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NomadicAssassin
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18 Jun 2010, 5:42 pm

My question to all who read this is what makes a man wise? I've always thought i should be logical, and then the most wise, about my life. This world is full of people good and evil, reackless and orderly, lawful and unlawful; when i am stuck in it i want to be wise about my descisions no matter what the outcome. I am sort of new to the" Politics, Philosophy, and Religion " forums, so i dont know if this is the right place to go for these questions. Last i would appreciate it if someone could direct me to some readings of being wise?


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Awesomelyglorious
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18 Jun 2010, 6:10 pm

I am unsure about a clearly defined notion of wisdom.

I suppose one could argue that wisdom is the experience sufficient to recognize the complexities in the workings of reality. I wouldn't know if this fits everyone else's thoughts, but it works.

I don't know many who discuss being wise, although if I had to recommend something that I think would promote what I might consider "wisdom", it would be "Objective Knowledge" by Karl Popper. I might also recommend (to go further) "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Friedman: http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/2010 ... ebbed.html because he is wise, but also because he asks interesting questions, I would recommend John Rawls, such as his book "A Theory of Justice" or other similar works by him due to the value of his conception of interpersonal relations in a society, I recommend Friedrich Hayek's work "The Fatal Conceit" and "Rules and Order" for its conception of the nature of society, there is also Personal Knowledge by Michael Polanyi, I would generally and genuinely recommend Friedrich Nietzsche's writings, as well as most things by Dan Dennett, and finally, I would recommend any philosophical thinker who is in some way connected with the Pragmatists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism (this includes Richard Rorty, William James, John Dewey, and possibly others that I am less familiar with).

I am not sure if this helps, but it is a start. Most of the people I recommend are philosophers and philosophical social scientists, and I would be glad to add to the list. I am already starting to ramble, but maybe this gets us somewhere.



NomadicAssassin
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18 Jun 2010, 6:22 pm

No everythng you listed is good, I'll take any refrences to philosophers, that is what I want.


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ruveyn
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18 Jun 2010, 6:28 pm

Who is wise? He who learns from all people. -- Perke Avot

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Mdyar
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18 Jun 2010, 6:30 pm

Awesomelyglorious wrote:
I am unsure about a clearly defined notion of wisdom.


Wisdom : knowledge in action
My notion is that personal action is an extension of the cognitive process: the translation of will into physically observable actions within our 'sphere' . And wisdom is a recursive thought process whereby the mind correlates disparate events to predict outcomes of events yet unknown. Particularly, that wisdom is the gauging of planned actions against experience, education, morality and goals.

Achievements and conquest are not wisdom's precursor and morality has its role to play as well. Goals achieved by clever and cogent thinking can make one successful or infamous but not sage or wise.

Existence endows us all with both parsimonious and philanthropic tendencies that complete within us over the utilization of intellect; but in the end, we chose the path to travel: selfish ambition is not a tenant of wisdom but is instead an attribute of mediocrity.

Wise persons engaged in my life, none of them famous, have demonstrated an inclination towards deference and not domination, compassion in place of indifference, and a genuine humility in the use of their intellect.



NomadicAssassin
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18 Jun 2010, 6:46 pm

I like this alot im getting alot of great awnsers, though i have noted that i have not acheived the full meaning of wisdom, nor the practice of it, in my life thus far, either way that can be changed.


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Exclavius
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18 Jun 2010, 11:16 pm

Who is wise?

The man who always seeks the truth, but never believes he has completed his search.

I can't really recommend any reading.. but I can say you want to stay away from any book that claims to tell you the answers. Look for books that are about journeys, about seeking truth... not finding it.