Spring 2016 Wisdom Course In-Class Notes

Return to Wisdom

12/13 JAN

• First Day Notes:

• Websites in this course.
• Roster information -- fill in google form
• Main Assignments
• The Prep Cycle -- recommendations for success in the course!
• Starting the discussion about wisdom. Course questions.

• To Do list:

• Send me a brief introduction through the "Tell Me" form on the wiki. (Soon, please.)
• Login to wiki for the first time and make a brief introduction on the practice page. (3 points if done by Friday.)
• Create your peerceptiv account and pay. (5 points if done by Friday. -5 points after Monday.)
• After rosters are posted, login to courses.alfino and look around. Retrieve reading for Thursday (and read it).
• Browse wiki pages.

19/20 JAN

Hall, Chapter 1 "What is Wisdom?"

• opening story, point about wisdom: tension between "good judgment" and wanting to make it seem everything is ok.
• Thinking about wisdom focuses you on how you are leading your life. (e.g. if you read that wise people are compassionate or emotionally even-handed, you naturally ask the same of yourself).
• p. 11: some traits of wise people (knowledge, uncertainty, emotion), 12: some wise people (many at odds with their society).
• Perceptions of wise individuals and gender. Why so few women on the list. Is wisdom the same for m/f/...?
• his approach, p. 16 (using science: break it down) - definition of wisdom, bot. 17 -- list these --

Hall, Wisdom, Ch. 2: Socrates + Axial Age

• Socrates: There is a human version of divine wisdom.

• Socrates' definition. 24
• Does his example support the claim that wisdom is real? Consider his fate.
• Axial Age Hypothesis - 26: thesis about humans coming to accept responsibility for events. Emancipation from magical thinking.
• Greek wisdom linked to Peraclean age: 450's bc.

• Greek

• Contrast between Pericles and Socrates, p. 28

• both selling "deliberation" as a virtue
• Socrates' treatment of emotion unique -- Anti-body (flaw in classical model revealed by cont. science)

Primary class interest here is to get contrasting images of wisdom across the so-called Axial Age.

• Confucius

• 6th century BC China
• characteristics of confucian ideas of wisdom 30-31: "gen"

• Buddha

• 563-483bc, India
• "awakening" vs. "wisdom"
• characteristics: 33-34. "mindfulness"

• Some broad historical observations on wisdom:

• What is the relationship of wisdom and religion? (Note p. 36: hypothesis on connection/disconnection)
• Over history, wisdom theorized as "received" from God, but also as product of hard nosed investigation of nature.

Robinson, "Wisdom Through the Ages"

• Socrates

• note on Homeric concept --- p. 13-14: Greek concept of soul/nous; nous found in Homeric epics along other terms for psyche, motivations, impulse (menos) and rage (lyssa)
• distinctions among sophia, phronesis, episteme
• 14: differences between wisdom and cleverness. wisdom v. intelligence. possible argument for including morality in def. of wisdom.
• Socratic "anti-body" view of wisdom (again). The soma is a sema.

• Aristotle

• Naturalist, empirical, first "biologist". Practical and this worldly in contrast to Plato.
• Aristotle's concept of wisdom. idion ergon (life lived in conformity to dictates of reason, governed by mission or purpose)/ prohaireseis(deliberated choices) / hexeis (dispositions). This structure of soul/noos is connected to happiness as "eudaimonia" a kind of fulfillment and flourishing of life that brings deep satisfaction. Very developmental thinker.
• Knowing Final Causes. Review argument on p. 17. Discuss to self-identify in relation to these claims about final cause and the contemplative life.
• Practical wisdom (phronesis), theoretical (scientific) knowledge (theoretikes), practical knowledge (ergon)

• Epicureans & Stoics (Helenist Schools)

• comment on his gloss of stoics.
• not much now since we'll study this later.

• Christian Wisdom

• the difference that revelation makes to your model of wisdom. (cf. back to Hellenists) sophia vs. pistis theon
• Christian split (influences): Aristotelean vs. Platonic
• Aquinas: quote on p. 20 -- "perspective shift" is a common theme in wisdom accounts
• Post-classical world (Renaissance, scientific rev and beyond)
• Scientific revolution as challenge to ancient conceptions of wisdom and divinity; also to reality of wisdom??

