Acquisition Of Wisdom Research Articles

The Value of Mistakes: A Pathway to Experience and Wisdom

This article explores the essential role of mistakes in personal and professional development, emphasizing how errors can serve as catalysts for growth and the acquisition of wisdom. Drawing on historical examples, literary figures, and psychological perspectives, the article highlights how learning from mistakes fosters resilience and deeper self-awareness. It also examines the broader consequences of mistakes, stressing the importance of mindful decision-making to minimize harm to others. Ultimately, the article argues that mistakes, while painful, are valuable tools that help individuals evolve and succeed in both life and work.

Забота о себе в контексте здорового образа жизни

Within the framework of the article, an attempt was made to consider the category of a healthy lifestyle through ontolog-ical comprehension, through the experience of being-toward-death and being as suffering. In the context of a healthy lifestyle, self-care should be based on the philosophical principles of self-care, a balanced diet, its relationship with physical activity and rest, on the ex-ample of the principles promoted in various ancient educational schools. The ontological structure of self-care, part of which is a healthy lifestyle aimed at combating human suffering and ill health, a way of self-organization, restoration of integrity, acquisition of wisdom, manifested in the existential practice of the art of life, focused on the preservation and enhancement of health

The Writings: Job–Sirach

The WritingsJob–Sirach Christopher T. Begg, Fred W. Guyette, and J. Edward Owens 633. [Revelatory Hermeneutics in Wisdom Literature] Mark J. Boda, "Knowledge from Above: Revelatory Hermeneutics within Wisdom Literature," The Spirit Says, 131-47 [see #910]. My study has raised a serious question about the characterization of wisdom by those studying this tradition in the OT. Typically, the core wisdom tradition is identified with the Book of Proverbs and its countless traditional sayings beginning with chap. 10. The Books of Job and Ecclesiastes are then classified as "revolts" against this core wisdom tradition, which call into question the tradition itself or the interpretation of human experience that created it. In the above approach, wisdom is gained by learning the tradition and experiencing activities that require a long life and thus gives preference to the elderly. The court stories of Joseph and Solomon, not to mention that of Daniel, however, stand in stark contrast to this view of wisdom. They depict young people who are given wisdom by God with little or no mention of their acquisition of past tradition. Rather, revelatory experiences are key to these figures' acquisition of wisdom. While such observations might lead us to identify the court stories as further "revolts" against the core wisdom tradition, the fact that so much of the wisdom material must be identified as "revolt" raises serious questions about the legitimacy of what is taken to be the core of the OT wisdom tradition. Indeed, close attention to the Book of Proverbs here has highlighted the way in which even what is deemed "traditional wisdom" is framed by references to revelatory resources for the acquisition of wisdom. [Adapted from author's conclusion, p. 147—C.T.B.] [End Page 215] 634. [Transformation in the Wisdom Books of the HB and its application to the context of Southern Africa] S. Fischer, "Transformation in the Wisdom Books of the Hebrew Bible and its application to the context of Southern Africa," AcTSup 32 (2021) 232-57. My article deals with the transformation of theology and society through biblical wisdom. Its first section explores the various spheres of wisdom and the significance of King Solomon for the biblical wisdom tradition. The second section shows how the Books of Job and Proverbs transformed other parts of the HB. My third part looks at how Southern African theology and society might be transformed by these two books. Specifically, I view the figure of Job as a paradigm for HIV-positive people. I discuss the Book of Proverbs on the basis of the ubuntu principle and the post-colonial approach of imbokodo. I further show that African folk songs can be relevant for the transformation of Southern African university education and how biblical proverbs might transform African folk proverbs. In conclusion, I propose that secular society should function in such a way as to enable a variety of religious traditions. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 635. [Sophia as an anima figure? A Jungian reading of OT texts] Christophe Gripon, "Sophia, figure d'anima? Proposition d'une lecture jungienne de quelques textes de l'Ancien Testament," LavTP 76 (3, 2020) 421-43. I propose an interpretation of biblical personified Wisdom as a anima-figure, i.e., the unconscious feminine part of humans basing myself on C. G. Jung's model of the psyche, while also critiquing Jung's "sophiotology" as he develops this in his Answer to Job. Such a psychological approach to Wisdom can contribute to the discussion concerning its elusive character and the relationship between transcendent and immanent wisdom. [Translated and adapted from author's abstract—C.T.B.] 636. [The Family of Job in MT and LXX Job and the Testament of Job] Walter Bührer, "La famille de Job dans les différents livres de Job. Le texte hébreu, la Septante et le Testament de Job en comparison," TZ 77 (4, 2021) 290-337. My essay discusses the different functions of Job's children, his wife or wives, and Job's family of origin in relation to representations and interpretations of the figure of Job. Comparison of the three documents cited in my title leads...

