Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-6mz5d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-20T16:18:52.001Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
Series:   Elements in Epistemology

Wisdom

A Skill Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2022

Cheng-hung Tsai
Cheng-hung Tsai
Affiliation:
Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica

Summary

What is wisdom? What does a wise person know? Can a wise person know how to act and live well without knowing the whys and wherefores of his own action? How is wisdom acquired? This Element addresses questions regarding the nature and acquisition of wisdom by developing and defending a skill theory of wisdom. Specifically, this theory argues that if a person S is wise, then (i) S knows that overall attitude success contributes to or constitutes well-being; (ii) S knows what the best means to achieve well-being are; (iii) S is reliably successful at acting and living well (in light of what S knows); and (iv) S knows why she is successful at acting and living well. The first three sections of this Element develop this theory, and the final two sections defend this theory against two objections to the effect that there are asymmetries between wisdom and skill.
Get access

Keywords

wisdomskillknowing howdeliberationwell-being

Information

Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Epistemology
Online ISBN: 9781009222884
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 19 January 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Element purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alexandrova, A. (2017). A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Angier, T. (2010). Techne in Aristotle’s Ethics: Crafting the Moral Life (London: Continuum).Google Scholar
Annas, J. (1993). The Morality of Happiness (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Annas, J. (1995). “Virtue as a Skill,” International Journal of Philosophical Studies 2(2): 227–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annas, J. (2001). “Moral Knowledge as Practical Knowledge,” Social Philosophy and Policy 18: 236–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annas, J. (2003). “The Structure of Virtue,” in DePaul, M. and Zagzebski, L. (eds.), Intellectual Virtue: Perspectives from Ethics and Epistemology (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 15–33.Google Scholar
Annas, J. (2008). “The Phenomenology of Virtue,” Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 7: 21–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annas, J. (2011a). Intelligent Virtue (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Annas, J. (2011b). “Practical Expertise,” in Bengson, J. and Moffett, M. A. (eds.), Knowing How: Essays on Knowledge, Mind, and Action (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 101–112.Google Scholar
Aristotle, (2009). The Nicomachean Ethics (trans. D. Ross) (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Baehr, J. (2012). “Two Types of Wisdom,” Acta Analytica 27(2): 81–97.Google Scholar
Baltes, P. and Staudinger, U. (2000). “Wisdom: A Metaheuristic (Pragmatic) to Orchestrate Mind and Virtue toward Excellence,” American Psychologist 55: 122–136.Google Scholar
Bayne, T. (2010). The Unity of Consciousness (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bengson, J. and Moffett, M. (2011). “Two Conceptions of Mind and Action,” in Bengson, J. and Moffett, M. (eds.), Knowing How: Essays on Knowledge, Mind, and Action (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 3–55.Google Scholar
Benner, P. (2001). From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice (Commemorative Edition) (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall).Google Scholar
Bloomfield, P. (2000). “Virtue Epistemology and the Epistemology of Virtue,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 60(1): 23–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomfield, P. (2001). Moral Reality (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloomfield, P. (2014). The Virtues of Happiness: A Theory of the Good Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Bluck, S. and Glück, J. (2005). “From the Inside Out: People’s Implicit Theories of Wisdom,” in Sternberg, R. and Jordan, J. (eds.), A Handbook of Wisdom: Psychological Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 84–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradford, G. (2016). “Achievement, Well-Being, and Value,” Philosophy Compass 11: 795–803.Google Scholar
Bradford, G. and Keller, S. (2016). “Well-Being and Achievement,” in Fletcher, G. (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Well-Being (New York: Routledge), pp. 271–280.Google Scholar
Brenner, R., Moran, K., Stallman, R., Gilchrist, J., and McVan, J. (2006). “Swimming Abilities, Water Safety Education and Drowning Prevention,” in Bierens, J. (ed.), Handbook on Drowning: Prevention, Rescue, Treatment (Berlin: Springer), pp. 112–116.Google Scholar
Curnow, T. (2015). Wisdom: A History (London: Reaktion Books).Google Scholar
Dreyfus, H. (2001). On the Internet (London: Routledge).Google Scholar
Dreyfus, H. (2017). “On Expertise and Embodiment: Insights from Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Samuel Todes,” in Sandberg, J., Rouleau, L., Langley, A., and Tsoukas, H. (eds.), Skillful Performance: Enacting Capabilities, Knowledge, Competence, and Expertise in Organizations (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 147–159.Google Scholar
Dreyfus, H. and Dreyfus, S. (1986). Mind over Machine: The Power of Human Intuition and Expertise in the Era of the Computer (Oxford: Blackwell).Google Scholar
