Why do we need practical wisdom? A Chinese lesson in the process of globalisation

Abstract

The term ‘shijianzhihui’ (实践智慧) is a Chinese translation of the ancient Greek word φρονησις (phronesis). Aristotle first defined it as the philosophical term practical wisdom. It is a kind of wisdom in the field of praxis, which is distinguished from theoretical wisdom (sophia) in the field of theory (theoria) and productive wisdom (techne) in the field of production (poiesis). This article holds that practical wisdom has two basic elements. One is that practice is prior to theory, which means that practical wisdom takes it as the starting point to solve practical problems; it aims at good action through integrating various theories. Moreover, it regards the maximisation of real benefits as evaluation criterion. The other is that all participants in practice should have the right to speak, which means that since all agents have practical wisdom and cooperatively act for a win–win situation, they all should have their voice in the cooperative actions. Only through practical wisdom, rather than theoretical wisdom, can practical problems be solved. In the last two decades, Chinese scholars began to regard the concept of practical wisdom as an important issue. Contemporary China in particular needs practical wisdom. This is because we once made a perfect fetish of the theoretical wisdom of Marxism, which resulted in failure in the nation’s development and the people’s lives; it was a bitter lesson. At the same time, practical wisdom is required at the global level, because the Western hegemonic powers are trying to remodel the whole world in accordance with the theoretical superstition of liberalism, which is now the root cause of much international turmoil. The emphasis on practical wisdom could mean that human practice in the age of globalisation could break away from all sorts of theoretical myths and could direct its energies to the real needs of humanity and their common practical judgement.