Centre for Policy on Ageing



Toward a culturally inclusive understanding of wisdom — historical roots in the East and West
Author(s)	Masami Takahashi
Journal title	International Journal of Aging and Human Development, vol 51, no 3, 2000
Pages	pp 217-230
Keywords	Mental health [elderly] ; Personality ; Religion ; Philosophy ; Histories.
Annotation	To establish a clearer definition of wisdom as a psychological concept, Western and Eastern historical literatures were reviewed and assessed within a general analytical/synthetic framework. In the West, either in an ancient Egyptian, Biblical or philosophical sense, wisdom had been often identified as a form of analytical ability, such as an increase in the knowledge database or an increase in information processing efficiency. By contrast, the Eastern understanding of wisdom, primarily derived from the ancient Vedic text, had been more inclusive, with both analytical and synthetic domains regarded as necessary moments to the whole of wisdom. The inclusive account was also discussed with respect to two important Eastern themes of wisdom: "void" and "co-dependence". (KJ/RH).
Accession Number	CPA-010403215 A
Classmark	D: DK: TR: 4DP: 6A
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.