What is wise? A commentary on Streib’s “Wisdom and the Other”

Abstract

“Wisdom” is considered to be an “essentially contested concept”. As such, wisdom resists precise definition and has been interpreted very differently across interpreters, historical times, and sociocultural contexts. Particular attention is given to Streib’s equation of wisdom and xenosophia. Xenosophia, as a pathos and openness to the alien other seems necessary for the kind of perspective taking and humility that Streib describes. However, it is insufficient by itself to constitute wisdom. As an essentially contested, ill-defined concept subject to historical and sociocultural change that is unpredictable, the value of wisdom lies in its status as an ideal toward which we might channel our nobler actions and attitudes to persevere in our never-ending struggles to achieve a human flourishing that includes all of us.