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Knowledge and Wisdom Summary

About the Author:

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his championing of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), his refining of Gottlob Frege’s predicate calculus (which still forms the basis of most contemporary systems of logic), his defence of neutral monism (the view that the world consists of just one type of substance which is neither exclusively mental nor exclusively physical), and his theories of definite descriptions, logical atomism and logical types.

Russell distinguishes between knowledge and wisdom in this essay. Wisdom and knowledge are not the same things. Russell defines wisdom and lists many methods for attaining it. He laments the fact that, despite tremendous information, there has been no equivalent rise in wisdom. He defines knowledge as the gathering of data and information, whereas wisdom is the practical application and use of knowledge to produce value. Not simply memory, but also study and actual experience, leads to wisdom.

Russel defines wisdom by describing things that contribute to wisdom. The first is a sense of proportion. It is the ability to carefully analyze all relevant variables in a problem. Specialization makes it difficult. For example, scientists discover new drugs but have no idea what influence these medicines will have on people’s lives. The medications may lower the newborn mortality rate. However, it may result in a rise in population. Food shortages may occur in poorer countries. More population may result in a worse standard of living. A maniac could use knowledge of the atom’s composition to destroy the world. Without wisdom, knowledge can be dangerous.

Knowledge should be linked with humanity’s overall requirements. Even comprehensive knowledge is insufficient. It should be associated with a specific understanding of life’s purpose. The study of history can help to demonstrate this. For example, Hegel wrote about history with great historical knowledge, yet he encouraged the Germans to feel that they were a superior race. It resulted in the war. As a result, it is vital to blend information with feelings. Men who have information but no sentiments are illiterate.

We require wisdom in both public and private life. We require wisdom to determine our life’s purpose. We require it to be free of personal preconceptions. We may inappropriately pursue a fresh idea if it is too large to achieve. People have sacrificed their lives in search of the “philosopher’s Stone,” also known as the “elixir of life.” They were not practical. They were looking for simple solutions to humanity’s complicated challenges. A man may endeavour to accomplish the impossible, but he may endanger himself in the process.

Similarly, wisdom is required in personal life to avoid hatred for one another. Because of their prejudice, two people may remain enemies. One may hate the other because of imagined flaws. They may become buddies if they are told that we all have flaws. Russel argues that we can avoid hatred by reasoned argument. The path to wisdom is to release ourselves from the grip of our sense organs. Our ego grows as a result of our senses. We cannot live without our senses of sight, sound, and touch. Our senses are the primary means by which we see the world. We learn as we develop that there are other things. We begin to recognize them. As a result, we stop thinking of ourselves as individuals. When we start thinking about other people, we become wise. We let go of our egoism. It is difficult to eliminate selfishness totally, yet we may think beyond our local circumstances. Wisdom emerges when we begin to place value on things that do not directly affect us. When we begin to love people, we begin to gain wisdom.

Wisdom, according to Russell, can be taught as an aim of education. The tale of the Good Samaritan teaches us to love our neighbour, whether friend or enemy. Many times, we misunderstand the point of this tale because we stop loving those who cause harm to society. Understanding, not hatred, is the only way out. In a nutshell, Russel advises us not to hate anyone. The author uses historical examples of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry the IV, and Abraham Lincoln who were free of the mistakes made by other notable persons in the past. In the course of imparting knowledge, the hazards of hatred and narrow-mindedness might be highlighted. Russel believes that knowledge and values can be blended into an educational plan. People should be educated to see things in context with other aspects of the world. They should be encouraged to consider themselves global citizens.

In conclusion, the author lists five factors that lead to wisdom. They are as follows: comprehensiveness, proportionality, emancipation, impartiality, awareness of human needs and understanding. As our knowledge grows, so does our ability to do evil. We would need more and more wisdom to make appropriate use of our knowledge. To make excellent use of our growing knowledge, we need more wisdom. Only then can we realize our life’s purpose and fulfil our goals.

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Wow! very meaningfully you have summarised this essay. And you have done great justice on its view.

Brilliant!Thank you bruh..

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how long summary

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Summary of Russell’s Essay, Knowledge and Wisdom

Summary of Russell's Essay, "Knowledge and Wisdom"

“Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.”

– Sandra Carey

Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to Russell , knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization.

A sense of proportion is very much necessary for wisdom . By inventing medicine, a scientist may reduce the infant death-rate. Apparently, it leads to population explosion and shortage of food. The standard of life comes down. If misused, knowledge of atom can lead human to destruction by manufacturing nuclear weapon.

Knowledge without wisdom can be harmful. Even complete knowledge is not enough. For example, Hegel wrote with great

summary of the essay knowledge and wisdom

knowledge about history, but made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to war. It is necessary, therefore to combine knowledge with feelings.

We need wisdom both in public and private life. We need wisdom to decide the goal of our life. We need it to free ourselves from personal prejudices. Wisdom is needed to avoid dislike for one another. Two persons may remain enemies because of their prejudice. If they can be told that we all have flaws then they may become friends.