Happiness-Focused Therapy: The Introduction

In this article, we seek to develop a new therapeutic path, which we call Happiness-Focused Therapy (HFT) for the promotion of mental health and, in particular, increasingly frequent experiences of happiness. This, from a new theory, which is based on Aristotelian ethics and evolutionary science. In this sense, the HFT was designed to focus on what is special about us humans: the ability that we all have to understand reality more and more accurately (acquisition of wisdom) and to act based on what we know so far (rational act) in view of the increasingly frequent production of good consequences, of which we can be proud of having been the causative agent through our choices, pride that we understand to be the true happiness. With this in mind, we propose that the HFT consists of four stages of treatment, each with its main objective (expansion of wisdom, acquisition of the habit of acting rationally, elaboration of a happy life project, and elaboration of a routine in favor of the realization of a happy life project), and that the patient must go through all of them, but according to the rhythm of the evolution of their treatment (minimum of nine sessions in total); and also that each stage has its structure of sessions fixed (for better use of time).

Moral Virtue as a Requisite for Illumination in the Platonic Tradition

This paper traces the development of the idea that we must cultivate moral virtue in order to attain some degree of illumination regarding the nature of reality. I use the term “illumination” to cover a range of meanings intended by the philosophers I discuss, such as the “acquisition of wisdom” (Phaedo, 65a), the “sight” of divine beauty (Symposium, 210d–212b), or a mystical experience involving God or divine reality. Although this theme appears in many texts from the Platonic tradition, I focus on three major stages of its development. First, I show how Plato provides the basic framework of the idea that moral virtue is necessary for illumination, especially in his Phaedo and Symposium. Then, I explain how Plotinus synthesizes and substantially develops Plato’s discussions of this idea. Finally, I discuss the Cappadocian Fathers’ (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzen) Christianization of this Platonic theme. In other words, Plotinus develops the basic framework of this argument first set forth by Plato, and the Cappadocians then adapt and modify Plotinus’ views to fit their Christian commitments.

Towards a Meaning-Centered Philosophy of Communication

Philosophical counseling is a dialogical practice which aims to explore and elucidate issues that do not fall into the pathological sphere, focusing on: common situations you may experience in daily life, moral dilemmas, existential crises due to lack of meaning or purpose of life, ethical conflicts in the workplace, reconciling present experiences with previous thoughts and painstakingly careful inquiries. Sandu Frunză reminds us that philosophical practices should not be understood as a way to satisfy the counseled person or applying painstakingly careful inquiries by finding a viable solution to the problem that worries them, but rather offers them an opportunity to broaden their horizons of knowledge by confronting ideas and beliefs different from his own. In the light of these statements, it would not be to bold to reassure that one of the main purposes of philosophical counseling could only be the search for and acquisition of wisdom. Practicing counsellors as well as scholars and advanced students of philosophy, communication, counseling, and educational and ethical guidance will find the volume Philosophy and everyday life: Books might change your life of particular importance.

