ABSTRACT
So wisdom is not just useful information about the world and insights into others and oneself. It is not just knowing what is the right thing to do but actually doing it. As we expect this ethical dimension to differ between societies, this inevitably hints that wisdom must be culturally relative. Definitions of wisdom do markedly differ between the cultures that produce them. Some favour Judeo-Christian texts such as the Book of Job that emphasise obedience to an enigmatically capricious and punitive deity (“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”). Others from classical Greco-Roman literature are more humane and practical (“Moderation in all things”). Discussions of Confucian ethics stress the desirability of concern for society as a whole over personal wishes. An unusually daring Chinese psychologist, Shih-Ying Yang [1], sought guidance from the people and summarised 220 “wisdom incidents” reported by Taiwanese volunteers into five classes of worthy actions: “Striving for common good by helping others; striving and achieving a satisfactory state of life; deciding and developing life-paths; resolving difficult problems at work and insistence on doing the right thing when facing a problem”.
