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Wisdom (Philosophically)

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Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions

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Reflective judgment and moderate living; Theoretical and practical reason

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The concept of wisdom lies at the heart of Western philosophy, as the very name “philosophy” is Greek for the love of wisdom. In general, there is a prevalent notion that a wise person is one who has both substantial theoretical and practical knowledge (or reasonable beliefs), as this bears on the conduct of life, and that the wise person actually does indeed live life in light of such knowledge. Merely having the knowledge is compatible with being a fool, because one might know how to live rightly and yet not do so. Traditionally, wise persons have been thought of as humble, moderate in their appetites and desires, and good teachers. Each of these taken alone may not constitute wisdom, as it is possible to be humble and foolish, not wise in one’s moderation, and one may be a good teacher while not following one's own teaching. A wise person is often thought of as someone who has an...

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References

  • Kekes, J. (1983). Wisdom. American Philosophical Quarterly, 20(3), 277–286.

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  • Parfit, D. (2011). On what matters (Vol. 1 and 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  • Ryan, S. (1996). Wisdom. In K. Lehrer et al. (Eds.), Knowledge, teaching, and wisdom. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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  • Ryan, Sharon. (1999). What is wisdom? Philosophical Studies, 93, 119–139.

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  • Tiberius, V. (2000). Deliberation about the good. New York: Garland Publishers.

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  • Tiberius, V. (2008). Wisdom within our limits. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  • Williams, B. (1981). Moral luck. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, St. Olaf College, 1520 St. Olaf Avenue, Northfield, MN, 55057, USA

    Prof. Charles Taliaferro

Authors
  1. Prof. Charles Taliaferro
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Correspondence to Charles Taliaferro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Systematic Theology, Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anne L. C. Runehov

  2. Pontificia Universita Antonianum, Roma, Italia

    Lluis Oviedo

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Taliaferro, C. (2013). Wisdom (Philosophically). In: Runehov, A.L.C., Oviedo, L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_1547

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8265-8_1547

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8264-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8265-8

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