  • Russell’s View on World Government in his Essay The Future of Mankind

So, ‘Hate Hatred’ should be our slogan. Wisdom lies in freeing ourselves from the control of our sense organs. Our ego develops through our senses. We cannot be free from the sense of sight, sound and touch. We know the world primarily through our senses. As we grow we discover that there are other things also. We start recognizing them. Thus we give up thinking of ourselves alone. We start thinking of other people and grow wiser. We give up on our ego. Wisdom comes when we start loving others.

Russell feels that wisdom can be taught as a goal of education. Even though we are born unwise which we cannot help, we can cultivate wisdom. Queen Elizabeth I, Henry IV and Abraham Lincoln, are some impressive personalities who fused vigour with wisdom and fought the evil.

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An examination essay dissects the likenesses and contrasts between two items or thoughts. Correlation essays may incorporate an assessment, if the realities show that on item or thought is better than another. narrative essay outline

A doctor may invent medicine which reduces infant mortality rate. Consequently, it may lead to population explosion and shortage of food. That shows a lack of KNOWLEDGE itself. Not knowing the consequences rather than “Wisdom” stuff that Russell talks about here

I am satisfied with the arrangement of your post. You are really a talented person I have ever seen.

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Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell [Summary, analysis, Main Ideas]

In his essay "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell emphasizes the importance of wisdom and adds that, in the absence of it, knowledge can be dangerous. Russell advocates that wisdom and knowledge should go hand in hand to use knowledge rationally. Wisdom, according to the essayist, allows us to put our knowledge to good use in the real world without causing harm to others.

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Knowledge and Wisdom Bertrand Russell [Summary, analysis, Main Ideas]

In the essay, Russell lists many methods for obtaining wisdom and bemoans the fact that, despite tremendous information, there has been no equivalent rise in wisdom. Bertrand Russell discusses several factors that contribute to wisdom in his essay "Knowledge and Wisdom." According to him, a sense of proportion, comprehensiveness with broad feeling, emancipation from personal prejudices and the tyranny of sensory perception, impartiality, and awareness of human needs and understanding are all factors that contribute to wisdom. Wisdom is gained when a person’s thoughts and feelings become less personal.

The key to wisdom is being able to detach ourselves from the control of our sense organs. Our ego grows as a result of our senses. Once we can control our sense organs, we start to think about other people’s convenience. As a result, we stop thinking of ourselves as individuals. We become wise when we begin to think about other people. We give up our egoism. It’s tough to eliminate selfishness, yet we can think about things that aren’t in our immediate vicinity. Wisdom emerges when we begin to value things that do not directly affect us. When we love people, we gain wisdom. The writer urges people not to hate anyone.

In the essay, Russell mentioned how knowledge without wisdom can be dangerous, giving the example of scientists and historians. Scientists develop novel drugs but have no idea how these medicines will affect people’s lives. Drugs may help lower the infant mortality rate. However, it may result in a rise in population, and the world is sure to face the consequences of the rise in population. Once, Hegel, the greatest historian, wrote with historical knowledge and made the Germans believe they were a master race, and this false sense of pride drove them to war. When an intellectual uses his knowledge to demonstrate his theory or principles without considering the feelings or outcomes of such ideas, he may do more harm than good.

The author is assured that wisdom must be an integral part of education because a person can be well educated but lack the wisdom to understand the true meaning of life. Wisdom is required in education because knowledge alone leads to its misuse. After all, one cannot see the true purpose of life. Wisdom, according to Russell, should be taught as a goal of education.

Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell [Main ideas]

➤Wisdom is lacking in men who have knowledge but no sentiments.

➤ Wisdom should be coupled with humanity’s overall needs.

➤ Wisdom should be linked to a basic understanding of life’s purpose.

➤ Wisdom is required in both public and private life.

➤ Wisdom is required in personal life to avoid dislike for one another.

➤ The key to wisdom is being able to detach ourselves from the control of our sense organs.

➤ Wisdom appears when we begin to value things that do not directly affect us.

➤ Knowledge without wisdom has the potential to be dangerous and harmful to humans.

➤ The essence of wisdom is to free oneself from the captivity of the physical and emotional worlds and look beyond.

➤ Wisdom can be learnt by loving others and letting go of selfishness.

➤ Knowledge and wisdom can be combined in an educational scheme.

➤ Wisdom must be an integral part of education because a man or person can be well-educated but lack the wisdom to understand the true meaning of life.

➤ Wisdom should be taught in school alongside knowledge

➤ Lone technical knowledge can be harmful to humans if applied without caution.

➤ Knowledge combined with wisdom is beneficial to people because it addresses all of humanity’s needs .

Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell Class 12 Exercise and Question Answer

Understanding the text 

Answer the following questions.

Reference to the context

Difference between Knowledge and Wisdom

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summary of the essay knowledge and wisdom

Summary of Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell | Essay | Class XII English Note (Exercise)

Summary of Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell | Essay | Class XII English Note (Exercise)

Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell

In the essay, Russel distinguishes knowledge from wisdom. Knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, whereas wisdom as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom is achieved through learning and practical experience. His lamentation is that though vast knowledge has been acquired, there has been no corresponding increase in wisdom.

