Recent Additions and Updates

CONTENTS      (Click to go directly to the indicated section of The Wisdom Page)

GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH WISDOM   Why care about wisdom?    What is wisdom?     Words of wisdom   Wisdom-literature bibliographies   The traditional wisdom literature   Contemporary books about wisdom and wise living (including free downloads)
THE STRUCTURE OF WISDOM    The varieties of wisdom    Wise perspectives   Wise values   The integration of truth and the integral vision
WISDOM-RELATED ISSUES    Wisdom and humanity's future   Wisdom, the academic enterprise, and education for wisdom   Spirituality and wisdom in business
RESOURCES FOR WISDOM DEVELOPMENT    Defining the task—constructing a wisdom-based life   The meditation tool   Other practices and tools   Wisdom-related sight and sound media   Other wisdom-related resources
WISDOM IN ACTION    Comments on activist wisdom and socio-cultural wisdom   World Wisdom Alliance   Activist organizations   Dialogue instead of debate

GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH WISDOM

WHY CARE ABOUT WISDOM?

by Jerry Ortiz y Pino. Excerpts from one of his columns in the Santa Fe Reporter.

WHAT IS WISDOM? — SOME ESSAYS, ARTICLES, AND TALKS ON THE SUBJECT
WISDOM: The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education   A text (with slides) rendering of Copthorne Macdonald's “Thomas P. Johnson Distiguished Visiting Scholar” address at Rollins College April 5, 2006.
Wisdom and Wilderness by Joseph W. Meeker. An excellent article by Dr. Meeker on wisdom and its relationship to wilderness.
Wisdom: A First Approximation by Don Cochrane. University of Saskatchewan professor Don Cochrane's views on the subject.
Playing the Wisdom Game by Copthorne Macdonald. An essay that appears in the 2006 book Living a Life of Value.
What is Wisdom? by Alan Nordstrom. In this short but moving essay, Professor Nordstrom tells us that Wisdom is our Way Out from Folly.
Introduction to Getting a Life by Copthorne Macdonald. Comments on the nature of Practical Wisdom, as Aristotle called it.
Chapter 1 of Toward Wisdom by Copthorne Macdonald. More about the nature of wisdom; here primarily Aristotle's other variety of wisdom: Existential/Metaphysical Wisdom.
Living Wisdom by Troy Dunn is a thoughtful and expansive essay in PDF format that views the issue from many perspectives.
The Dance of Polarization by Andrew Bard Schmookler. In this essay Schmookler deals with the polarization-integrating aspect of wisdom.

WORDS OF WISDOM — COMPILATIONS OF WISE SAYINGS
The Wisdom of The World is a database of 1000+ quotations compiled by Bruce Lloyd, Principal Lecturer in Strategy, South Bank University, London.
Inspirational Quotes and Words of Wisdom is a database of 12,500 quotations compiled by Jason Merchey, and made available on his Values of the Wise Web site.
Wisdom Quotes is Jone Johnson Lewis's compilation of challenging, inspiring, and interesting quotes — organized by topic, and searchable as well.
Words of Wisdom 4 U is an eclectic mix of quotations: proverbs, inspirational thoughts, and more.

WISDOM–LITERATURE BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Working Bibliography of wisdom resources prepared by Richard Trowbridge. Contains references to more than 800 works, some available on the Internet.
Annotated Bibliography from Toward Wisdom by Copthorne Macdonald. These contemporary books deal with important aspects of wisdom without necessarily using the term wisdom.
A detailed bibliography appears in the Covey/Merrill/Merrill First Things First (New York: Simon & Schuster Fireside, 1995, ISBN 0-684-80203-1)
 
 THE TRADITIONAL WISDOM LITERATURE
Works available for free downloading and online reading:
The Internet Sacred Text Archive is a very extensive collection of online texts from the world's major religions and spiritual traditions.
Wisdom Classics compiled by Sanderson Beck is another extensive collection of wisdom-related texts from Eastern and Western philosophical and spiritual traditions.
Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion offerings from the extensive online books collection at the University of Pennsylvania. Indexed according to the Library of Congress system.
From the Harvard Classics: Selections from Confucian, Hebrew, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic spiritual literature.
 
Paper-and-ink books.  Find out more about them by clicking the links:
Compilations of selections from the wisdom literature are a helpful way to get acquainted with that literature. Here are several suggestions from Copthorne Macdonald. 
Links to Sources of Judaic Materials compiled by Mike Murphy, contains links to a wide range of sources for Judaic books, audio tapes, and CDs.

