ABSTRACT
What is wisdom, and is it the same all over the world? Studies investigating people’s conceptions of wisdom have found commonalities, but also differences between cultures. There is virtually no research, however, on wisdom conceptions in Africa. This chapter reports a study investigating the wisdom conceptions of people in rural Uganda, a country with a long tradition of orally transmitted wisdom, but afflicted by poverty, hunger, corruption, and the consequences of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. A total of 100 Ugandans from three age groups and a broad range of educational levels were interviewed about individuals they considered wise and situations where they had been wise. Some of the themes that were identified in the narratives were consistent with “Western” findings, but others illustrate how the meaning of “a good life” is shaped by living conditions and contexts.
