Tag: wisdom
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Controversy in Michel de Montaigne’s wisdom
Wisdom without controversy is soon forgotten, in the same way as one forgets unused knowledge, unused spare parts, and unused train tickets. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) made a conscious decision to use controversy in his essays, precisely because he wanted the lessons to be learned and not forgotten. Besides, Montaigne found it much more interesting…
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Michel de Montaigne and wisdom
I have a simple definition of wisdom. It consists of just seven words. I define wisdom as “the habit of seeing what is hidden.” It is a short, but highly demanding definition, which disqualifies most mindless rituals and educated nonsense. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) never quite managed to define wisdom, but his writings interpreted it…
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Schopenhauer’s views on wisdom
For Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), wisdom is an effect of philosophy. I define wisdom as practical ethics, that is, a set of principles that enables humans to make quick decisions in all life’s situations. Wisdom is not necessarily sophisticated, but it must rest on sound philosophical footing. According to Schopenhauer, wisdom is a practical outcome from…
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Aristotle’s concept of practical wisdom
Like Schopenhauer would do twenty-four centuries later, Aristotle regarded practical wisdom (“phronesis” in Greek) as a crucial ingredient of a happy life. In his “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle defined “phronesis” as a skill that enables us to choose the correct course of action and for the correct reasons. In other words, “phronesis” is the daily implementation…
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