Dreyfus, H. and Dreyfus, S. (1991). “Towards a Phenomenology of Ethical Expertise,” Human Studies 14(4): 229–250.Google Scholar
Dreyfus, H. and Dreyfus, S. (2008). “Beyond Expertise: Some Preliminary Thoughts on Mastery,” in Nielsen, K., Brinkmann, S., Elmholdt, et al C.. (eds.), A Qualitative Stance: Essays in Honor of Steiner Kvale (Aarhus: Aarhus University Press), pp. 113–124.Google Scholar
Ericsson, K. (2008). “Deliberate Practice and Acquisition of Expert Performance: A General Overview,” Academic Emergency Medicine 15(11): 988–994.Google Scholar
Ericsson, K., Charness, N., Feltovich, P., and Hoffman, R. (eds.) (2006). The Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrari, M. and Kim, J. (2019). “Educating for Wisdom,” in Sternberg, R. and Glück, J. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 347–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldman, A. (2018). Life’s Values: Pleasure, Happiness, Well-Being, and Meaning (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grimm, S. (2015). “Wisdom,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 93: 139–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hacker-Wright, J. (2015). “Skill, Practical Wisdom, and Ethical Naturalism,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 18(5): 983–993.Google Scholar
Hetherington, S. (2011). How to Know: A Practicalist Conception of Knowledge (Malden, MA: Wiley–Blackwell).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hetherington, S. (2021). “Knowledge as Skill,” in Fridland, E. and Pavese, C. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Skill and Expertise (New York: Routledge), pp. 168–178.Google Scholar
Hursthouse, R. (2006). “Practical Wisdom: A Mundane Account,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 106: 285–309.Google Scholar
Jacobson, D. (2005). “Seeing by Feeling: Virtues, Skills, and Moral Perception,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 8: 387–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahneman, D. and Klein, G. (2009). “Conditions for Intuitive Expertise: A Failure to Disagree,” American Psychologist 64(6): 515–526.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kekes, J. (1983). “Wisdom,” American Philosophical Quarterly 20(3): 277–286.Google Scholar
Kekes, J. (2020). Wisdom: A Humanistic Conception (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, S. (2004). “Welfare and the Achievement of Goals,” Philosophical Studies 121: 27–41.Google Scholar
Keller, S. (2009). “Welfare as Success,” Nous 43: 656–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, G. A. (2008). “Naturalistic Decision-Making,” Human Factors 50(3): 456–460.Google Scholar
Kolnai, A. (1962). “Deliberation Is of Ends,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 62(1): 195–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, M. O. (2001). “On Knowing the ‘Why’: Particularism and Moral Theory,” Hastings Center Report 31(4): 32–40.Google Scholar
McCain, K. (2020). “What the Debasing Demon Teaches Us about Wisdom,” Acta Analytica 35: 521–530.Google Scholar
Miller, S. (2017). “Torture,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2017 Edition), ed. E. N. Zalta, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2017/entries/torture/.Google Scholar
Millgram, E. (1997). Practical Induction (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).Google Scholar
Millgram, E. (2008). “Specificationism,” in Adler, J. E. and Rips, L. J. (eds.), Reasoning: Studies of Human Inference and Its Foundations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 731–747.Google Scholar
Montero, B. (2016). Thought in Action: Expertise and the Conscious Mind (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Nightingale, A. W. (2004). Spectacles of Truth in Classical Greek Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
Nozick, R. (1989). “What Is Wisdom and Why Do Philosophers Love It So?,” in Nozick, R., The Examined Life (New York: Touchstone Press), pp. 267–278.Google Scholar
Paulhus, D., Wher, P., Harms, P., and Strasser, D. (2002). “Use of Exemplar Surveys to Reveal Implicit Types of Intelligence,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 28: 1051–1062.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, H. (1994). Practical Reasoning about Final Ends (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
Rousse, B. and Dreyfus, S. (2021). “Revisiting the Six Stages of Skill Acquisition,” in Mangiante, E. and Peno, K. (eds.), Teaching and Learning for Adult Skill Acquisition: Applying the Dreyfus & Dreyfus Model in Different Fields (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing), pp. 3–28.Google Scholar
Russell, D. (2009). Practical Intelligence and the Virtues (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Russell, D. (2012). Happiness for Humans (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Ryan, S. (2013). “Wisdom,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), ed. E. N. Zalta, http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2014/entries/wisdom/.Google Scholar
Ryan, S. (2016). “Wisdom: Understanding and the Good Life,” Acta Analytica 31: 235–251.Google Scholar
Ryan, S. (2017). “A Deeper Defense of the Deep Rationality Theory of Wisdom,” Acta Analytica 32: 115–123.Google Scholar
Ryle, G. (1949). The Concept of Mind (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press; new edition, 2000).Google Scholar
Schmidt, R. and Wrisberg, C. (2008). Motor Learning and Performance: A Situation-Based Learning Approach, 4th edition (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).Google Scholar
Schmidt, R., Lee, T., Winstein, C., Wulf, G., and Zelaznik, H. N. (2019). Motor Control and Learning: A Behavioral Emphasis, 6th edition (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics).Google Scholar