CONTEMPORARY BOOKS ABOUT WISDOM AND WISE LIVING 
Works available for free downloading and online reading:
The Scientific Approach to Wisdom, a doctoral dissertation by Richard Trowbridge. This is the complete dissertation in Microsoft Word format — a comprehensive review of the scholarly research on wisdom from 1980 to 2005, and a useful overview of the history of wisdom.
Education: From Conception to Graduation – A Systematic Integral Approach, a doctoral dissertation by Anne Adams concerning education for wisdom — integral education — education that purposefully develops and integrates the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual intelligences.
The Tree of Philosophy by Stephen Palmquist. This book brings a wisdom focus back to philosophy. Available as a free online book or in print form.

Copthorne Macdonald's books in eBook format    Download free, screen-readable, eBook editions of Matters of Consequence (concerning personal and societal wisdom in the 21st century), Getting a Life (about practical, everyday-life wisdom), and Toward Wisdom (concerning big-picture, existential wisdom).

Paper-and-ink books.  Find out more about them by clicking the links:
Living a Life of Value Subtitled A Unique Anthology of Essays on Values & Ethics by Contemporary Writers, this book presents the views of 75 writers.
Building a Life of Value by Jason Merchey. Merchey has divided wise values into 14 sets, and the 14 chapters of this book contain quotations that bear on living those values.
Values, Prosperity, and the Talmud by Larry Kahaner draws from the Talmud a wealth of ethical advice for business — advice that is highly relevant to today's concerns about corporate behavior.
Wisdom, Intuition, and Ethics by Trevor Curnow is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to explore the history of wisdom, its nature, and wisdom's relationship to ethics.
Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins, and Development, Robert J. Sternberg, Editor. This scholarly book's 14 chapters by 20 authors looks at wisdom from philosophical, psychological and folk perspectives.
Matters of Consequence by Copthorne Macdonald is a comprehensive map of the human situation that presents the vision of a 2050 world worth creating and discusses opportunities for personal action.
Toward Wisdom by Copthorne Macdonald explores the "Perennial Philosophy" variety of wisdom, impediments we face in our quest to become wise, and various ways and means of getting past them.
Getting a Life by Copthorne Macdonald is about the practical variety of wisdom. Its 21 chapters deal with different facets of everyday life and skillful and not-so-skillful ways of handling them.
5 books by Ken Wilber. When it comes to putting the big picture into words, Ken Wilber does a superb job. Here, read brief comments about five of his important books.

THE STRUCTURE OF WISDOM

THE VARIETIES OF WISDOM
Overview of the Varieties of Wisdom   Copthorne Macdonald discusses Personal Wisdom (the Practical, Existential/Metaphysical, and Activist varieties) and Socio-Cultural Wisdom.
A Wisdom-Based Culture. This look at the possibility of creating a wisdom-based, wisdom-fostering society is discussed in this excerpt from Chapter 13 of Copthorne Macdonald's book Toward Wisdom.

WISE PERSPECTIVES
Overview of Perspectives — some wise perspectives or "wise ways of seeing" with comments by Copthorne Macdonald.
The System Perspective
A Brief Introduction to the System Perspective by Copthorne Macdonald includes information about two important books that deal with systems and the system perspective.
A Review of Cliff Havener's book MEANING by Copthorne Macdonald. Learn more about this highly illuminating book that focuses on the life-cycle of societal systems.
Internet Resources Related to Systems. This is a list of links to Internet sites involved with systems — some with systems per se, others with socio-cultural systems.

WISE VALUES
The Role of Values in Wisdom by Copthorne Macdonald. A discussion of values in the human decision-making process, and the sort of values required for wise decisions.
Lists of Wise Values. This is a compilation of several lists of values that their originators have considered superior in some sense, and likely to be operational in the lives of wise people.
Jason Merchey's "Values of the Wise". In his personal quest to understand wisdom, Jason Merchey has focused on the presence of certain "values of the wise" in the lives of wise people.
The Virtues Project considers the human virtues to be the highest aspiration for humanity and has established a program to help children acquire them.

THE INTEGRATION OF TRUTH, AND THE INTEGRAL VISION
The Integral Vision, a brief introduction by Copthorne Macdonald concerning the movement to integrate morals, science, and art;  the WE, the IT, and the I;  and the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.
Deep Understanding: Wisdom for an Integral Age by Copthorne Macdonald. An essay that first appeared in the journal Integralis and was re-published in The Journal of Conscious Evolution. 
Heiner Benking has long focused on the integration of truth — on creating "a common framework for understanding" in which disparate perspectives and models can be brought together.
Ikosmos.com's "mission is to help you define [the integral worldview] and share it in a highly interactive community, through an online union of souls."
Integral Institute was founded by Ken Wilber and a group of other Integral theorists to come up with comprehensive, systematic, encompassing—and integral approaches to the world's problems.
Creating an Integral Culture by Copthorne Macdonald addresses this issue in the context of the "cultural creatives" study by Paul H. Ray and a related international study.