Literary Forms/Techniques & Methods of Study

Literary Forms/Techniques & Methods of Study Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, Fred W. Guyette, Brian J. Meldrum, and John M. Halligan Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America Thomas Hieke Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz Fred W. Guyette Erskine College and Seminary Brian J. Meldrum Catholic University of America John M. Halligan St. John Fisher College 1880. [Wisdom in the OT in light of Akan (Ghana) Parallels] Emmanuel K. E. Antwi, Isaac F. Adjei, and Joseph K. Asuming, "Understanding Wisdom in the Old Testament through its Akan (Ghana) Parallels: Linkages and Disconnections," OTE 33 (3, 2020) 408-27. Seeking to explain and interpret biblical concepts in various cultures without due regard to the cultures of the biblical world can give rise to difficulties. When this happens, one runs the risk of imposing one's own cultural worldview on the biblical text. At the same time, an understanding of the concepts of one's own culture may be helpful in grasping the meanings of biblical concepts. Against this background, our paper aims to mutually illuminate the concept of wisdom in the OT and among the Akan of Ghana. In pursuit of this goal, we critically analyze the connotations of the concept, sources, and acquisition of wisdom in the OT vis-à-vis those of the Akan ethnic groups in Ghana. By way of such a comparative analysis, we attempt to clarify how the OT concept of wisdom could be understood with the help of its Akan parallels, notwithstanding the differences between them. Our conclusion is that the Akan concept of wisdom can be of help in the interpretation of wisdom in the OT, but cannot fully explain it. Our paper thus pinpoints one of the challenges that interpreters are likely to encounter in the use of reader-centered approaches to biblical hermeneutics. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 1881. [The Historical-Critical Paradigm in Biblical Studies] Joshua A. Berman, "A Critical Intellectual History of the Historical-Critical Paradigm in Biblical Studies," Exploring the Composition of the Pentateuch, 7-25 [see #2517]. In this essay, I provide a critical intellectual history of the historical-critical paradigm in biblical studies, with particular regard to theories of development of the biblical text. My interest is to understand the origins of the intellectual commitments that shape the discipline today and its disposition toward empirical models of textual growth. I shall examine how theorists over three centuries have entertained the most fundamental questions: What is the goal of the historical-critical study of the Hebrew Bible? What is the probative value of evidence internal within the text itself relative to evidence from external sources? What is the role of intuition in the scholar's work? What is the role of methodological control? As we shall see, scholars in different ages offered very different answers to these questions, answers colored by the prevailing intellectual milieu of their respective times. I proceed by surveying the intellectual currents during the formative period of the discipline, the two centuries between B. Spinoza and J. Wellhausen, with an emphasis on developments in 19th-cent. Germany. We shall see that the axioms that governed 19th-cent. German scholarship were at a great divide from those that governed earlier historicalcritical scholarship. We shall see further that these axioms were based in intellectual currents that were particular to the 19th cent., especially so in Germany. From there, I offer a brief summary of the claims of contemporary scholars who are looking toward empirical models to reconstruct the textual development of the Hebrew Scriptures. I conclude by demonstrating how this vein of scholarship undermines an array of 19th-cent. intellectual [End Page 702] assumptions, but would have been quite at home in earlier periods of the discipline's history. My hope is that this survey will stimulate a new self-awareness among scholars investigating these issues today. [Author's introduction, pp. 8-9—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 1882. [Enemies in the Psalter; Cognitive-Linguistic Approach] Travis J. Bott, "Figurative Enemies in the Psalms: A Cognitive-Linguistic Approach," Gegner im Gebet, 74-106 [see #2541]. This essay investigates the topic of enemies in...

