We discussed Wisdom, a wise discussion! Conclusion, we believe Wisdom exists. When a person acts wisely, we call him wise, when unwisely, we call him unwise. Therefore we thought that wisdom must pre-exist the individual. And we thought it had qualities which made it known, wisdom is steady, its outcomes are beneficial, it is something we might aspire to because of its qualities and we would certainly search it out in someone if we had a problem.
This group of people are interested in looking at ideas carefully, they are philosophers, lovers of wisdom which involves enquiry. We try an exercise of stilling the mechanical world of body and mind, I say, this is a wise thing to try! because stilling the mechanical world of thought and observing it, will build confidence in the real person we are which is much closer to wisdom than we might think.
Conclusion, meditation might be something a person would come to use if he finds stopping and being still gives access to Wisdom.
Hi Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteJust a few thoughts following the two practical philosophy sessions I have attended in Peterborough:
I have enjoyed the relaxed, unhurried style of the sessions and the “light touch” leadership or moderation that you impose, Elizabeth, thank you.
I am grateful for the adjustments you have made to the class time to accommodate my travelling arrangements-very helpful!
As to Wisdom and Meditation - it’s all very mystifying…but good to think about and talk about - I think!
Wisdom, defined as “good judgement” or “the discretionary use of knowledge” (Wiki) is, I presume a good to which we should all aspire. The problems in practical philosophy are, I think, twofold: Firstly, we must accept the possibility that the wise thing to do might be not to think about or talk about what the wise thing to do is. So the wise thing to do might well be to go about one’s daily life acting and behaving impulsively and intuitively and not attending discussion groups about the nature and purpose of wisdom!
The other problem is being able to identify a wise thing when one encounters one. Wisdom is, I think, inherently relativistic. In the first instance it is relative to its opposite “unwise”. But, and this is the big problem, wisdom is relative to a myriad, an infinite universe, of wisdoms.
Often it is clear what the wise thing to do is; e.g. if you want to stay alive it is wise not to step in front of a moving train and unwise to do the opposite. (Can you therefore argue that, if you wish to end your life, it is wise to step in front of a moving train? Questions concerning the conflict between the wise thing to do and the right thing to do become relevant here.)
However, many life decisions involve much more complex choices with a confusing array of alternatives presenting themselves as possibilities. Choosing which of the alternatives to adopt is, arguably, a uniquely human dilemma and (less controversially) highly complex. Questions concerning the relative merits of the “right” thing to do or the “prudential” thing to do come to the fore in our efforts to find the wise thing to do.
The complexity of establishing the wise course of action leads many humans to refer in desperation to other authorities. Either higher, lower, or inner authorities. Gods through prayer, taking advice from relatives, friends, or professionals or meditating in order to commune with some other level of consciousness that might bring clarity to the situation, are all methods we use.
This brings me nicely round to meditation: I have found it interesting trying out the meditation or “stillness” exercises. Starting with a heightened awareness of one’s physical presence through the senses is good and I like the way you ask us then to take our thoughts beyond this physical sphere into a more (presumably) abstract sphere either beyond or within us…
David