Small Group Discussions

• 1st hour: We'll set up two relatively small and specific discussion questions for your group work.

• What is the significance of the "disappearance of wisdom talk" from mainstream intellectual life in the West after the scientific revolution? How does the term come up (or fail to) in your experience? With what connotations?
• Is wisdom gendered?

• 2nd hour: The "irreality" of wisdom. Let's consider the possibility (at least tonight) that wisdom is an illusion. I'll briefly make a case for that drawing on tonight's reading and then we'll work on it in group.

26/27 JAN

Philosophical Method Themes this week

• Nature of a scientific theory
• Intercultural interpretation

Philosophical Themes and Models focused on this week

• Life Span Psychology
• Aging and Wisdom
• Historical Models of wisdom: east and west

Observations of Everyday Situations Involving Wisdom

• With your group, read through these observational accounts and, assuming you agree that they are about wisdom, identify words and phrases that captures the theme or main issue at stake that involves wisdom.

• St. Isidore of Seville

• "3 things of wisdom for the week:

• 1. This morning while my roommate and i were planning out our weekend, she went to her school planner and opened it up to the following week to check and see which assignments would be due for her. This is something i didn't even think of, because I know that i don't have any papers due, I can get most of my HW done on Sunday. I thought it was wise of her to think ahead and be worry free all weekend then to not know and possibly have a big assignment she forgot about due.

• 2. While doing hw with one of my friends earlier this week, I noticed that she was typing all of her notes, from her notebook onto her laptop. I asked her why this was, and she told me that some of her professors don't allow for laptops, and she doesn't want to risk losing her notes so she types them and uploads them to her one drive. I thought this was wise, because that way she could keep them later, instead of having to save all of her old notebooks, which will inevitably get lost, or ruined.

• 3. I was out grocery shopping with my friend, and the person in front of us in line was being very rude to the check-stand worker. She just smiled and told him to have a nice day, after he berated her for being so slow because he had somewhere to be. I asked her how her day was going, and tried to be really nice to her while she checked out our items. As she was handing me my change i said something about how the man was being rude to her, and how she was nice, and she just smiled and said that she hadn't taken it personally, she knew how bad days felt. I thought this was very wise of her, because she hadn't had taken what this man was saying at face value, but she was trying to see him as a person as a whole."

• St Clare of Assisi

• My older sister went on a solo rock-climbing trip in Bishop, CA this week and, despite my family’s precautions, she decided that she did not need another companion. Wiseness or foolishness is applicable in this choice, yet the response to subsequent actions and decisions is also demonstrative of a kind of wisdom. The first day of the trip, she jumped down from a boulder and severely dislocated her ankle. She was able to get to her car with the help of two people at the same site, call me, and drive herself to the hospital. However, when I spoke to my dad about it that evening, his first words were “I told her that going on this trip was a bad idea.” It may have been a foolish decision to take this trip alone, yet I think it is interesting how people respond to others’ choices – do they contextualize and prioritize or is it more important to point out another’s foolishness? I told him that it was most important that she was safe and that pointing out a folly, in this moment, was perhaps not the most effective course of action. He agreed and we moved on to talk about logistics for getting her though surgery and back home. When I reflected on the whole situation later that night, I realized that my dad’s response more than likely came from a place of deep love and concern. Perhaps when the people that we love make choices that we deem foolish, it is hard to be pragmatic because we are, for lack of a better word, mad that they would make a choice that could take them away from us. Furthermore, I think my first instinct was to assume that my dad was being self-involved in that moment and it was more important that he was right than anything else; however, after I reflected on the situation, I realized that he was worried and maybe scared. Although the episode is not daily in nature, I think analyzing responses to choices that we deem foolish and reflecting to understand the responses of others are wise practices that can be utilized in daily interactions.

• St. Vincent Ferrer

• "1. I saw myself acting foolishly this weekend when I tried to get my homework done in front of the TV. I knew from experience that I would not be productive and instead waste my time, although I proceeded to do it anyways. After a couple hours, I noticed my foolishness and corrected my actions. I think that I had a momentary lack of wisdom but ended up finding some. Now that I am reflecting on my mistake, I think the foolishness of multitasking will resonate with me more.