Compendium of the Study of Philosophy by Roger Bacon

Reviewed by: Compendium of the Study of Philosophy by Roger Bacon Timothy J. Johnson (bio) Roger Bacon, Compendium of the Study of Philosophy. Edited and Translated by Thomas S. Maloney. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Thomas S. Maloney has once again provided an engaging and carefully edited translation and critical edition of a major text of Roger Bacon. Scholars of Bacon already enjoy Maloney's other edited translations, On Signs (Toronto, 2013) and The Art and Science of Logic (Toronto, 2009), as well as the critical edition of the Compendium of the Study of Theology (Leiden, 1988). Maloney turns his attention in this new volume to the English Minorite's Compendium studii philosophiae and, in addition to his commentary and translation, provides a critical edition of the Latin text based on the singular manuscript in existence (Cotton Tiberias C.V) in the British Museum. For those unfamiliar with the Compendium, it is important to recall that Bacon composed this work in either Paris or Oxford between 1271-1276, with 1272 or thereabouts the most likely date. He had introduced many of the key themes of the Compendium in his trilogy from 1267-1268, the Opus maius, Opus minus, and Opus tertium, in response to the request of Pope Clement IV. Bacon called for nothing less than a sweeping reform of Christendom's educational curriculum that included the sciences, philosophy, and theology. At the core of his concerns lie his advocacy of language studies, so as to produce a more accurate biblical text suitable for trustworthy teaching and the promotion of missionary activities beyond the realms of Latin Christianity. The appearance of the Compendium coincided with Pope Gregory X's convocation of the Second Council of Lyon in 1272 and Bonaventure of Bagnoregio's magisterial series of lectures, known collectively as the Hexaëmeron, in Paris between Easter and Pentecost in 1273. Scholars may paint a picture of Bacon as Bonaventure's adversary and a disgruntled friar on the margins of his religious community and mid-thirteenth century ecclesiastical agendas, but that view must be challenged. Gregory IX was clearly interested in reform as his conciliar preparations reveal, and Bonaventure, along with other friars in Paris, shared a number of concerns with their confrere, Roger Bacon. As Hans Kraml has demonstrated, the emphasis of the Doctor Mirabilis on the significance of language studies and theological hermeneutics is evident in the Scriptum in primium librum sententiarum, which William de la Mare wrote sometime shortly after 1267. He was a student of the Doctor Seraphicus and became a Regent Master at the University of Paris in 1275. Like his fellow Englishman, he was keen on correcting the version of the Vulgate in use and may have collaborated [End Page 305] with Bacon in the composition of the Correctio textus bibliae and De hebraeis et graecis vocabilis glossarum bibliae. Perhaps he also played a hand in the composition of the Compendium. The Compendium is situated within a variegated wisdom tradition that permeates the writings of his fellow Minorite mendicants. What is noteworthy about Bacon's approach to the thematic is his assumption of their basic theological foundations and his unique turn to philosophy in the articulation of that tradition. This affords him the opportunity to argue for the cultivation of wisdom throughout society with a methodology that reflects his nascent fundamental theology. Given the content and context of the on-going reflection on wisdom among Franciscan theologians like Bonaventure in the thirteenth century, Bacon's Compendium strikes this reader as a broad philosophical effort to move an assumed theological understanding of wisdom beyond church pulpits and university aulas into the mainstream of medieval culture in order to illustrate that people throughout Christendom and beyond suffer when the gift of wisdom is neither sought out nor appreciated throughout society. The text itself is divided into nine sections that treat how and why the acquisition of wisdom is essential, the impediments to wisdom, those individuals and groups whose lack of wisdom leads to error, the importance of language studies, and guidelines for translators working with Greek and Hebrew. The opening chapter promises to address wisdom and how it can be acquired. Four categories (pp. 2-3...

Understanding Wisdom in the Old Testament through Its Akan (Ghana) Parallels: Linkages and Disconnections

ABSTRACT Explaining and interpreting biblical concepts in different cultures without due regard to the cultures of the biblical world have some challenges. When caution is not taken, one stands a chance of imposing one's cultural worldview on the biblical text. Understanding of the concepts in one's culture could be useful in helping him or her grasp the meanings of the biblical concepts. This paper delves into wisdom in the OT and that of the Akan of Ghana, analysing critically the connotations of the concept, sources and acquisition of wisdom in the OT vis-à-vis those of the Akan ethnic groups of Ghana. Through a comparative analysis, it attempts to describe how the OT concept of wisdom could be understood with the help of its parallels in Akan, regardless of their disconnections. It discovers that the Akan concept of wisdom can be of help in the interpretation of wisdom in the OT, but it cannot fully explain it. The paper pinpoints one of the challenges that interpreters are likely to encounter in the use of reader-centred approaches of biblical hermeneutics. Keywords: Wisdom, Israel, Old Testament, Wisdom Literature, Akan, Culture.

