Idea: Aristotle characterises wisdom as a search for explanations (aitiai, which can also be translated as 'causes') and explanatory knowledge (epistemé, knowledge why something is as it is).
     From: report of Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], Bk 01.2) by Vassilis Politis - Aristotle and the Metaphysics 1.1
     A reaction: I think this idea might be a key one for modern philosophers, if they are searching for a metaphysics which can be integrated with modern science.
There is practical wisdom (for action), and theoretical wisdom (for deep understanding) [Aristotle, by Whitcomb]
     Full Idea: Aristotle takes wisdom to come in two forms, the practical and the theoretical, the former of which is good judgement about how to act, and the latter of which is deep knowledge or understanding.
     From: report of Aristotle (works [c.330 BCE]) by Dennis Whitcomb - Wisdom Intro
     A reaction: The interesting question is then whether the two are connected. One might be thoroughly 'sensible' about action, without counting as 'wise', which seems to require a broader view of what is being done. Whticomb endorses Aristotle on this idea.
Words of wisdom are precise and clear [Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu)]
     Full Idea: Words of wisdom are precise and clear.
     From: Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) (The Book of Chuang Tzu [c.329 BCE], Ch.2)
     A reaction: I can only approve of this. The issue of clarity is much discussed amongs philosophers, especially in the analytic v continental debate. Note, therefore, the additional requirement to be 'precise'. Should we be less clear in order to be precise?
Wisdom for one instant is as good as wisdom for eternity [Chrysippus]
     Full Idea: If a person has wisdom for one instant, he is no less happy than he who possesses it for eternity.
     From: Chrysippus (fragments/reports [c.240 BCE]), quoted by Pierre Hadot - Philosophy as a way of life 8
     A reaction: [Hadot quotes Plutarch 'On Common Conceptions' 8,1062a] This makes it sound awfully like some sort of Buddhist 'enlightenment', which strikes like lightning. He does wisdom recognise itself - by a warm glow, or by the cautious thought that got you there?
Cicero sees wisdom in terms of knowledge, but earlier Stoics saw it as moral [Cicero, by Long]
     Full Idea: Cicero (drawing on Panaetius) treats wisdom as if its province were primarily a disinterested pursuit of knowledge. But earlier Stoics gave purely moral definitions of wisdom.
     From: report of M. Tullius Cicero (On Duties ('De Officiis') [c.44 BCE], 1.11-20) by A.A. Long - Hellenistic Philosophy 5
     A reaction: I would have thought that after long discussion most ancient (and even modern) philosophers would conclude that it is both. The 'intellectualism' of Socrates hovers in the background, implying that healthy knowledge produces virtue.
Wisdom does not lie in books, and unread people can also become wise [Seneca]
     Full Idea: What grounds could I possibly have for supposing that a person who has no acquaintance with books will never be a wise man? For wisdom does not lie in books.
     From: Seneca the Younger (Letters from a Stoic [c.60], 088)
     A reaction: A useful warning to the likes of me, who may have retreated from the hurly-burly of the agora (see Callicles in Plato's 'Gorgias'), under the illusion that detachment is needed for wisdom. Maybe involvement is needed for wisdom.
Theory vanishes when one has obtained wisdom [Rahulabhadra]
     Full Idea: As the drops of dew in contact/ With the sun's rays disappear,/ So all theorizings vanish,/ Once one has obtained wisdom.
     From: Rahulabhadra (Hymn to Perfect Wisdom [c.150], v 10)
     A reaction: I suspect that the western view is that wisdom is good theory. This sounds like the sort of thing Wittgenstein would have said. Remarks like this encourage people to skip study, with the illusion that they can go straight to wisdom.
The wisdom of a free man is a meditation on life, not on death [Spinoza]
     Full Idea: A free man thinks of nothing less than of death, and his wisdom is a meditation on life, not on death.
     From: Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], IV Pr 67)
     A reaction: Life and death are not so easy to separate. You could hardly be wise about life if you didn't incorporate its finite duration into your wisdom.
