On Theoretical Wisdom (Sophia)

The revival of interest in wisdom in recent decades merits attention. A fruitful investigation of wisdom requires that we go back to the classics on the one hand and make breakthroughs on the other. Aristotle’s philosophy is a good starting point for this purpose. Aristotle, in context of the contemplative tradition, offers us a classical analysis of theoretical wisdom which is interpreted in a broad as well as a narrow sense with the emphasis on the latter. In contemporary philosophy, Jason Baehr is more focused theoretical wisdom in a broad sense, whereas Feng Qi is more concerned about developing a concept of theoretical wisdom in a narrow sense against the background of the practical/pragmatic turn. Fully acknowledging the achievements of the forerunners, I argue that that we may make breakthroughs in the following ways: 1) In the postmetaphysical era, we will reorient theoretical wisdom in a narrow sense through a reconstruction of philosophy; 2) we will delineate a style-oriented conception of wisdom so as to make a unifying account of all forms of wisdom including theoretical wisdom.