Analytic Theology as Sapiential Theology: Reflections on a Concern Raised by Kevin J. Vanhoozer

Abstract In a recent essay, the prolific and influential evangelical theologian, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, claims that analytic theology “is one of the major developments of our time, boasting annual conferences, a manifesto, and an online journal.” Vanhoozer mentions the rise of analytic theology not to celebrate its success but to offer a cautionary note to those who are inclined to practice theology in an analytic key. One of the concerns that Vanhoozer raises is that the analytic method falls short of what we might call “sapiential theology”-roughly, theology that facilitates the acquisition of wisdom. In this paper, I examine this concern and explore a few ways in which analytic theology might be sapiential.

Experiencia y existencia en las Psicoterapias Humanistas

Una de las características distintivas de las psicoterapias humanistas es su carácter experiencial, de tal forma que frecuentemente se las denomina “psicoterapias experienciales”. Otro de los rasgos de la Psicología y Psicoterapias Humanistas es su carácter de “existencial” y también por eso se refieren a ellas como existencial-humanistas. Estos dos adjetivos hacen referencia a la globalidad e inmediatez en la adquisición de la sabiduría (terapéutica) y a su significatividad respecto al conjunto del proyecto vital. El artículo abordará estos temas, y preguntas tales como: ¿Qué conlleva y cómo se le da la cualidad de “experiencial” o de “existencial” en la sala de terapia? ¿Por qué han optado las psicoterapias humanistas por este enfoque? ¿Se sobrevaloran, en el proceso terapéutico de las psicoterapias humanistas, alguno de los subsistemas o niveles que configuran la experiencia en detrimento o disociándolo de los otros? ¿Tienen en cuenta el contexto del sujeto más allá de la sala de terapia? ¿Se contempla la perspectiva del momento evolutivo en que se encuentra la persona y la tarea a realizar en este período de su vida? ¿Hay un ir y venir entre el presente de la experiencia “aquí y ahora” y el conjunto del proyecto vital de la persona? La multiplicidad de dimensiones e inteligencias que conlleva el hecho de ser humano necesitan estructurarse en un hilo conductor teleológico y plástico que dé sentido al proceso, de modo que cada sesión terapéutica sea un momento único, en el seno de una vida única y llena de sentido.

Courting Wisdom: Silence, Solitude and Friendship in Eighteenth-Century Spain

Friendship as an ideal and a social institution has long been associated with the eighteenth century, and viewed as essential to the betterment of society since it promoted sociability and relationships. This essay explores how the notions of silence and solitude, seemingly antithetical to friendship and sociability, were in fact complimentary activities which interfaced with the idea of amistad. In Spanish authors such as Forner, Moratín, Jovellanos and Meléndez Valdés, silence and solitude were represented as positive, necessary components, alongside friendship, in the acquisition of wisdom. I argue that these works articulate a brand of neo-Pythagoreanism, which romanticizes the archetype of the silent master and the contemplative ideal of the solitary thinker.

Inviting and initiating youth into a life of discipleship

The research question/problem with which this article deals is whether we have lost the radical nature of the faith community as disciples of Jesus and seekers of the Kingdom of God? In youth ministry children and adolescents are often invited to make a decision for Christ as if such a decision comprises the totality of being a Christian. Being a Christian, as with being a disciple, consists of more than a mere decision. Both the Old and New Testaments reveal greater depth to such a commitment. Discipleship involves following Christ in a more considered way. Such a commitment requires the willingness to be initiated and guided into the acquisition of wisdom which enables one to discern what the more appropriate options are for a Christian to make. Given such a positioning, the role of the faith community as a people demands consideration. This article argues that we are the invitation and recommends how to frame the invitation.�

Reflection, perception and the acquisition of wisdom

Reflection, perception and the acquisition of wisdom

Seeds of Virtue and Knowledge (review)