• 2. I see models of wisdom in my professors. Although I don't have very strong personal relationships with them, most of my professors have influenced my sense of what is means to be wise very much. For example, I believe that wisdom goes hand in hand with respect. Professors have a lot of respect for their students even though their students may not be worthy of their respect. I see this thought my courses and I have modeled my behavior after theirs.

• 3. We talk a lot about how wisdom and experience are related. As I approach graduation, I have a lot to figure out in regards to the future. I have been looking to friends who have experienced the harsh feelings that come with the completion of college. Their compassion and confidence in me provide a sense of relief. They demonstrate wisdom because they provide advice in a unique, respectful and productive manner."

• St. Bridget

• This was a busy weekend for me. I worked a lot more than usual and I should've prepared and planned out how I was going to use my free time because of that. I knew that I had assignments due on Monday but I neglected to check the blackboard page prior to class and therefore I missed that we were supposed to submit the assignment online and also submit a hard copy in class. I missed the online submission due date and I had to explain to my professor why. I felt like it was an immature mistake and one that could've been easily avoided with some wise planning ahead of time. Luckily I learned from my mistake and I am starting to track all my assignments and I am keeping careful notes on when everything is due so that I am prepared ahead of time.

• St. John the Apostle

• This week, both my computer and phone broke at the same time. This coincidence put me in a sticky situation academically and brought to light what I think is a very important aspect of wisdom. Foresight and preparedness are characteristics of a wise person that allow them to sidestep petty obstacles and pitfalls and focus on more important issues in their lives. Luckily, I did not lose any of my saved files on my computer when it broke, but I was very close to losing everything. A wise person would have backed up their computer on an external hard drive. This situation also forced me to ask for homework extensions in my classes. With the foresight of a wise person, I would have looked at the assignments earlier and been able to get at least some of them on time. Wisdom requires balance in all parts of life to be as prepared as possible for any situation.

• St. Lucy

• "I saw wisdom in question over the weekend when some of my friends were drinking. They decided to have a designated driver to go to and from where they were going, and although they could probably walk or uber there, I believe there is wisdom in a D.D. I think it is wise because it doesn't even give you the opportunity to drink and drive since someone is automatically coming to get you with no cost. People always say they will walk or uber, but in the rare case they are tired or don't want to pay, the opportunity for drinking and driving is created. I think having a designated driver is always the wisest option.

• The second time I saw wisdom this past week was during class. A student was talking to my professor about being absent for a quiz due to some activity, and was asking to try to make up the quiz or re-schedule. The professor had previously told us that we cannot make up quizzes when we are absent. The professor decided to help the student out and let let them make it up, which I saw to be wise. I think as a general rule, that policy makes sense, but when a student comes to a professor asking for help and is actively trying to complete everything they can, I don't see why a professor wouldn't help. Some professors are not wise on this aspect of classes, but I believe this professor was wise."

• St. John Baptist de la Salle

• My sister recently had a baby and I just went to visit. One of the books she is reading to prepare for parenthood had wisdom in the title. It is interesting to hear about all the different camps of how to raise a child and it made me wonder if it's really wisdom and if it's something you can even learn from it reading about.

Labouvie-Vief, "Wisdom As Intergrated Thought: Historical and Developmental Perspectives"

• This article applies a psychological analysis of Platonic thought on wisdom, so it makes a nice transition to the pscyh literature.

• Thesis: The revival of interest in wisdom is important for highlighting the differences between models of cognition in classical thought and over the life span."Many recent writings suggest, instead, that theories of cognition or intelligence that are based on ^ the assumption of the primacy of objective forms of knowing provide an incomplete and possibly distorted picture of the human mind." 52

• Piaget: inner/outer processes. assimilation/accommodation (Other theorists "oral mode/written mode"), mythos/logos.

• Good quote: "Prior to Plato, many philosophers already asked such questions as: What is the nature of reality? or What is our nature, and what is our place in the order of things? To the pre-Platonic philosophers, answers to these questions still were permeated with mythic and highly concrete images. Reality still presented itself as an organismic happening integrated with the world of nature. Like nature, reality was animated with life and subject to growth and decay (see Collingwood, 1945; Frankfort & Frankfort, 1946). Mythic and organic conceptions of the universe were mixed with the beginning of systematic and abstracting thought. 57

• Platonic thought represents a huge break from this. "For Plato, the adult is no longer embedded in a concrete, organic, and participatory reality." 59

• Piaget: model of child development is initially organic, but only in early stages of life. goal of development. Goal is independence of subjectivity (66)

• Homeric heroes not self-reflective, embedded in action, see themselves moved by divine forces.

