PHILOSOPHY
for Nicholas Maxwell
Knowing what's most valuable to do
And doing it is how you prove you’re wise;
It’s not some arcane knowledge you accrue,
But deeds you contemplate and realize
That bring to needy ones some benefit:
A truth our great philosophers have writ.
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Dear Alan,
I am very touched to receive “Philosophy” dedicated to me. Funnily
enough, there are, I think, three main motives behind my efforts to get a
hearing for wisdom-inquiry. One is that I think wisdom-inquiry is
necessary if humanity is to learn how to create a better, wiser world –
something that is essential if we are to resolve the global problems
that loom before us. Another is personal: it would be gratifying to
make a contribution to thought. And the third has to do with the role
that wisdom-inquiry might play in relieving suffering, and waste of
life, of the world’s poor. But very few people think philosophy has
anything to do with relieving suffering – and indeed most of it does not
seem to have much, if anything, to do with it. The distance between an
argument for wisdom-inquiry, and a better life for poor people living
in what used to be called ‘the third world’ seems immense, almost to the
point of no contact between the two being possible at all. On the
other hand, I cannot help but feel that a world in which universities
put wisdom-inquiry into practice would do better in helping all of us to
live flourishing lives.
All good wishes,
Nick
Website: www.ucl.ac.uk/from-knowledge-to-wisdom
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