Schmidtz, D. (1994). “Choosing Ends,” Ethics 104(2): 226–251.Google Scholar
Schraagen, J. (2018). “Naturalistic Decision Making,” in Ball, L. J. and Thompson, V. A. (eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning (London: Routledge), pp. 487–501.Google Scholar
Sosa, E. (2007). A Virtue Epistemology: Apt Belief and Reflective Knowledge, Vol. 1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Sosa, E. (2009). “Knowing Full Well: The Normativity of Beliefs as Performances,” Philosophical Studies 142: 5–15.Google Scholar
Sosa, E. (2011). Knowing Full Well (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sosa, E. (2015). Judgment and Agency (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Stalnaker, A. (2010). “Virtue as Mastery in Early Confucianism,” Journal of Religious Ethics 38(3): 404–428.Google Scholar
Stanley, J. (2011). Know How (Oxford: Oxford University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley, J. and Williamson, T. (2001). “Knowing How,” Journal of Philosophy 98(8): 411–444.Google Scholar
Staudinger, U. (2010). “Wisdom,” in Weiner, I. and Craighead, W. (eds.), Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, Vol. 4 (New York: Wiley), pp. 1860–1863.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. (1985). “Implicit Theories of Intelligence, Creativity, and Wisdom,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49: 607–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sternberg, R. (1998). “A Balance Theory of Wisdom,” Review of General Psychology 2: 347–365.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. (2001). “Why Schools Should Teach for Wisdom: The Balance Theory of Wisdom in Educational Settings,” Educational Psychologist 36(4): 227–245.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. (2003). Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sternberg, R. and Glück, J. (2019). “Why Is Wisdom Such an Obscure Field of Inquiry and What Can and Should Be Done about It?,” in Sternberg, R. and Glück, J. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 783–795.Google Scholar
Stichter, M. (2007). “Ethical Expertise: The Skill Model of Virtue,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 10: 183–194.Google Scholar
Stichter, M. (2011). “Virtues, Skills, and Right Action,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 14: 73–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stichter, M. (2016). “Practical Skills and Practical Wisdom in Virtue,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 94(3): 435–448.Google Scholar
Stichter, M. (2018). The Skillfulness of Virtue: Improving Our Moral and Epistemic Lives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
Swartwood, J. (2013). “Wisdom as an Expert Skill,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 16: 511–528.Google Scholar
Swartwood, J. and Tiberius, V. (2011). “Wisdom Revisited: A Case Study in Normative Theorizing,” Philosophical Explorations 14(3): 277–295.Google Scholar
Swartwood, J. and Tiberius, V. (2019). “Philosophical Foundations of Wisdom,” in Sternberg, R. and Glück, J. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 10–39.Google Scholar
Tiberius, V. (2000). Deliberation about the Good: Justifying What We Value (New York: Garland Publishing).Google Scholar
Tiberius, V. (2008). The Reflective Life: Living Wisely with Our Limits (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar
Tsai, C. (2011a). “Linguistic Know-How: The Limits of Intellectualism,” Theoria 77(1): 71–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, C. (2011b). “The Metaepistemology of Knowing-How,” Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 10(4): 541–556.Google Scholar
Tsai, C. (2014). “The Structure of Practical Expertise,” Philosophia 42(2): 539–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, C. (2016). “Ethical Expertise and the Articulacy Requirement,” Synthese 193(7): 2035–2052.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, C. (2020). “Phronesis and Techne: The Skill Model of Wisdom Defended,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 98(2): 234–247.Google Scholar
Tsai, C. (2022a). “Practical Wisdom, Well-Being, and Success,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 104(3): 606–622.Google Scholar
Tsai, C. (2022b). “Beyond Intuitive Know-How,” Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-022-09851-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, C. (2022c). “Habit: A Rylean Conception,” Philosophies 7(2): 45.Google Scholar
Whitcomb, D. (2011). “Wisdom,” in Bernecker, S. and Pritchard, D. (eds.), Routledge Companion to Epistemology (London: Routledge), pp. 95–105.Google Scholar
Wiggins, D. (1975–1976). “Deliberation and Practical Reason,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 76: 29–51.Google Scholar
Yang, S. and Intezari, A. (2019). “Non-Western Lay Conceptions of Wisdom,” in Sternberg, R. and Glück, J. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 429–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zagzebski, L. (2017). Exemplarist Moral Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility compliance for the HTML of this element is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Wisdom
  • Cheng-hung Tsai, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica
  • Online ISBN: 9781009222884
Available formats
×

Save element to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Wisdom
  • Cheng-hung Tsai, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica
  • Online ISBN: 9781009222884
Available formats
×

Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Wisdom
  • Cheng-hung Tsai, Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica
  • Online ISBN: 9781009222884
Available formats
×