Wisdom Course Reading Schedule

Return to Wisdom

12/13 Jan

• First Day Information

• Preliminary Discussion of Wisdom

• Small Group Discussion Task

19/20 Jan

• Hall, Chapters 1: “What is Wisdom?”

• Robinson, “Wisdom through the Ages”

• Discussion of Philosophical Methods

• Hall, Chapter 2, "The Wisest Man in the World"

• Osbeck and Robinson, “Philosophical Theories of Wisdom, up to p. 70

26/27 Jan

• Labouvie-Vief, “Wisdom As Intergrated Thought: Historical and Developmental Perspectives”

• Clayton, V., and J. E. Birren. “The Development of Wisdom Across the Life Span”

• Carstensen, “The Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development”

• Ardelt, “Wisdom and Satisfaction in Old Age”

2/3 Feb

• Birren, James E. and Svensson, Cheryl M., “Wisdom in History” (from p. 12-29)

• Hall, Chapter 3, “Heart and Mind: The Psychological Roots of Wisdom”

• Hall, Chapter 4, “Emotional Regulation: The Art of Coping” (Begins a section of Hall: “Neural Pillars of Wisdom”)

9/10 Feb

• Baltes, P. B, and Jacqui Smith. “Toward a Psychology of Wisdom and Its Ontogenesis.” (Sternberg) This is your primary introduction to the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm.

• Baltes, Paul B., and Alexandra M. Freund. “The Intermarriage of Wisdom and Selective Optimization With Compensation.”

• Kunzman, Ute and Paul Baltes. “The Psychology of Wisdom: Theoretical and Empirical Challenges.”

16/17 Feb

• Hall, Chapter 6, “Moral Reasoning: The Biology of Judging Right from Wrong”

• Haidt, Jonathan. “The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to Moral Judgement.”

• Hall, Chapters 7 and 8: “Compassion: The Biology of Loving-Kindness” and “Humility: The Gift of Perspective”

23/24 Feb

• Sideritis, Chapter 2, "Early Buddhism: Basic Teaching"

• Pali Canon, “The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving”

• Ricard, Matthieu. Chapter 6, The Alchemy of Suffering" & 7 "The Veils of the Ego"

1/2 Mar

• Hall, Chapter 5. “Knowing What's Important: The Neural Mechanism of Establishing Value and Making a Judgement”

• Gilbert, Daniel. TED Talk. [href=“http://new.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness Why We Make Bad Decisions]

• Sternberg, “Wisdom and its relations to intelligence and creativity” (recommended)

• Hall, Chapters 12 and 13: “Youth, Adversity, and Resilience: The seeds of wisdom”

15/16 Mar

• Epictetus, Enchiridion

• Long, “Epictetus in his Time and Place” (recommended)

• Boyd and Richerson. “Culture and the evolution of human cooperation.”"

22/23 Mar

• Wilson, David Sloan, “Chapter 4: The Secular Utility of Religion”

• Sosis, Richard. “The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual.”

29/30 Mar

• Haidt, Jonathan, “Divinity with or without God,” The Happiness Hypothesis.

• Hall, Chapter 9, "Altruism: Social Justice, Fairness, and the Wisdom of Punishment"

• Edgerton, from “Sick Societies”, Chapter 2 (Chapter 1 if you have time).

5/6 Apr

• Estes, Daniel. “Proverbs.” from, Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms

• Proverbs (read through any translation)

• Song of Solomon

12/13 Apr

• Job

• Ecclesiastes

19/20 Apr

• Wilson, Timothy. “Chapter 8: Introspection and Self-Narratives” in Strangers to Ourselves

• Wilson, “Chapter 9: Looking Outward to Know Ourselves”

26/27 Apr

• Wilson, Timothy. “Chapter 10: Observing and Changing Our Behavior,” in Strangers to Ourselves

• Go back to later part of “Emo Dog” on social cognition, pp. 826-830.

FINAL WEEK

• Student conferences and paper workshops