• "reintegrated thought," seeing goal of adulthood in term of balancing of logos and mythos, 67. embodied thinking 72.

Clayton and Birren, "The Development of Wisdom across the Life Span"

• Note from historical treatment: East/West differences. Compare to Gisela.

• Western biblical tradition: Three paths. formal education for leadership, parental, faith/devotion (wisdom as gift from divine). 105-106.

• Eastern traditions. comparison on role of intellect 109. words vs. experience and deeds. meditation (110)

• Nice definition at p. 112. "for some time, mankind has held the conviction that there is a superior, complex, and understanding and experience of the ultimate nature of reality and man's relationship to this reality."

• Multidimensional Scaling Study: Note method (see link on wiki) and results. Cognitive, affective, and reflective qualities.

• Note discussion at 119. Older subjects place wisdom further from age.

• Conclusion at 130: Older subjects also connect wisdom more closely with affective understanding and empathy

• All age groups perceive wisdom as "integration of cognitive, affective, and reflective components."

• Erickson, Kohlberg - focused on wisdom as an extra stage near end of life.

• Piaget -- not well positioned to consider life span.

Ardelt, Wisdom and Satisfaction in Old Age

• three tiered theory of wisdom: wisdom occurs on cognitive, reflective and affective levels.

• note bottom of first page. leaving the cog/delib model in earlier theories.

• "the domain of wisdom-related knowledge is interpretative knowledge, or the rediscovery of the significance of old truths through a deeper and more profound understanding of phenomena and events." 16

• associates wisdom of old with decentered self - awareness of limitations liberating. "paradoxically, it is the awareness oof one's subjectivity or one's projections that allows one to begin the task of overcoming that subjectivity" 16

• Research hypothesis: "wisdom, rather than objective life conditions, explains most of the variation in life satisfaction during old age."

• working with population from the Berkeley Guidance Study. administered a life satisfaction instrument "satisfaction with different areas of life, satisfaction with one's lot in life, and congruence between desired and achieved goals." 17 (note: goal-achievement gap model)

• 17: wisdom as latent variable. integration of cognitive, affective, and reflective. note use of validated instruments within the research.

• 21: alternate correlates considered: objective health and financial condition might be 35% (poss. 46% in men!) of variation. but authors claim better fit from wisdom as independent variable.

• results p. 22--

• positive correlation for both men and women, but stronger for men.
• wisdom not significantly correlated with objective conditions in later life (for women) -- discussion of the reasons the data for men were different (see p. 22).

• 24: follow theoretical discussion, argument for focusing on wisdom. note at 25.

Carstensen, "The Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development"

• The subjective sense of future time plays an essential role in human motivation. Gradually, time left becomes a better predictor than chronological age for a range of cognitive, emotional,and motivational variables. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that constraints on time horizons shift motivational priorities in such a way that the regulation of emotional states becomes more important than other types of goals. This motivational shift occurs with age but also appears in other contexts (for example, geographical relocations, illnesses, and war) that limit subjective future time.

• interesting point: child dev mostly about time since birth. she's interested in time remaining.

• sst: two categories shift: motivation for knowledge acquisition and regulation of emotion.

• presents the theory in this short article. notes research, such as that older people process negative emotion less deeply and spend more time on positive emotions.

Some results:

• SST predicts that young are more likely to endure negative affect to pursue goals, older more likely to have small social networks, less focus on novelty
• Research studies @ bot of col 1 p. 1914.
• Less activation in amygdala of negative emotion in older people. Note hyposthesis on why younger people might need higher activation of negative emotion.

Small Group Discussion #2

• In light of Carstensen's work, what can we say about the "wisdom of endings"? How does a wisdom person approach endings as opposed to beginnings?
• In light of life span psychology, how would you describe the challenges of being wise at 22 vs. at 62?

2/3 FEB

Birren and Svensson, Wisdom in History (2005)

• 2005 -- Wisdom in History -- This article gives us a broader historical perspective than earlier ones, but also a good summary of the paths taken by researchers (14-29).

