Wisdom, considered the highest level of enlightenment, has not had a foothold in our education since Platos Academy and Aristotles Lyceum. Yet it is wisdom that ultimately promotes human flourishing and equips individuals with the sophistication to live life well. Wisdom is especially urgent if leaders and followers are to lead and follow well.

Wisdom is more critical and urgent than ever in todays world. Stories of lack of discernment and sound judgment abound in the news. Comments such as what were they thinking? and why did they do that? reveal that wisdom is often painfully lacking when it comes to making decisions. The world needs people who judiciously discern and courageously implement innovative decisions at the right time and in the right way. But before wisdom can be adequately taught, it needs to be properly understood.

Historically, the study and acquisition of wisdom has been reserved to the philosophical and theological fields of study, often making wisdom appear esoteric, elusive, and mysterious. While relatively recent empirical attempts have led to certain quantifications and qualifications of wisdom, a comprehensive and cohesive model for understanding, teaching, and implementing general wisdom has yet to emerge. Unfortunately, philosophical and theological treatises on wisdom have been overly convoluted or mystical, making wisdom appear elusive for the lay person. The empirical traditions have overanalyzed the concept to make it almost formulaic and uninspiring.

This primer merges insights from the philosophical, theological, and empirical traditions to provide a simple model for understanding, acquiring, practicing, and teaching wisdom. This primer is unique is that it uses clear language to walk the readers through representative classical philosophical and religious works and empirical studies in lieu of jargon-filled meditations. As a result, the primer orients readers to think like philosophers, theologians, and social scientists by shepherding them through to the logic of previous works on wisdom. What also sets this work apart is its brevity without compromise to substance. This primer demonstrates that the complicated can be made relatively simple, and that brevity and profound meaning often walk hand in hand.

Ideal for emerging and established leaders, this book demonstrates that wisdom inspires confidence, establishes credibility, and helps us successfully navigate complex problems and promote human progress. This primer makes wisdom accessible and provides all soon-to-be, novice, and seasoned leaders with the understanding, dispositions, and skills to be discerning and virtuous people others will want to emulate and follow.

John R. Shoup is professor of education and director of the Dr. Paul& Annie Kienel Leadership Institute at California Baptist University.

Jacqueline N. Gustafson is professor of psychology, the dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, and fellow at the Dr. Paul& Annie Kienel Leadership Institute at California Baptist University.

Troy Hinrichs is professor of criminal justice and fellow at the Dr. Paul& Annie Kienel Leadership Institute at California Baptist University.

Chapter Detail
Preface and Introduction. The preface explains why a primer on the nature of wisdom is needed and provides and outline of each chapter.

Chapter One:The Philosophers Pursuit
The chapter begins with overview of the field of philosophy and its love affair with wisdom. The chapter walks the readers through BoethiusConsolation of Philosophy, PlatosRepublicandThe Laws, AristotlesNicomachean Ethics, and ConfuciusAnalects. The chapter also references the works of Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes treatment of wisdom from the Golden Age of Islam. The chapter concludes what the major philosophers had in common in their approaches to explain the nature of wisdom, albeit different content.

Chapter Two:Religious Perspectives
This chapter begins with an introduction to theology. The chapter walks the readers through wisdom as described in four major religions and their respective texts,The Vedasfrom Hinduism, the Hebrew Bible from Judaism, The Old and New Testament for Christianity, and theQuranfor Islam. The chapter concludes with how the different theological texts share similar approaches to the nature of wisdom, albeit different content.

Chapter Three:The Influence of Social Science
This chapter begins with an overview of the empirical tradition. The chapter describes in detail the different research models on wisdom found in the social sciences: Ardelts Three Dimension Personality Model of Wisdom, Baltes Expert Theory of Wisdom, Sternbergs Balance Theory of Wisdom, and Pederson and Seligmans study of wisdom in the field of positive psychology. The chapter also reviews the hidden architecture governing all complex adaptive systems as described in complexity theory and makes corresponding connections to the models previously identified to reveal similar understandings on the nature of practical wisdom.

Chapter Four:Reinstating Wisdom
This chapter reveals how the philosophical, theological, and empirical traditions share striking similarities in their understanding of wisdom and provides a simple model to reinstate wisdom as a core element of our ongoing human education. With guidelines and specific practices to enable readers to understand, teach, and enact wisdom in their own lives, this chapter reinstates wisdom as a core value for all leaders.