WISDOM-RELATED ISSUES

WISDOM AND HUMANITY'S FUTURE
The Human Problem, Solved at Last is a powerful and uplifting essay by Alan Nordstrom on the challenges of the 21st century, and the potential for turning things around and creating a wiser world. 
A Story to Live By   In this essay Alan Nordstrom focuses on our role as creative contributors to the "universal creative process," and the moral imperative implicit in that. 
Wisdom & Leadership: Linking the Past, Present & Future is an illuminating talk that deals with key issues. To be presented to the World Future Society in July 2006 by Bruce Lloyd, a Professor of Strategic Management.

WISDOM, THE ACADEMIC ENTERPRISE, AND EDUCATION FOR WISDOM

Some Online Articles and Academic Papers Related to Wisdom. An eclectic assortment of articles and papers just a click away. 
Wisdom and the Academic Enterprise a short introduction by Copthorne Macdonald to the issue of wisdom acquisition as an academic focus, and the work of British scholar Nicholas Maxwell. 
Press Release from FRIENDS OF WISDOM   Members of this international group include academics and others who are calling on universities to address the most important problems facing humanity.
FRIENDS OF WISDOM   More detailed information about Friends of Wisdom, and the rationale behind it, from its founder, Nicholas Maxwell.
WISDOM: The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education   A streaming RealAudio (with slides) presentation of Copthorne Macdonald's “Thomas P. Johnson Distiguished Visiting Scholar” 2006 address at Rollins College.
Discussion that followed WISDOM: The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education   A streaming RealAudio presentation of the discussion that followed Copthorne Macdonald's 2006 Rollins College talk.
WISDOM: The Highest Aim of Life and Higher Education   A text (with slides) rendering of Copthorne Macdonald's “Thomas P. Johnson Distiguished Visiting Scholar” address at Rollins College April 5, 2006.
Education: From Conception to Graduation – A Systematic Integral Approach, a doctoral dissertation by Anne Adams concerning education for wisdom — integral education — education that purposefully develops and integrates the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual intelligences.
Learning Across the Campus: How College Facilitates the Development of Wisdom  A paper by Scott C. Brown that explores this important issue. (In Acrobat .pdf format.)
The Wisdom Development Scale: Translating the Conceptual to the Concrete  Here, Scott C. Brown and Jeffrey A. Greene detail their efforts to develop a valid and reliable Wisdom Development Scale — a scale to measure the wisdom construct described in Scott Brown's paper above. (In Acrobat .pdf format.)

SPIRITUALITY AND WISDOM IN BUSINESS
Spirituality and Wisdom in Business, a brief introduction to the subject by Copthorne Macdonald. Contains links to resources and email addresses of people involved in the movement. 
Spirituality in the Workplace by Martin Rutte is an updated version of an article that first appeared in the popular business book, Heart at Work, by Jack Canfield & Jacqueline Miller.
Wisdom at Work by Let Davidson is an essay that discusses how Davidson has been applying the principles and techniques of the wisdom tradition to the workplace in his role as consultant and trainer.
Centre for Spirituality at Work in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A very active group with many activities, and a web site with interesting links to other resources.

RESOURCES FOR WISDOM DEVELOPMENT

DEFINING THE TASK — CONSTRUCTING A WISDOM-BASED LIFE
Some Thoughts on Developing Wisdom by Copthorne Macdonald. An overview of nine wisdom-fostering tools and activities.
Personal and Societal Wisdom: Some thoughts on their nature and development   A text-with-slides transcript of Cop's 2006 talk at Orlando's University Unitarian Universalist Society.

THE MEDITATION TOOL
The Importance of Meditation. Thoughts on this subject excerpted from Copthorne Macdonald's book Matters of Consequence. 
Resources for Developing the Self-Knowledge / Intuitive Aspect of Wisdom. A compilation of relevant books, meditation resources, links to online resources, and guided-meditation CDs.
About Open Focus™. Comments on this technique for developing wide-angle, open-to-everything attentiveness from Copthorne Macdonald's book Toward Wisdom, plus info on the currently available CDs.
Seeing the Unity: Identifying with Being. This discussion of relevant practices is from Chapter 9 of Copthorne Macdonald's book Toward Wisdom.

OTHER PRACTICES AND TOOLS
Gratefulness Practices. From gratefulness.org, practice sessions to "deepen your understanding of gratefulness and, better yet, send it out in ripples, transforming our world." 

