Wisdom

br Wisdom Wisdom 1 . Whose view of Wisdom (Socrates , Thoreau , Huxley , Pieper , or Frankl seems to be the most reasonable ? Why In for the concept of wisdom to carry any viable weight in the affairs of the world , it is necessary for said concept to acknowledge the link between wisdom as an abstract idea and wisdom as a guiding principle for pragmatic action . Although other thinkers within the list of and philosophers we have studies do promote the idea of wisdom as a pragmatically applied "force " Henry David Thoreau 's interpretation of

wisdom and its applications in human life and in human society seems to me the most reasonable interpretation among those we have studied so far

Thoreau 's basic idea of wisdom is relative easy to understand adn emerges , not from abstract philosophical discourse , but from the vantage point of 'everday " life "Does Wisdom work in a tread-mill ? or does she teach how to succeed by her example ? Is there any such thing as wisdom not applied to life (Thoreau 118 ) By asking these questions in connection to the idea of wisdom , Thoreau makes it obvious that he regards wisdom as a method of defining nd helping to instruct human behavior and not merely human thought . Interestingly enough , while Thoreau 's definition of wisdom is steeped in the practical and the pragmatic , he admonishes his readers and listeners not to confuse materialism and wisdom , that is , not to mistake the pragmatic of "earning a living " with the pragmatics of wisdom " It is pertinent to ask if Plato got his living in a better way or more successfully than his contemporaries ,--or did he[ .] find it easier to live , because his aunt remembered him in her will ? The ways in which most men get their living , that is , live , are mere makeshifts , and a shirking of the real business of life ,--chiefly because they do not know , but partly because they do not mean , any better (Thoreau 118

The application of Thoreau 's pragmatic vision of wisdom may elude some observers however , Thoreau , himself , illustrates the application of his idea of wisdom by turning his sights to the 'gold rush " fever which enveloped his contemporaries "Did God direct us so to get our living digging where we never planted ,--and He would , perchance , reward us with lumps of gold (Thoreau 119 ) where , obviously , Thoreau 's "hang up " with gold-rushers is not their pursuit of earning a living , per se , but with the folly of their believing that gold can , in and of itself , replace the need for wisdom "I did not know that mankind was suffering for want of gold . I have seen a little of it . I know that it is very malleable , but not so malleable as wit . A grain of gold will gild a great surface , but not so much as a grain of wisdom where Thoreua 's ironic contrast of gold and wisdom leaves little doubt , in the end , as to which he views...