I thought to myself, 'I have acquired a greater stock of wisdom than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem. I have great experience of wisdom and learning. Wisdom has been my careful study; stupidity, too, and folly. And now I have come to recognize that even this is chasing after wind. Much wisdom, much grief, the more knowledge, the more sorrow. Solomon

 

Socrates expected the all the other virtues to necessarily follow from his primary virtue, true wisdom. The philosophical notion of wisdom was hardly unique to Greek philosophers. Abu Nasr al Farabi (ca. 870-950), for one, thought it was rooted in Iraq, which means 'roots.'

"It is said that this science existed anciently among the Chaldeans, who are the people of al-'Iraq, subsequently reaching the people of Egypt, from there transmitted to the Greeks, where it remained until it was transmitted to the Syrians and then to the Arabs. Everything comprised by this science was expounded in the Greek language, later in Syriac, and finally in Arabic. The Greeks who possessed this science used to call it 'true wisdom', and 'the highest wisdom.' They called the acquisition of it 'science', and the scientific state of mind philosophy, by which they meant the quest and love of the highest wisdom. They held that it potentially subsumes all the virtues. They called it the 'science of sciences', the 'mother of sciences', the 'wisdom of wisdoms', and the 'art of arts'.... He who is extremely competent in an art is said to be 'wise' in that art.... However, 'true ' wisdom is this science and state of mind alone."

Alfarabi, interpreting the work of Plato and Aristotle, revealed that certain people might have an innate disposition for the diligent pursuit and application of the highest wisdom, a wisdom that is reflected in imagined forms by religion. A number of Arab philosophers placed the context of metaphysics, the last books of Aristotle, above religion. In that context the truly wise man is one of the "elect" or select few. Not that he is democratically elected or that he arbitrarily arrogates his positions on the circular path to the summit as he ascends to the highest form - Supreme Being -the Form that is the Origin of the imperfect forms below. "Vulgar" people, whose theoretical considerations are confined to "unexamined common opinion",   generally concede to voluntarily recognize his exalted status. The elect are critical thinkers, people who think well before practicing the highest arts of the wise man.

"The vulgar confine themselves, or should be confined to, theoretical cognitions that are in conformity with unexamined common opinion. The elect do not confine themselves... to unexamined common opinion but reach their conviction and knowledge on the basis of premises subject to thorough scrutiny. Therefore whoever thinks that he is not confined to what is in conformity with the unexamined opinion in his inquiries, believes that in them he is of the 'elect' and that everybody else is vulgar."

A word to the wise is in order: a critical thinker is a sort of iconoclast who is willing to smash every unexamined common opinion with his golden hammer until there is nothing left to obscure the truth veiled by the vulgar forms.  In the final analysis, the distinction between the Supreme Being and Absolute Nothing is at once so slight and so great that the revelation of the paradox to the vulgar might cause them to abandon religion and run riot; wherefore the wise might be better off keeping the true nature of occult wisdom to themselves lest they be charged with atheism and the corruption of religion. Although nothing is perfect, the ultimate perfection of supreme happiness  may be achieved by innately qualified wise men in Plato's Republic, where the virtues are identified: the wise man has superior mental faculties; he loves truth, and he is just, moderate, pious, and righteous.

According to Alfarabi, "He who possesses such great power ought to possess the capacity of realizing the particular instance of it in nations and cities. Philosophers who do not practice  the virtues  they preach are "vain philosophers";  those who neglect to indoctrinate others are "false philosophers"; and "counterfeit philosophers" are those who are not "innately" qualified to be wise. Since wisdom approaches the summit, it is the sum of virtuous forms below.

"Let it be clear to you that the idea of the Philosopher, Supreme Ruler, Legislator, and Imam is but a single idea." Again, "The idea of the Imam, Philosopher, and Legislator is a single idea. However, the name philosopher signifies primarily theoretical virtue. But if it be determined that the theoretical virtue reach its ultimate perfect in every respect, it follows that he must possess all the other faculties as well."

True wisdom, then, must be applied by the elect to the world, to the end that all people may achieve the "supreme happiness" of their "ultimate perfection". It is the duty, then, of the truly wise man to make people happy for their own good, just as a father would do for his family. Alfarabi identifies two approaches to this highest achievement - rational persuasion, and militant force. 

"The warrior who pursues this purpose is the just warrior, and the art of war that pursues that purpose is the just and virtuous art of war."

We should not ignore the people farther east when it comes to the invention of true wisdom. The sages of Bharat (India) were known for their prehistorical and historical (written) wisdom, as were as the wise men of China and persons in other parts of the ancient world. A sort of wisdom seems to be universal or to hover above the crude particularities of the world.

Wisdom is mentioned in the Analects of the Honorable Mr. Kung (Confucius). We recall that  Socrates was unable to find anyone in Athens wiser than he; at least he was the only known example of a man who knew he was unwise and who confessed his ignorance by making a fool of every wise person who dared to converse on the subject with him. It seems true wisdom was as rare in China as it was in Greece. Confucius said that simply meeting a jun-dz, a "true gentleman" or "honorable man" on the path, would suffice as far as he was concerned.

Self-cultivation depends on self-knowledge. Socrates, Confucius, and Gautama Buddha were inspired by troubled times to look within. Although their paths differed in several respects, we have good cause to believe the result was perennial wisdom. And we suppose a wise man in the good old days would most likely be a true gentleman, an ideal man, a perfect man, and the like.

Confucius implied that a wise man has ascended somewhat higher than a true gentleman - we think he might have gone so high up the slope of abstractions that we might never meet him before expiring for want of oxygen. Still, we learn from the Analects that a true gentleman sums up the virtues into two apparent categories: benevolent love (ren) within; and proper conduct (li) without. Other virtues naturally follow, such as loyalty, faithfulness, rightness, and self-cultivation. Confucius placed the emphasis on conduct: a gentleman will behave himself according to his position in life no matter what his circumstances might be; for instance, one of China's primordial rulers had the meanest parents in the known world, yet he remained a pious son through it all and was raised to the throne.

Being a true gentleman in ancient China was within the reach of everyone capable who followed Confucius carefully, however, like Socrates, he was no democrat. He was a member of the ruling class, and did not expect much of the vulgar mass not to mention the corrupt princes of his day.

Today we expect almost as much of a gentleman as did Confucius in his time. We do not expect ladies and gentlemen to be wise. Many of us are as cynical as Solomon when it comes to wisdom. The pursuit of wisdom in others or ourselves seems rather vain on our deathbeds. Perhaps we should return to Socrates and his virtues for advice. Liberal education might have made skeptics of us all, yet a modern gentleman still has his rituals and social niceties. Even if his pants are not cuffed and hanging at just the right length, at the top of the heel, he will do his best to keep his peace when insulted; perhaps believing with Socrates that to do a wrong is worse than to suffer one.

To Be Continued