DFG Projekt „Eine mehrdimensionale Theorie der Weisheit“
Summary
This project is primarily based in the field of normative epistemology; and it aims to develop a comprehensive theory of wisdom. The basic concept of this theory are wise decisions. Based on this concept, we want to show how further central concepts of wisdom such as personal wisdom or wisdom as a value can be construed. The main benefit of such an account consists in providing an independently measurable concept of personal wisdom which is specifically useful for further empirical research.
This project is divided into three major fields of work, each of which is concerned with specific issues concerning wise decisions, personal wisdom and the value of wisdom. The main question with regard to the concept of wise decisions is this: under what conditions can a decision characterized as being wise, and what specific standards do apply to common sense wisdom attributions? We are going to develop a definition of wise decisions within a broader framework of a contextualist theory of wisdom attributions, which will essentially rely on a distinction between two different kinds of wisdom attributions, namely “attributive” and “adverbial” attributions.
The second project area explores the concept of personal wisdom. Traditional as well as current theories of wisdom usually address this dimension of wisdom exclusively. While these approaches try to define personal wisdom directly in terms of cognitive and other characteristics of wise people, we want to go the opposite way and define a wise person as a person who has the disposition to act and decide wisely. This approach is reductive insofar as it bases the concept of a wise person on the concept of wise decisions. This, however, does not entirely eliminate the requirement to specify corresponding personality traits of wise persons, but it makes them dependent on such a disposition, which can be tested independently from specific assumptions about such personal character traits. The key advantage of this methodological approach is, therefore, that both aspects can be operationalized independently from each other, which provides a superior base especially for empirically oriented theories of personal wisdom. This project will, therefore, for the very first time provide an operationalizable basis for the concept of wisdom, which not only can explain our intuitions towards several dimensions of wisdom and common sense wisdom attributions but also provides a conceptual framework for an empirically testable theory of personal wisdom.
The third project area is concerned with the specific value of wisdom ─ perhaps the most interesting dimension for philosophers. An important distinction in this area is the distinction between the so-called ‘practical’ and ‘theoretical’ wisdom. While the practical value of wisdom is often referred to especially in the field of ethics, and applied ethics, the theoretical - or better: epistemic - value of wisdom is highly underexposed in the current discussion of epistemology. The most discussed concepts are rather the concept of justification, knowledge or, most recently, understanding. This preemphasis is, according to our view, not sufficiently founded. It can be argued that one of the main goals of science and epistemic practice can be seen as something which makes a significant contribution to improving our current situation. The axiological theory of wisdom to be developed in this project area again finds its basis in the concept of wise decisions.