Fall 2011 Wisdom Course Study Questions

September 12, 2011

1. How is Pericles wisdom different from Socrates'? What terms from Greek philosophy describe each?

2. Drawing on the Hall reading, how might contemporary science tell us something about wisdom?

3. Identify definitions of wisdom and traits associated with wisdom.

4. Identify the general views on wisdom of Socrates, Buddha, and Confucius.

5. Describe the "perspective shift" in the Aquinas quote in the Robinson article. Does this seem like a basic trait of wise thinking?

September 14, 2011

1. What is Socrates' view of wisdom? How did he come to this view? What insights and limitations does it hold for you?

2. How does Plato connect a belief in the soul to the idea of wisdom as a transcendent state of knowledge? How does the myth of reincarnation fill in his view of the task of pursuing wisdom?

3. What is Aristotle's basic theory of wisdom?

4. According to Osbeck, how is wisdom a kind of "making" for Aristotle?

September 19, 2011

1. What is Labouvie-Vief's critique of Platonic thought and what remedy does she propose?

2. What were the chief results of Clayton and Birren's multidimensional scaling research on wisdom?

3. What explanation might be offered for the result that older people value experience by not necessarily age in defining wisdom?

4. From the Clayton and Birren article, what would you say are the major theoretical claims of life span psychology regarding wisdom?

September 21, 2011

1. How did contemporary psychological work on wisdom get started in the 70s and 80s? Who were the main figures and what initial question and theories did they pose?

2. What, in general, was the Berlin Wisdom Pardigm? What did it's critics say about it?

3. How did researchers like Laura Carstensen investigate the hypothesis that older adults excel at emotional regulation and that this might be related to wisdom? What is her "time horizon" theory?

4. What is the grandparent hypothesis?

September 26, 2011

1. What are the major assumptions and features of the Baltes Paradigm of Wisdom?

2. Explicate and critically evaluate the five-criteria in Baltes' definition.

3. How did Baltes operationalize his definition of wisdom? Can wisdom be studied this way?

4. How does Aristotle figure out what happiness is in Book 1 of the Nichomachean Ethics?

5. Summarize and evaluate Aristotle's view of practical wisdom as "reasoned and true state of capacity to act with regard to human goods". Consider, for example, the relationships among practical wisdom, science, and knowledge.

September 28, 2011

1. What does it mean to think of wisdom as a "meta-heuristic"?

2. What is SOC theory and why might it related to wisdom theory? How is it similar/different?

3. Summarize some of the key research findings from the Berlin Paradigm.

October 10, 2011 (10)=

1. Using Philo of Alexander and other sources, describe the hellenistic ideal of wisdom. Identify some problems and challenges it poses.

2. How do our moral and emotional natures relate in moral decision making? How would a wise person experience their emotions?

3. According to Haidt, how do moral reasoning processes interact with other cognitive processes? What implications for wisdom training might follow from this perspective?