If we are not wholly wise, we should live by good rules and maxims [Spinoza]
     Full Idea: The best thing we can do, so long as we lack a perfect knowledge of our feelings, is to conceive a right rule of life, or sure maxims of life - to commit these to memory, and constantly apply these to particular cases.
     From: Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], V Pr 10)
     A reaction: This seems to be the role of folk wisdom - to try to plant guidance in the heads of the not-so-wise.
Wisdom is knowing all of the sciences, and their application [Leibniz]
     Full Idea: Wisdom is a perfect knowledge of the principles of all the sciences and of the art of applying them.
     From: Gottfried Leibniz (On Wisdom [1693], 0)
     A reaction: 'Sciences' should be understood fairly broadly here (e.g. of architecture, agriculture, grammar). This is a scholar's vision of wisdom, very different from the notion of the wisest person in a village full of illiterate people.
Wisdom involves the desire to achieve perfection [Leibniz]
     Full Idea: The wiser one is, the more one is determined to do that which is most perfect.
     From: Gottfried Leibniz (On the Ultimate Origination of Things [1697], p.151)
     A reaction: Debatable. 'Perfectionism' is a well-known vice in many areas of life. Life is short, and the demands on us are many. Skilled shortcuts and compromises are one hallmark of genius, and presumably also of wisdom.
Wisdom is the science of happiness [Leibniz]
     Full Idea: Wisdom is the science of happiness.
     From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Antoine Arnauld [1686], 1690.03.23)
     A reaction: That probably comes down to common sense, or Aristotle's 'phronesis'. I take wisdom to involve understanding, as well as the quest for happiness.
Cleverness is shown in knowing what can reasonably be asked [Kant]
     Full Idea: It is already a great and necessary proof of cleverness or insight to know what one should reasonably ask.
     From: Immanuel Kant (Critique of Pure Reason [1781], B082/A58)
     A reaction: I admire the asking of unreasonable questions. They stretch the imagination, and the fixing of the limits of human thought requires some attempt to go beyond the limit. Kant sounds wise but conservative.
Moral self-knowledge is the beginning of all human wisdom [Kant]
     Full Idea: Moral self-knowledge, which seeks to penetrate into the depths (the abyss) of one's heart that are quite difficult to fathom, is the beginning of all human wisdom.
     From: Immanuel Kant (Metaphysics of Morals II:Doctrine of Virtue [1797], 441 I.I)
     A reaction: I'm not clear what I am supposed to be looking for on this quest. I'm guessing that being completely honest about one's own maxims in moral action would be a good start. And maybe confronting one's murkier desires.
Wisdom is knowing the highest good, and conforming the will to it [Kant]
     Full Idea: Wisdom, theoretically regarded, means the knowledge of the highest good and, practically, the conformability of the will to the highest good.
     From: Immanuel Kant (Critique of Practical Reason [1788], I.II.II.V)
     A reaction: This seems a narrow account of wisdom, focusing entirely on goodness rather than truth. A mind that valued nothing but understood everything would have a considerable degree of wisdom, in the normal use of that word.
Wisdom emerges at the end of a process [Hegel]
     Full Idea: The Owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of dusk.
     From: Georg W.F.Hegel (Elements of the Philosophy of Right [1821], Pref p.13), quoted by A.W. Moore - The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics 07.4
     A reaction: Hegel explains that this means that wisdom is the product of historical maturity, as the ideal emerges, and illuminates what is real. I think.
The highest wisdom has the guise of simplicity [Nietzsche]
     Full Idea: Truth tends to reveal its highest wisdom in the guise of simplicity.
     From: Friedrich Nietzsche (Human, All Too Human [1878], 609)
Wisdom prevents us from being ruled by the moment [Nietzsche]
     Full Idea: The most important thing about wisdom is that it prevents human beings from being ruled by the moment.
     From: Friedrich Nietzsche (Unpublished Writings 1872-74 [1873], 30 [25])
It is wisdom to believe what you desire, because belief is needed to achieve it [James]
     Full Idea: Clearly it is often the part of wisdom to believe what one desires; for the belief is one of indispensable preliminary conditions of the realisation of its object.
