The Wisdom of Insight

Abstract

Certain components of the concept of wisdom represent an alternative to the major theories of wisdom as having and using knowledge to build one's own good life. The major theories draw on links to Aristotle and/or Confucius, while the alternative components of the concept of wisdom echo some respects in which the non-self-directed and non-constructive suggestions of Socratic ethics and Daoism represent an alternative to Aristotle and Confucius. Proposed here is a reading of the Dream of the Red Chamber as an example of a wise insight that is in no sense directed toward improving the seer's life and instead consists in a non-judgmental and compassionate understanding of the complexity of life. Relying on the ideas of Wittgensteinian ethicists, it is suggested that wisdom in this sense is encouraged by, and located in, encounters with examples (of particular persons and their stories).