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18 - Cultural Differences in Wisdom and Conceptions of Wisdom

from Part V - Cultural Perspectives on Wisdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2019

Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Judith Glück
Affiliation:
Universität Klagenfurt, Austria
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Summary

This chapter is organized around different approaches to studying wisdom across cultures. We suggest that the cross-cultural psychology of wisdom explores how “cultures are like all other cultures” (e.g., through wisdom scales); cultural psychology of wisdom explores how “cultures are like some other cultures” (e.g., by examining “wise reasoning” in different cultures); and indigenous psychology of wisdom explores how “cultures are like no other culture” (e.g., through narratives involving indigenous concepts like prajna). However, indigenous concepts challenge the very possibility of cross-cultural discussions of wisdom: It is impossible to distinguish cultural differences in conceptions of wisdom from indigenous cultural concepts that resemble – but are not – wisdom. Wierzbicka proposes a Natural Semantic Metalanguage that brings us full circle, since such a universal metalanguage highlights what is universal about conceptions and narratives of wisdom, or at least to knowing what is needed to live well.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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