Perspectives on Wisdom: An Exploration in the History of Philosophy from West to East

Wisdom has been understood in different ways across time and space. Since antiquity, wisdom has been considered the defining trait of the philosopher. Wisdom has been conceived as practical or theoretical, useful or for its own sake. Contemplation, meditation, and theoretical speculation are some of the activities that have been attributed to the wise both in the Western and in the Eastern traditions. In our current time, there seems to be a desperate need of wise people, especially of wise political leaders and wise collective thinking. But who are the wise? What is this type of thinking that we call wisdom? What is its use (if any)? The volume answers these questions by fostering a dialogue among different fields: ancient Greek philosophy, Islamic philosophy, early Chinese philosophy, Indian philosophy, Buddhist Zen philosophy, early modern European philosophy, and neuroscience. What emerges is a multifarious view of wisdom that highlights how this complex notion can be grasped only in conversations among different fields. The book is accessible to a wide range of readers both specialised scholars in the fields represented in the volume as well as students and readers interested in an interdisciplinary perspective on wisdom.