• 1st historical treatment (in the course)that hits on the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution.

• Connects with ancients on relation between knowledge and wisdom.
• Uncertainty: maybe wisdom is required where there is uncertainty. Knowledge reduces uncertainty. What follows?

• Compare the following two hypotheses:

• 1. Wisdom disappears after the Scientific Revolution because we know a lot more now about how to live. (post renaissance, Bacon might have thought wisdom one of the "idols of the tribe")
• 2. Wisdom disappears after the Scientific Revolution because scientific culture downplays the problem of finding "precepts for living" (We've talked about this already, but perhaps there are second thoughts.)

• New detail on Socratic wisdom: Socrates' mantra: No man (or woman) errs willingly.
• Discussion of Plato: repeats a version of Laouvie-Vief's thesis: note p. 5
• Note Aristotle paragraph at bot of 5.

• What follows from the way wisdom can move from secular to religious culture so easily?
• Recurrent theme in historical discussion: models of wisdom that involve transcendence or paradigm shift (Greek, Judaic, Christian, Islamic culture, , vs. models that remain "immanent" in daily life (Confucian, Hellenistic, some biblical sources, Aristotlean, contemporary secular (post renaissance/enlightenment)

• Wisdom in the psychological sciences

• Not really a central topic immediately. Not susceptible to rigorous definition or a bottom up approach (though now we'll see that in Hall's reporting, in the day (pre-80s), this was harder to see. So you have to have really good vision (like William James and John Dewey) to see it). Also, Erikson, Jung.

• Definitions of wisdom present in Sternberg. table on 16-18. Look at Baltes and Smith. Note how the relative weight cognitive capacities changes across the definitions. Can you notice tensions between particular definitions. Page through the brief discussion of research projects, p. 16-25.

• Discuss "meta-cognitive" dimension of wisdom. (17)
• Wisdom and age (19)

• First characterization of Berlin Wisdom Paradigm: also Hall 49. Note method, model included historical study. criticisms (note positive aspect here). Ardelt trajectory (Hall)
• Sternberg's direction: relation of wisdom to intelligence and creativity (note on method here: use of constructs.)
• Taranto: focus on human limitation.
• Kramer: organismic. cognition/affect. five functions.
• McKee and Barber: "seeing through illusion"
• Meacham: fallibility of knowledge. balance of positivity/doubt.
• Chandler and Holliday: most well developed construct after Baltes. (23)

Hall, Wisdom, Chapter 3 "Heart and Mind"

• Note that Hall is telling something of the "sociology of knowledge" about the rise of wisdom research.
• Vivian Clayton -- reflects on family member's traits. poses question of meaning of wisdom and relation to age. Follow statement on p. 43. Compare to Gisela. Also, note from the end of the chapter about her story. Choice, seeing wisdom easier than doing it.

• Erikson -- idea of wisdom as end stage "8" of process of self-realization. (really more "rationalist psychology")

• Interesting hypothesis in face of growth of knowledge in gerontology about decay of faculties. Correction to last week's

• Hall's account of Genesis myth as also about acquiring "original wisdom" -- wisdom as the price of seeing things clearly. wisdom as necessarily acquired through transgression vs. living within limits. also "dark wisdom".
• Baltes, Smith, Staudinger, Kunzemann. -- Berlin Wisdom Paradigm -- brief overview, 49ff. Note how he derived his construct and method of research. +96
• Early critics: Carstensen and Ardelt -- felt Baltes Wisdom Paradigm (BWP) didn't focus enough on emotion.

Hall, Chapter 4, "Emotional Regulation"

• Emotional regulation as a compensating strength of aging.

• "Carstensen and her colleagues have proposed that successful emotional regulation is tightly connected to a persons sense of time—usually, but not always, time as it is reflected by one's age and stage of life. "According to our theory, this isn't a quality of aging per se, but of time horizons," she explained. "When your time perspective shortens, as it does when you come closer to the ends of things, you tend to focus on emotionally meaningful goals. " 63

• socioemotional selectivity theory (Cartensen's) - How can the benefits of this view become available to the young?

Emotional Resilience: *Job's emotional resilience. Is it patience or resilience? What is the diff?

• problem in history of philosophy -- downplaying of emotion. But then Hume, and James' "What is an Emotion?"

