The Hounslow
Press and Hampton Roads editions of Toward Wisdom are now out of
print. A new trade paperback edition was published in November 2001 by
iUniverse.com, and is
now available through local book stores (via the book distributor Ingram)
or view online
purchase options. Excerpts from the book: Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1 --- What is Wisdom? About Toward Wisdom: Toward Wisdom addresses the nature of wisdom, humanity’s need for it, and ways and means of developing it. The situation the world faces today is extremely complex. Long-cherished values have begun to conflict with each other: material comfort vs. an uncontaminated world; economic growth now vs. economic well-being for our grandchildren. Toward Wisdom takes the position that the only way to make the world a better place is to make it a wiser place. Wisdom is no longer an option or a frill. We, and the world, need wisdom-based analyses of our problems followed by wisdom-based action. In the past, becoming wise was left to chance; a few people became wise before they died, but most did not. This lackadaisical approach will no longer do. Wisdom can be developed intentionally, and Toward Wisdom shows us how. The book examines some of the key impediments to wisdom — what they are, how they work, how they came to be — and introduces us to techniques for getting beyond them.From reviews of TOWARD WISDOM: Wisdom is often confused
with knowledge (information, data). Copthorne Macdonald began his personal
journey as a narrowly focused engineer who understood how "things" work,
but not how life "happens". In Toward Wisdom, Macdonald shows the reader
the difference between wisdom and knowledge, and in so doing explains how
that understanding is critical to our survival. Drawing from a variety of
spiritual sources (from Christian mystics to Maslow) and from his own real
and inner-world experiences, Macdonald says that we no longer see ourselves
as part of one miraculous living process. As a result, we've become need-based
exploiters of our own appetites and of the natural world. To become wisdom-oriented,
we must begin to see the unity behind the illusions of separateness to "recognize"
that we were always "waves in the ocean". We arrive at this point, Macdonald
insists, not by acquiring more information but by re-experiencing our place
in the greater scheme of things. Toward Wisdom challenges us to move beyond
an information-based society to a wisdom-based one. Toward Wisdom is thoughtful,
insightful, provocative reading and a significant contribution to the philosophical
understanding of our place in the scheme of things. Midwest Book Review
Patricia Monaco, BookWire
As Copthorne Macdonald sees it, everything constitutes one miraculous living process. Rather than being God the Father, Maker of Heaven and Earth, God is the universe and everything in and of it, including us. Instead of hierarchy, oneness. The wisdom that Macdonald is after differs from knowledge, the acquisition of information. He defines it as a hybrid of deep compassion, "reality seeking," or seeing through delusion and dogma to understand how things really work, the ability to discern unity through separateness (the ocean through the waves), and enough self-awareness to avoid the kind of explosive impulses that produce many of today's headlines. Without a broad cultivation of wisdom, Macdonald argues, we will surely not survive. Michael
Riordan, Globe and Mail
Canadian Book Review Annual
Small Press Review E-mail:
cop@copmacdonald.com
Copyright
© 2002-2007 by Copthorne Macdonald
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