Wisdom - Theory

Wisdom has been exalted in many cultures as a desired resource representing the ideal integration

of knowledge and action, mind and virtue (Clayton & Birren, 1980). In antiquity, wisdom was

reserved for divine beings. It was worshipped but was beyond the reach of mortals. It was secularized by the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Since that time, scholars in western cultures have contemplated the nature of the wisdom of human beings and its role in the conduct of life and the organization of society.  Wisdom is associated with good judgment and actions that contribute to living well (e.g., Kekes, 1983, 1988).

Kekes (1988), for example, summarizes the importance of wisdom, ‘‘Wisdom is like love, intelligence, and decency in that it is a good thing to have and the more that we have of it the better we

are. The opposite of wisdom is foolishness, universally recognized to be a defect’’ (p. 145).

 Wisdom was established as an intellectual virtue and as a means for individuals and communities to live

well despite the uncertainties of human life (Kekes, 1988; Nussbaum, 2001; Taylor, 1955).

Aristotle was one of the first to argue for the primacy of practical over theoretical knowledge in decisions about the appropriate and ethical ways to act in life matters (e.g., Taylor, 1955). He believed that practical wisdom enabled an individual to resourcefully adapt theoretical and scientific understanding to concrete situations and dilemmas (e.g., Kekes, 1983; Nussbaum, 2001; Taylor, 1955). Practical wisdom in Aristotle’s model presupposed that an individual was also morally virtuous.

Practical wisdom is used to set priorities for action, and this selection process is guided by intuition and values and tempered by emotion.

Wisdom Theory Developed by Psychologists

One agenda of psychological science is to study general processes of the mind and behavior using standardized empirical and experimental methods.

Initial research by Clayton and Birren (1980) examined the beliefs and implicit theories that people hold about the nature of wisdom and the characteristics of people who are considered wise. They determined that wisdom is associated with cognitive, affective, and reflective characteristics and that wise persons are knowledgeable, mature, tolerant, emphatic, experienced, and intuitive. Subsequent studies have established that socially shared concepts of wisdom differ from concepts of other desirable psychological characteristics, such as intelligence, creativity, or a mature personality profile (e.g., Holliday & Chandler, 1986; Sternberg, 1985). 

Researchers have also asked whether implicit beliefs about wisdom differ across cultural groups, organize judgment and behavior in social life (e.g., professional settings, mentoring), or regulate personal growth. In addition, contemporary work includes methods developed to assess the personality and affective characteristics attributed to wise persons (e.g., Ardelt, 2004), as well as those attributed to

wisdom-related knowledge and behavior. 

The Berlin Paradigm

The Berlin Paradigm combines a broad definition of wisdom as excellence in mind and virtue with a specific characterization of wisdom as an expert knowledge system dealing with the conduct and understanding of life. We called this domain of knowledge the fundamental pragmatics of life (see Fig. 1). It is applied to life planning (e.g., which future life goals to pursue and how?), life management (e.g., how to deal best with critical problems such as suicide or family conflict?), and life review (e.g., how best to make sense of our life history and past experiences?). This knowledge is used by an individual to construct her or his own life. Alternatively, it contributes to the coconstruction of the lives of others in the form of good advice, exceptional judgment, excellent mentoring, or insightful organization of education and society

Source for the above content.

The Fascination of Wisdom Its Nature, Ontogeny, and Function

Paul B. Baltes and Jacqui Smith

Volume 3—Number 1,  2008 

Association for Psychological Science

Targowski, Andrew
Harnessing the Power of Wisdom (2013),

Cognitive Informatics and Wisdom Development: Interdisciplinary Approaches: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Targowski, Andrew
IGI Global, 31-Dec-2010 - Psychology - 260 pages

Wisdom is the ultimate human virtue. Its development and  application is important for humans and civilization.

Cognitive Informatics and Wisdom Development: Interdisciplinary Approaches argues that wise civilization cannot function without wise people and vice versa, that wise people cannot function without positive conditions for the development of wise civilization. Using the cognitive informatics approach as a basis for the investigation of wisdom, this book offers solutions on how to study and evaluate the state of wisdom in 21st century society and the requirements for wise civilization and its monitoring systems.

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=_JXSqkmF0YUC


Wisdom is information reflecting good judgment and choice; it is the final cognition unit in the Semantic Ladder and has different levels of scope and quality depending on the four minds, namely basic, whole, global and universal mind, which are supported by the art of living, understood as the reflection of behavioral aspects of wisdom within the philosophical framework of the hierarchy of possible purposes of one’s life.

Wisdom Literature

Maxims of Ptahotep

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maxims_of_Ptahhotep

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/literature/ptahhotep.html  (Many passages)

Beginning of the collection of fine words

Said by the man of the elite, foremost of arm

god's father and beloved of the god

eldest son of the king of his body

overseer of the city, vizier Ptahhotep

in teaching the ignorant to be wise

according to the rules of fine words,

something useful to whoever heeds,

and something harmful to whoever transgresses it.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Maxims-of-Ptahhotep

https://www.amazon.in/Teachings-Ptahhotep-Oldest-Book-World/dp/1614279306

Updated on 19.5.2022, 25.8.2021