     From: William James (The Sentiment of Rationality [1882], p.43)
     A reaction: Roughly, action is impossible without optimism about possible success. This may count as instinct, rather than 'wisdom'.
A sense of timelessness is essential to wisdom [Russell]
     Full Idea: Both in thought and in feeling, to realize the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom.
     From: Bertrand Russell (Our Knowledge of the External World [1914], 6)
     A reaction: A very rationalist and un-Heraclitean view of wisdom. This picture may give wisdom a bad name, if wise people are (at a minimum) at least expected to give good advice about real life.
Wisdom only implies the knowledge achievable in any normal lifetime [Foot]
     Full Idea: Wisdom implies no more knowledge and understanding than anyone of normal capacity can and should acquire in the course of an ordinary life.
     From: Philippa Foot (Natural Goodness [2001], 5)
     A reaction: Have philosophers stopped talking about wisdom precisely because you now need three university degrees to be considered even remotely good at phillosophy? Hence wisdom is an inferior attainment, because Foot is right.
We take courage, temperance, wisdom and justice as moral, but Aristotle takes wisdom as intellectual [Foot]
     Full Idea: For us there are four cardinal moral virtues: courage, temperance, wisdom and justice. But Aristotle and Aquinas call only three of these virtues moral virtues; practical wisdom (phronesis, prudentia) they class with the intellectual virtues.
     From: Philippa Foot (Virtues and Vices [1978], p.2)
     A reaction: I'm not sure about 'for us'. How many of us rank temperance as a supreme virtue? Aristotle ranks phronesis (which I think of as 'common sense') as the key enabler of the moral virtues, making it unlike the other intellectual virtues.
For ancient Greeks being wise was an ethical value [Putnam]
     Full Idea: An ancient Greek would have said that being wise is an ethical value.
     From: Hilary Putnam (Reason, Truth and History [1981], Ch.6)
     A reaction: This is instantly appealing, but since the Enlightenment we are under an obligation to attempt to justify absolutely everything, including the value of wisdom. I'm thinking that it only has value if it leads to eudaimonia.
Wisdom needs both thought and passion, with each reflecting on the other [Solomon]
     Full Idea: Wisdom is a matter of living both thoughtfully and passionately, bringing understanding to bear on every passion and forcing every passion into the light of reflection.
     From: Robert C. Solomon (The Passions [1976], 3.4)
     A reaction: His main point is that passion is a key part of wisdom, and the idea that wisdom is cold and detached is quite false. Good point. At the very least, wise people must relate sympathetically to others.
Philosophy needs wisdom about who we are, as well as how we ought to be [Flanagan]
     Full Idea: Any good philosophy will need to offer wisdom about who we are as well as about how we ought to be.
     From: Owen Flanagan (The Problem of the Soul [2002], p. 14)
     A reaction: This sop should be accepted gratefully by fans of bioethics, who seem inclined to think that describing 'how we are' is all that needs to be said. Maybe the key wisdom lies in the relationship between the 'is' and the 'ought' of human nature.
Wisdom has a higher value than understanding, which has a higher value than knowledge [Greco]
     Full Idea: Intuitively, understanding is more valuable than knowledge and wisdom is more valuable than understanding.
     From: John Greco (The Value Problem [2011], 'Knowledge')
     A reaction: Down at the bottom is having an 'inkling' of something, I presume. Not convinced of this. I would rate understanding above knowledge, but wisdom seems rather different. It implies a breadth that does not focus on any particular topic.
Unlike knowledge, wisdom cannot be misused [Zagzebski]
     Full Idea: A distinctive mark of wisdom is that it cannot be misused, whereas knowledge surely can be misused.
     From: Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski (Virtues of the Mind [1996], I 1.2)
     A reaction: She will argue, with Aristotle, that this is because wisdom (and maybe 'true' knowledge) must include 'phronesis' (practical wisdom), which is the key to all the virtues, intellectual and moral. This idea is striking, and obviously correct.