• Gross: "reappraisal" and "reflection" as techniques of emotional regulation. vs. rumination 66. note mechanism suggested for each. (Note connection to therapeutic writing. Possible topic for short research.) Notice this way of thinking suggests that emotional regulation is trainable.

• Cartensens' research in assisted living homes. counterintuitive answers. (67) "time horizon" theory. Implications.

• Carstensen on the paradigmatic tasks of the young: "knowledge trajectory" (70); "collectors" 71,

• 71: neuroscience on learning from loss; affective forecasting; young as steep "discounters"; greater appetite for risk, less for ambiguity,

• 73: emotional resilience in Davidson's longitudinal neuroscience research: correlation of emotional regulation and brain pattern. Gabrielli studies on young amygdalas. Gross on male/female emotional processing.

• postive illusion (optimism bias)

• "Grandparent hypothesis"

• Concluding Group Discussion: Is emotional regulation something that a young person could use to mimic the emotional regulative experience of older people? Is such a goal possible, desirable?

Wisdom Observations #2

1

• "(1) My roommate had a big paper due for her nursing class yesterday, but we had a few birthday parties this past weekend. I saw wisdom in my roommate’s decision to skip some of the weekend’s festivities to get her paper done, instead of saving it until Sunday night. I think she made a good choice in her decision to put school first, and she exhibited a good amount of wisdom.

• (2) I had a tough decision to make over the weekend, and as I was problem-solving with my mom, she showed strong wisdom in the advice she gave me. I respect my mom’s advice for my situation, and the suggestions she gave me were very wise and had my best interests in mind."

2

• Places I've seen wisdom:

• -In my jazz class, my jazz professor decided on the first day that he was no longer going to use a textbook or traditional teaching methods to teach the course; instead, he wanted to focus entirely on listening and the music in order to teach jazz. He said he believed the music should be felt and this could only be gained through listening and experience.
• I have a good friend who played soccer on a few teams up to high school. She was one of the best players and by her junior year she started getting offers from a few large colleges who began competing over her. She was offered a full ride to Nevada and was planning on going there. In one of the final games of her senior high school season she tore her ACL for the third time in her left knee. It was heartbreaking and she had to decide what to do. She made the hard decision to stop playing soccer forever and to give up the sport she loved. Now she is a junior engineer at GU and excelling in many ways.

3

• "Daily experience of wisdom

• When having coffee at a downtown location of Starbucks, a woman in a wheelchair passing by caught the attention of two female religious studies students and came in to talk to them. The students joined in conversation with her over her pet dog (which was a wooden sculpture of a dog), and after a short chat, they chose to pray over her. While the conversation was short, the eye contact they all maintained appeared to be sincere and the woman was pleased to be in conversation with the students.

• After she left, another patron came over and praised the students for their kindness and generosity to the woman. He commented that their spontaneity inspired him. What I thought was a moment of foolishness in choosing to walk the dog on campus in the afternoon, instead of writing this, turned out to have been a good choice. I met a student, who after spending some time playing with my dog, told me that this meant a great deal to her today, as the day had not been going well. I wished her well.

"

4

• "There are many situations in my daily experiences in which I think wisdom is evident or in question. Last week, one of my roommates was treating the rest of our house pretty poorly. She was being very unkind, and I just tried to ignore it and let her cool off. That was foolish because I should have told her that behavior isn't okay with the rest of us instead of let her get away with it. Because the situation lasted longer than one would anticipate, I eventually felt the need to talk to her. I asked her how she was doing and tried to engage in dialogue about her actions which I felt was wise because it showed her I cared about her feelings but also let her know that she can't act that way in the future.

• Another situation in the week where I was unwise, as you could guess, would be with homework. I had an assignment due for one of my classes on Monday morning at 9am. I had plenty of time to work on it, but it seemed extremely quick and easy so I put it off until Sunday night. That was stupid because there were parts to the assignment I couldn't complete. To combat that - I was wise and used my resources to complete the assignment on time.

• The final situation was one where I showed wisdom. My friend was having issues with his girlfriend and their relationship and I was able to put myself in her shoes and try to make the situation best for both of them. Even though it was not the easiest route, it was the best thing to do and showed wisdom on his part as well to be mature and do the right thing. "