What is it that makes someone wise, or one person wiser than another? I argue that wisdom consists in knowledge of how to live well, and that this knowledge of how to live well is constituted by various further kinds of knowledge. One concern for this view is that knowledge is not needed for wisdom but rather some state short of knowledge, such as having rational or justified beliefs about various topics. Another concern is that the emphasis on knowing how (...) to live well fails to do justice to the ancient tradition of ‘theoretical wisdom’. I address both of these concerns in filling out the account. (shrink)

According to the standard and largely traditional interpretation, Aristotle’s conception of nous, at least as it occurs in the Posterior Analytics, is geared against a certain set of skeptical worries about the possibility of scientific knowledge, and ultimately of the knowledge of Aristotelian first principles. On this view, Aristotle introduces nous as an intuitive faculty that grasps the first principles once and for all as true in such a way that it does not leave any room for the skeptic to (...) press his skeptical point any further. Thus the tradi- tional interpretation views Aristotelian nous as having an internalist justificatory role in Aristotelian epistemology. In contrast, a minority (empiricist) view that has emerged recently holds the same internalist justificatory view of nous but rejects its internally certifiable infallibility by stressing the connection between nous and Aristotelian induction. I argue that both approaches are flawed in that Aristotle’s project in the Posterior Analytics is not to answer the skeptic on internalist justificatory grounds, but rather lay out a largely externalist explication of scientific knowledge, i.e. what scientific knowledge consists in, without worrying as to whether we can ever show the skeptic to his satisfaction that we do ever possess knowledge so defined. (shrink)

This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture. This book demands the attention of anyone interested in psychology and what it can teach about the good life.

For nearly two thousand years Buddhism has mystified and captivated both lay people and scholars alike. Seen alternately as a path to spiritual enlightenment, an system of ethical and moral rubrics, a cultural tradition, or simply a graceful philosophy of life, Buddhism has produced impassioned followers the world over. The Buddhist saint Nagarjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the first century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahayana Buddhist philosopher. His many works include texts (...) addressed to lay audiences, letters of advice to kings, and a set of penetrating metaphysical and epistemological treatises. His greatest philosophical work, the Mulamadhyamikakarika--read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea--is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy. Now, in The Foundations of the Philosophy of the Middle Way, Jay L. Garfield provides a clear and and eminently readable translation of Nagarjuna's seminal work, offering those with little of no prior knowledge of Buddhist philosophy a view into the profound logic of the Mulamadhyamikakarika. Translated from the Tibetan, the tradition through which Nagarjuna's philosophical influence has largely been transmitted, Garfield presents a superb translation of Mulamadhyamikakarika in its entirety. Illuminating the systematic character of Nagarjuna's reasoning, as well as the works profundity, Garfield shows how Nagarjuna develops his doctrine that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence and essenceless. But, he argues, phenomena nonetheless exist conventionaly, and that indeed conventional existence and ultimate emptiness are in fact the same thing. This represents the radical understanding of the Buddhist doctrine of the two truths, or two levels of reality. Nagarjuna reinterprets all of Buddhist metaphysics and epistemology through this analytical framework--"a systematic and beautifully elegant philosophical dissection of reality." In turn, Garfield goes on to offer the only verse-by-verse commentary based upon the Indo-Tibetan Prasangika-Madhyamika reading of Nagarjuna, the school most influential in the development of Mahayana philosophy in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. Written specifically for the Western reader, the commentary explains Nagarjuna's positions and arguments in the language of Western metaphysics and epistemology, and connects Nagarjuna's concerns tho those of Western philosophers such as Sextus, Hume, and Wittgenstein. A fascinating and accessible translation of the foundational text for all Mahayana Buddhism text, The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way will enlighten all those in search of the essence of reality. (shrink)

This paper argues that epistemologists should theorize about wisdom and critically examines a number of attempts to do as much. It then builds and argues for a particular theory of what wisdom is.