WISDOM-RELATED SIGHT AND SOUND MEDIA
 Jason Merchey's Values and Ethics: From Living Room to Board Room on World Talk Radio. Past shows are archived, and the Windows Media streaming audio feed works well even with a dialup connection.
Copthorne Macdonald Talks and Programs. Streaming audio and audio-with-slides presentations using RealPlayer and Windows Media Player software. (They work well with a dialup connection.)
Tom Fox Podcasts. Editor/publisher/journalist Tom Fox is conducting a series of streaming audio interviews with spiritual seekers and guides.
New Dimensions Media presents thought-provoking audio programming on tapes, CDs, Public Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, and most recently on New Dimensions Internet Radio.
Ideas "is a program about contemporary thought" aired weekday evenings on the Canadian Broadcasting Company radio network and streaming audio on the Internet via Windows Media Player.
Knowledge Products produces educational books-on-tape (and CD) in a wide range of "serious" subject areas such as philosophy, economics, political thought, comparative religion, etc.

OTHER WISDOM-RELATED RESOURCES
Wisdom University offers Masters level programs in Wisdom Spirituality and Indigenous Mind as well as a Doctor of Ministry program. 
The School of Wisdom was founded in 1920 by Count Hermann Keyserling, and continues today largely via the Internet. Its emphasis "is on current, pragmatic methods and procedures by which each person can create their own answers to the great questions of life." 
The Wisdom Society focuses on practical wisdom and aims "to debate in print, all controversial ideas with the objective of finding where reasoned opinion lies."  
The Wisdom Conservancy describes itself as "a private nonprofit organization established for the study of wisdom and community.
The Philopsychy Society promotes "soul-loving in a variety of forms, both in theory and in prectice, through the agency of the written word."
The Collective Wisdom Initiative is a website "created to help make visible an emerging field of collective wisdom, its study and practice."
Fernando Senior's "Capturing your Life Wisdom" Workshops are attempting to help people share their life wisdom in some way that makes sense to them.
Elder Wisdom Circle is a vehicle for "empathetic seniors" over age 60 to provide "practical advice and guidance" to advice-seeking younger people.

WISDOM IN ACTION

COMMENTS ON ACTIVIST WISDOM AND SOCIO-CULTURAL WISDOM
Overview of the Varieties of Wisdom   Copthorne Macdonald discusses Personal Wisdom (the Practical, Existential/Metaphysical, and Activist varieties) and Socio-Cultural Wisdom.
A Wisdom-Based Culture. This look at the possibility of creating a wisdom-based, wisdom-fostering society is discussed in this excerpt from Chapter 13 of Copthorne Macdonald's book Toward Wisdom.
Doing What Needs To Be Done is Chapter 15 of Copthorne Macdonald's book Matters of Consequence. It is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

WORLD WISDOM ALLIANCE (WWA)
The World Wisdom Alliance (WWA) is a new community of like-minded groups, organizations, and individuals actively addressing our shared societal and environmental challenges and opportunities, both global and local. The WWA was launched in Toronto on July 28, 2006 with the support of The Club of Budapest Canada in association with the World Wisdom Council (WWC).
The WWA's core concepts are: Consciousness > Connection > Communication > Collaboration. A multi-faceted Web presence is currently being designed that will allow community members — through communication, dialogue, and collaborative action — to deal more effectively with those challenges and opportunities than each could in isolation. The main Communication Centre is being established in Toronto, Canada under the auspices of The Club of Budapest Canada. For the latest information on implementation of the WWA Web site, check www.clubofbudapest.ca.

Elisabet Sahtouris's comments at the WWA launch. Elisabet Sahtouris is a member of the World Wisdom Council, an evolutionary biologist, futurist, UN consultant, and author of EarthDance and several other books.
Audrey Kitagawa's comments at the WWA launch. Audrey Kitagawa is a member of the World Wisdom Council, member of many advisory boards, and author of articles on spirituality, global security, and globalization.
A New Dream for Earth. Alan Nordstrom attended the WWA launch, and wrote this essay that appeared in the August 11, 2006 Orlando Sentinel.

ACTIVIST ORGANIZATIONS
The World Wisdom Council "seeks to cultivate wisdom as the highest priority for our time through various means, including the posting of some fundamental and far from obvious questions..."
Links to More than 80 Organizations working toward a sustainable and more equitable world. Nowhere near a complete list, but you might find it a good place to start.

DIALOGUE INSTEAD OF DEBATE: CUTTING THROUGH IDEOLOGICAL POLARIZATION

Wanted: A New Worldview by Alan Nordstrom. A short but to-the-point essay that asks, "What view of reality will let us live most fruitfully as human beings in a just and generous community with each other?"
The Dance of Polarization by Andrew Bard Schmookler. In this essay Schmookler deals with the polarization-integrating aspect of wisdom.
Dialogue Instead of Debate: Cutting Through Ideological Polarization. Some thoughts on this subject by Copthorne Macdonald plus links to organizations with active programs to address the problem.