Section Two Global Reading
For allthe things we may learn from the world we are living in, there are three majorcategories.
l Thefirst category is “information”, which consists of simple facts and directimpressions.
l Thesecond category is commonly deemed as “knowledge”, which is informationprocessed and systemized.
l Thethird category is “wisdom”, which is the hardest to define. We are quite clearabout its superiority to the previous two categories, yet for the realm ofwisdom there has never been a sure path. However, in this excerpt, Russell hasshown us a way to approach wisdom. In a very logical order, he gives fourfeatures of wisdom, from which we learn that wisdom is a clever use ofknowledge for noble purposes.
.
The text is neatly structured,with the first paragraph introducing the topic and the other four paragraphselaborating on it. Each of the four paragraphs discusses one factor thatcontributes to wisdom.
The topic sentence of Paragraphs 2-5:
Paragraph 2: Of these I should put first a sense ofproportion: the capacity to take account of all the important factors in aproblem and to attach to each its due weight.
Paragraph3: There must be, also, a certain awarenessof the ends of human life.
Paragraph 4: It is needed in the choice of ends to bepursued and in emancipation from personal prejudice.
Paragraph 5: I think the essence of wisdom isemancipation, as far as possible, from the tyranny of the here and now.
Factors that constitute wisdom:
l comprehensivenessmixed with a sense of proportion;
l afull awareness of the goals of human life;
l understanding;
l impartiality.
In thisessay, parallelism is employed, apart from other rhetoric devices. Here is anexample: “But it is possible to make acontinual approach towards impartiality, on the one hand, by knowingthings somewhat remote in time or space, and on the other hand, by givingto such things their due weight in our feelings.” The underlined parts inthe quoted sentence constitute equivalent syntactic constructions, thus makingthe expression more forceful. Parallelism can also be used to convey one’sideas more clearly and create a sense of order and proportion.
Other examples of parallelism inthe essay:
…enormouslylowering the infant death-rate, not only in Europe and
This hasthe entirely unintended result of making the food supply inadequate andlowering the standard of life in the most populous parts of the world. (Paragraph 2)
Perhapsone could stretch the comprehensiveness that constitutes wisdom to includenot only intellect but also feeling. (Paragraph 3)
It is byno means uncommon to find men whose knowledge is wide but whose feelings arenarrow. (Paragraph 3)
It is notonly in public ways, but in private life equally, that wisdom isneeded. (Paragraph 4)
Knowledge and Wisdom
(abridged)
Bertrand Russell1
1 Mostpeople would agree that, although our age far surpassesall previous ages in knowledge, there has been no correlativeincrease in wisdom. But agreement ceases as soon as we attempt to define“wisdom” and consider means of promoting it. I want to ask first what wisdom is,and then what can be done to teach it.
2 There are,I think, several factors that contribute to wisdom. Of these I should put firsta sense of proportion: the capacity to takeaccount of all the important factors in a problem and to attach to each its due weight.2 This has become more difficultthan it used to be owing to the extent and complexity of the specializedknowledge required of various kinds of technicians. Suppose, for example, thatyou are engaged in research in scientific medicine. The work is difficult andis likely to absorb the whole of your intellectual energy. You have not time toconsider the effect which your discoveries or inventions may have outside thefield of medicine. You succeed (let us say), as modern medicine has succeeded,in enormously lowering the infant death-rate, not only in Europe and
3 Comprehensiveness alone, however, is not enough to constitute wisdom.There must be, also, a certain awareness of the endsof human life. This may be illustrated by the study of history. Many eminenthistorians have done more harm than good because they viewed facts through thedistorting medium of their own passions. Hegel4 had a philosophy ofhistory which did not suffer from any lack of comprehensiveness, since itstarted from the earliest times and continued into an indefinite future. Butthe chief lesson of history which he sought to inculcatewas that from the year 400AD down to his own time
4 It is notonly in public ways, but in private life equally, that wisdom is needed. It isneeded in the choice of ends to be pursued and in emancipationfrom personal prejudice. Even an end which it would be noble to pursue if itwere attainable may be pursued unwisely if it is inherentlyimpossible of achievement. Many men in past ages devoted their lives to asearch for the philosopher's stone and the elixir oflife5. No doubt, if they could have found them, they wouldhave conferred great benefits upon mankind, butas it was their lives were wasted. To descend to less heroic matters, considerthe case of two men, Mr A and Mr B, who hate each other and, through mutualhatred, bring each other to destruction. Suppose you go to Mr A and say, “Whydo you hate Mr B?” He will no doubt give you an appallinglist of Mr B's vices, partly true, partly false.And now suppose you go to Mr B. He will give you an exactly similar list of MrA's vices with an equal admixture of truth andfalsehood. Suppose you now come back to Mr A and say, “You will be surprised tolearn that Mr B says the same things about you as you say about him”, and yougo to Mr B and make a similar speech. The first effect, no doubt, will be toincrease their mutual hatred, since each will be so horrified by the other'sinjustice. But perhaps, if you have sufficient patience and sufficientpersuasiveness, you may succeed in convincing each that the other has only thenormal share of human wickedness, and that their enmityis harmful to both. If you can do this, you will have instilledsome fragments of wisdom.
5 I thinkthe essence of wisdom is emancipation, as far as possible, from the tyranny ofthe here and now. We cannot help the egoism of our senses.6 Sightand sound and touch are bound up with our own bodies and cannot be impersonal.Our emotions start similarly from ourselves. An infant feels hunger ordiscomfort, and is unaffected except by his own physical condition. Graduallywith the years, his horizon widens, and, in proportion as his thoughts andfeelings become less personal and less concerned with his own physical states,he achieves growing wisdom. This is of course a matter of degree. No one canview the world with complete impartiality; and if anyone could, he would hardlybe able to remain alive. But it is possible to make a continual approachtowards impartiality, on the one hand, byknowing things somewhat remote in time or space, and on the other hand, bygiving to such things their due weight in our feelings7. It is thisapproach towards impartiality that constitutes growth in wisdom.
1. Is there any orthodox definitionof wisdom? (Paragraph 1)
2. What does the writer try to illustrate by theexamples of research in medicine and study of the atom respectively? (Paragraph 2)
3. Accordingto the writer, how are feelings related to wisdom? (Paragraph 3)
4. Why is wisdom a necessary quality in peopleand culture? (Paragraphs 1-4)
5. What, according to Russell, is the essence ofwisdom? And how does that explain the process to attain wisdom? (Paragraph 5)
Class Activity
Each student is asked to quote a wise idea fromancient Chinese classics and share with each other why you think it is enlightening.