Angesichts der unter der Führungsrolle der natur- und sozial-technologisch relevanten Wissenschaften vollzogenen extremen Spezialisierung und Ausdifferenzierung des Wissens-systems in immer engere Disziplinen mit spezialistischem Fachwissen scheint das Bemühen um ,,Weisheit", das in der Bezeichnung unserer Arbeitsbereiche steckt, gänzlich obsolet geworden zu sein. Zunächst soll die Verdrängung der Weisheitsliebe bzw. -suche anhand einiger historisch-kultureller Etappen der veränderten Bedingungen der Wissensinstitutionen und Gesellschaftsstrukturen nachgezeichnet werden . Danach wird das neuzeitliche Wissenschaftsideal mit dem antiken Weisheitsideal kontrastiert, und die Philosophie in diesem Spannungsfeld geortet (...) . Schließlich wird mit Blick auf die aktuelle Weisheitsrenaissance in verschiedenen Wissenschaften ein integrativer Ansatz eines gegenwartsfähigen Weisheitskonzeptes entworfen. (shrink)

The assessment of highly domain-general problem solving skills is increasingly important as problem solving is increasingly demanded by modern workplaces and increasingly present in international large-scale assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment. This thesis is about the computer-based assessment of problem solving skills based on Multiple Complex Systems : The main idea of the MCS approach is to present multiple computer-simulations of “minimally complex” problems in order to reliably assess certain problem solving skills. In each simulation, the (...) problem solver has to interact with a problem in order to find out how to adequately represent the problem, and how to solve the problem. Up to now, two instances of the MCS approach have been proposed: the MicroDYN approach and – more recently, in the second paper of this thesis – the MicroFIN approach. In the current thesis I will elaborate on three research questions regarding the validity of the MCS approach: its content validity with regard to the concept of complex problem solving; the convergent validity of different instances of the MCS approach; the discriminant validity of the interactive problems of the MCS approach with regard to traditional static measures of reasoning and analytic problem solving skills. Each research question will be addressed in one corresponding paper: In a first paper complex problem solving is defined as the goal-oriented control of systems that contain multiple highly interrelated elements. After reviewing some of the major strands of research on complex problem solving a theoretical framework outlining the most important cognitive processes involved in solving complex problems is derived. The theoretical framework highlights both interactive knowledge acquisition and interactive knowledge application as the two major phases in the process of complex problem solving. Both phases are represented in all current instances of the MCS approach. In a second paper the convergent validity of MicroDYN and MicroFIN is investigated in order to demonstrate that both instances address the same kind of problem solving skills. Based on a multitrait-multimethod analysis of a sample of university students it is demonstrated that – in addition to method-specific skills – both instances assess a common set of skills related to representing and solving different kinds of interactive problems. In a regression of science grades on reasoning and the skills assessed by the instances of the MCS approach it is demonstrated that only the method-general representation trait and reasoning have substantial unique contributions. Thus, MicroDYN and MicroFIN seem to address a common set of skills and this set of skills is relevant for explaining school grades in science classes even beyond reasoning. In a third paper the discriminant validity of the interactive MicroDYN test is investigated by relating it to reasoning and traditional static measures of Analytic Problem Solving skills as they were applied in PISA 2003. Besides a common core of problem solving skills addressed by both kinds of tasks Fischer et al. expected to find evidence for additional skills that were related to interactive problems only. Results indicate that MicroDYN shares a lot of variance with APS even after controlling for reasoning in a sample of high-school students and the university student sample. With regard to the explanation of school grades MicroDYN had an incremental value compared to reasoning and APS in the high-school student sample but not significantly so in the university student sample. Basically these findings highlight both potential and limitations of the MicroDYN approach in its current form. Current instances of the MCS approach address a small set of problem solving skills reliably, but it takes more than these skills to competently solve complex problems. Implications for future research on the assessment of problem solving skills are discussed. (shrink)