A Wise Man Once Said

When we talk about wisdom, we are adding intuition to our knowledge and applying both in a good way.  If the conclusion doesn't make sense or the application in life doesn't work, we don’t consider it wise. Wisdom has a sort of goodness to it but it is more of an overall goodness.

Philosophical wisdom is that which applies to great and lofty things. It is more of a look at the overall theme of things. It deals more in good general assessments. We can have philosophies about life and love. Philosophical wisdom examines things that are above and beyond man and his needs.  It has an element of universal truths along with intuition. Intuition is the ability to theorize and come up with good ideas and conclusions. Philosophical wisdom can be more about intangible things, the things we don’t see. It can include theories about numbers or things about religion and God. There were religions in ancient times that were dedicated to numbers.  It is possible to be good at philosophy and understand deep mysteries yet be lousy at applying them toward having a good life. This happens when a person lacks practical wisdom.  

Practical wisdom concerns application of ideas for the benefit of man. When we are using the word “practical”, it pertains to man and what is useful for mankind. Practical wisdom requires deliberation. Deliberation has to do with choosing between possibilities and deciding what’s best for a person’s life. We might say that animals also have this kind of wisdom if it is applied strictly to providing their own needs. But human practical wisdom is a management toward life sort of thing that takes our knowledge, looks at possibilities and uses intuition to apply it in a good way toward life. To consider this kind of wisdom good we look at a person’s overall life. It doesn't make a product to admire like the arts do, so we call it a virtue. Practical wisdom looks at particulars and so the more experience a person has, the better his decisions will be. We have three things involved with practical wisdom; deliberation about possibilities, the resulting action, and also a part of ourselves in the background controlling all of this that wants to follow certain standards.  It isn’t concerned as much about acquiring material things but it desires a good life.  This would include actuation of talents, not having turmoil and being able to enjoy one’s passions. We can apply practical wisdom in a political sense or a personal sense.

A person might have the philosophy that love is a fate that cannot be helped. There is also the philosophy that it is the culmination of desires where some characteristics are wanted more than others. This is the philosophical side of it. But a person can be good at showing love in a practical sense. Those who have been shown it by example in a family are better equipped for practical application from the start. Others have to catch up and learn from hard knocks. This applies in politics where having a social utopia is such a good ideal and redistribution might sound good as a philosophy but the practical application causes people to lose incentive. We have seen religions that make enough sense to follow yet the resulting good for mankind is questionable. Some have more practical wisdom than others. A little more on practical wisdom…