Philosophy: wisdom.
A human being is never an island, many philosophers have observed. The wisdom in an individual can only be manifested if there is another thought that counteracts it. Socrates who recognized that respect to wisdom is worthless. Human beings tend to think that the other human being is actually wiser than they are. The belief that others are wiser than we are is misleading and discourages critical thinking.
When Socrates interviewed an individual to confirm the truth of the matter, he disapproved those who believe on other people’s ability to solve issues. He conducted an interview with the person and after the interview; he concluded that after all, the people that are believed to be wiser than others are actually are not that wise. Socrates believes that only those who admit that they are worthless with respect to wisdom. Plato, on his argument says If I do not know something, I don’t think that I do.( Plato, 30c-30e). I agree with Plato and Socrates completely. Human beings should believe in themselves to give them the zeal to think and act beyond the obvious. However, some human beings believe that they know virtually everything that comes their way. If one has isolated himself as one who knows everything, it blocks their thinking therefore they might literally stop thinking. It is a common saying that “knowledge is power” and anyone who has knowledge has power to control the environment. We should always think of the fact that there could be someone somewhere who can think at least better that we do.
- A person who is just cannot outdo another just person whereas an unjust person can outdo both just and unjust people. This shows that a just person cannot easily admit that another person of his status can outdo him. On the other hand, unjust person tackles issues with just and unjust people aggressively thus, they mostly outdo both.
- Knowledgeable people do not outdo knowledgeable counterparts whereas ignorant people may easily outdo the knowledgeable and the ignorant at a go. This indicates that knowledgeable individuals rarely concede defeat especially from fellow individuals with knowledge as them. This confirms the Protagoras as it is extracted from “Apology”. Let’s take an example of two known lawyers in a court battle, it can be very difficult for any of them to concede defeat as they all prepare fully aware of the each other’s expertise in that particular field. On the other hand, a person with little knowledge on case proceedings may easily challenge the knowledgeable fellow in a court battle. This is my argument that no one should think that they are better that others in any way because the other people’s contribution may have more value than ours.
- Knowledgeable people are wiser. My understanding of wisdom is that the two are not the synonyms of the other. First, wisdom is innate and whatever level of education one may be he may still lack wisdom. A good example is the famous King Solomon who was able to amicably solve the between two women. As such we can confirm that wisdom is an innate characteristic that God endorses people. It is worth noting that wise people are better that knowledgeable people. The implication here is that a good and wise person cannot outdo another good and wise individual while a bad and ignorant person can outdo both. In a nut shell what makes a person wise and good are his virtues. But who can be said to wise? In this case, a wise person is one who believes that there other people who think better than they do and this could improve on their thinking.
Plato points out that human beings associate wisdom only to things that other say and do. There are several other human virtues that should be linked to wisdom. Courage, love, temperament and tolerant should constitute to wisdom. A wise person should have a combination of all these virtues to complete wisdom. Even fools can occasionally utter wise words, just lik parrots do at times, but this does not qualify them to be wise. How would we group an individual who is courageous and a result gets into a lion’s den? In this case such individual is a fool although he has virtue of being courageous. Such a person is foolish although he posses virtue.
My take on this would be to analysis who really qualifies as being wise, and what other virtues go along with wisdom, whether a person can be said to be completely wise. Wisdom should be pegged on virtues with wise application of the virtues. When the virtues drive an individual to cause harm to others or yourself, then such an individual should be said to be a fool.
In conclusion, wisdom is an innate character that human beings use to define what is right or wrong. The ability to make the right judgment is what determines whether one is wise or foolish. Also, wisdom and knowledge are not the synonyms of each other. Many philosophers may disagree with me but what I believe in is that human beings should give others an opportunity to give their views on issues so that they learn from one another.
Work Cited
Plato. Apology. (IP 22-37). Introduction to Philosophy. Ed. John Perry, Michael Bratman,
John M. Fischer. Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc, 2009. 22-37. Print.
philosopher (1561 - 1626).
Socrates. Virtue in the cave: moral inquiry in Plato's Meno. New York: Oxford University
Press., 2001.
Walbridge, John. The Wisdom of the Mystic East: Suhrawardī and Platonic Orientalism. New
York: SUNY Press., 2001.