216 Reviews His steady refusal to be tempted by anything that is not true to his o w n experience also gives his verse an engagingly searching quality, especially after the fashionable, well-crafted but somewhat arid Delia sequence for which he remains best know~n in literary history. His other poems are, in fact, far more interesting. A Letterfrom Octavia, for examp is by the editors rightly described as 'a remarkable portrait of a sensitive w o m a n , hurt by her husband's adultery but having the dignity and intelligence to appear neither sanctimonious not excessively self-pitying' (p. 10). In other words. if Octavia appears to us as an attractive character, in Daniel's portrayal of her, it is because he humanises her rather than that he either presents her as mere victim or makes her a strident ideologue; m u c h current feminist criticism will have difficulty accepting this characterisation, because it is not stereotypical, though clearly sympathetic. Daniel w a s capable of questioning things rather than readily accepting, as the editors put it, 'the more reductive attitudes current in his age' (p. 12). If he had lived today, he would no doubt have been an enemv to the more reductive attitudes of our o w n age. The editors and the publisher are to be congratulated for producing this admirable scholarly volume, which is most timely. Joost Daalder School of Humanities Flinders University Horowitz, Maryanne Clive, Sec is of Virtue and Knowledge, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1998; cloth; pp. xviii, 373; 37 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. USS49.50. The concept of human mental seeds which 'grow' into sturdy plants blossoming with knowledge and virtue has been pervasive in European thought and provided m a n y metaphors and \isual motifs. Horowitz s book, showing us h o w this classical idea grew and flourished, is i t s e l f like a garden abounding with vegetative imagery of rebirth, growth, cultivating:, flowering, and, of course, farniliar Renaissance images of a garden of the soul' and a garden in which to meditate and talk. The ideas of the Stoics and the Platonising Stoic educators, Reviews 217 especially Seneca and Quintilian, were used by Hellenistic Jewish, patristic, medieval, Renaissance and Reformation writers. Their c o m m o n theme was that whereas the material of education comes from without, the seeds of wisdom, knowledge and piety already exist within h u m a n beings, and these interior seeds have to be cultivated, fertilised and weeds removed. Horowitz skilfully analyses their differences and underlying assumptions about h u m a n nature in different versions of this teaching, for example, the debate between Thomists and Augustinians whether the seeds are part of our creature nature, as in Aristotle (thus permitting distinctions within the h u m a n race, for example, between the sexes), or whether seeds of knowledge and virtue exist because humans are m a d e in the image of God, which, being a condition shared by all permits no such distinctions, and is therefore inherently democratic. The language of spermata, 'natural law' seeds of reason, knowledge, apprehension ofmoralbehaviour and virtue, occurred frequently in medieval theological, philosophical, literary and legal works, but these concepts were in potential conflict with Christian belief that reason was vitiated by the Fall. The conflict was reconciled partly by Augustinian doctrine that the soul developed to understand the transcendent presence of G o d already present within, so that knowledge grew inwardly to salvation rather than outwardly to virtue, and partly by explaining Stoic seeds and their development as the remnants of goodness which have survived original sin. Concepts of 'growth' of the h u m a n mind expressed in vegetative imagery were also central to educational programs of the Renaissance studia humanitatis, whose pursuit of knowledge for its o w n sake, intellectual framing necessary for the professions and public life, and acquisition of wisdom, judgement and virtue were (and still are), intended to develop 'vir turn eruditus, turn probus'. The Renaissance curricula of studia humanitatis therefore fed the young mind with exemplary fruits of virtue and knowledge, which, being...

The Wisdom of Divine Disputation? On Job 40.2-5

The standard translations of Job's two responses in the Theophany section suggest that Job has been overwhelmed by the divine discourses and that, as a result, his silence and later repentance express a resigned capitulation to the omnipotence of Yahweh. However, in light of a new translation of the divine-human dialogue that takes place briefly in 40.2-5, it can be argued that this first response of Job is actually a sophisticated epistemological ploy. Read in light of Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutical phenomenology, this text discloses a receptive listening on the part of Job by which the protagonist initiates his own acquisition of wisdom.

The acquisition of wisdom in engineering design

Student motivation and knowledge restructuring are examined in the light of experience with engineering design projects. The work is related to existing experience with a broad range of observations resulting from educational experiments. The results of student responses to project work clearly identify concepts which are avoided by students when solving engineering problems. It is conjectured that these orphan concepts provide signposts to a better learning environment. The students' responses also suggest that working in a familiar environment, where an informal knowledge base already exists, is a strong positive motivator for knowledge restructuring.

Guthlac A and the acquisition of wisdom

Guthlac A and the acquisition of wisdom