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25 - Wisdom, Morality, and Ethics

from Part VI - Wisdom and Other Psychological Constructs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2019

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

I suggest in this chapter that wisdom cannot be properly understood in the absence of an understanding of its relationship to morality and ethics. I review literature on the relationship between wisdom, on the one hand, and morality and ethics, on the other. I suggest that ethical reasoning occurs in a series of stages, and unless an individual completes all these stages of reasoning, he or she is likely to act unethically. The first stage is the recognition that a problem even exists, and the second is the definition of the problem as an ethical one. The most challenging stages are the last two. In the second to last stage, one has to weigh the consequences for oneself of acting ethically, in a world in which ethical action often is ignored or even punished. In the last stage, one has to translate thought into action.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom , pp. 551 - 574
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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