Russell thinks several factors contribute to wisdom. He puts first a sense of proportion. It is the capacity to consider all important factors in a problem carefully. Specialization makes it difficult. For example, scientists discover new medicines but they do not know what effect they will have on people’s life. The medicines may reduce the infant death rate. But it may lead to increased population. In poor countries it may lead to starvation. If there are more people, it may decrease the standard of life. The knowledge of the composition of the atom could be misused by a lunatic to destroy the world. If misused, knowledge of atom can lead humans to destruction by producing nuclear weapons.

Russel stresses on comprehensiveness an important factor that constitutes wisdom. As human knowledge becomes more specialized, one who is engrossed in the study of his specific field may fail to predict the outcome of the knowledge he is pursuing. Knowledge should be combined with the total needs of mankind. Even complete knowledge is not enough. It should be associated with certain awareness of the ends of human life. The study of history can prove it. For example, Hegel wrote with great knowledge about history, but made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to war. It is necessary therefore to combine knowledge with feelings. The men who have knowledge and have no feelings lack wisdom.

Wisdom is needed both in public and private life. People require wisdom to decide the objective of their life. We need it to free ourselves from personal prejudices. We may follow even a novel thing unwisely if it is too big to achieve. People may attempt to achieve the impossible, and harm themselves in the process. In personal life, says Russell, wisdom is needed to avoid dislike for one another. Two persons may become enemies because of their prejudice. One may dislike the other for imaginary faults. If they can be told that we all have flaws, then they may become friends.

Wisdom exists when we free ourselves from the control of our sense organs. Our ego develops through our senses. One cannot be free from the sense of sight, sound and touch. The world is primarily recognized through our senses. Thus, we stop thinking of ourselves alone. We start thinking of other people and grow wiser. It is difficult to completely to make us free from selfishness, but we can think of things beyond our immediate surroundings. Wisdom gets birth when we start loving others.

Russell feels that wisdom can be taught as an aim of education. The message in the parable of the Good Samaritan is that we ought to love our neighbor whether friend or enemy. Many times we miss the message in this parable because we fail to love those who cause harm to the society. The author draws out examples from the history of Queen Elizabeth I, Henry IV and Abraham Lincoln, who were free from the errors committed by other important people in the past.

The risk of hatred and narrow-mindedness can be identified in the course of giving knowledge. Russell feels knowledge and wisdom can be amalgamated in the arrangement of education. People should be educated to perceive things in relation to other things of the world. They should be encouraged to think of themselves as world citizens.

Understanding the text

a. What are the factors that contribute to wisdom?

The factors that contribute to wisdom are:

- a sense of proportion

- comprehensiveness

- choice of ends to pursue

- emancipation from personal prejudice

b. What message does the writer try to convey with the example of technicians?

He tries to tell us knowledge itself cannot save the world. Knowledge without wisdom will not be beneficial to the world and in some cases will even seriously threaten humanity. So, a wise person should have a sense of comprehensiveness.

c. Which leaders does Russel say were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly?

Queen Elizabeth I, Henry IV and Abraham Lincoln were the leaders who were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly.

d. Why is wisdom needed not only in public ways but in private life equally?

Wisdom is needed not only in public ways but in private life equally to get rid of personal prejudice. As our thoughts and feelings become less personal, we may gain wisdom.

e. What, according to Russel, is the true aim of education?

According to Russel, the true aim of education is wisdom.

f. Can wisdom be taught? If so, how?

Wisdom can be taught loving our neighbors whether friends or foes.

g. Why does the world need more wisdom in the future?

With every increase of knowledge and skill, our purposes may be unwise. This can be a threat to the world, and the world will need wisdom in the future.

Reference to the context

a. According to Russel, “The pursuit of knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.” Justify this statement.

As human knowledge becomes more specialized, one who is engrossed in the study of his specific field may fail to predict the outcome of the knowledge he is pursuing. Knowledge should be combined with the total needs of mankind. Even complete knowledge is not enough. It should be associated with certain awareness of the ends of human life. The study of history can prove it. For example, Hegel wrote with great knowledge about history, but made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to war. It is necessary therefore to combine knowledge with feelings. The men who have knowledge and have no feelings lack wisdom.

a. What, according to Russell, is the essence of wisdom? And how can one acquire the very essence?

According to Russell, the essence of wisdom is emancipation. It lies in impartiality, the ability to defy the physical world. The essayist believes the process of growing wise is that of tearing oneself away from the physical and emotional world and moving into a higher stage, the spiritual world. The process of impartiality constitutes in wisdom.

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Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell: Summary and Theme/Class 12 Compulsory English

summary of the essay knowledge and wisdom

Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell Summary and Theme/Class 12 Compulsory English

Knowledge and wisdom aren’t same. Knowledge helps people to make living but wisdom makes our life. They are different to each other. Knowledge is related with acquisition of data. But wisdom is practical use of knowledge in our life. Wisdom helps to create value. We can gain knowledge from memorization but we need practical experience to achieve wisdom. A sense of proportion is needed to acquire wisdom. Knowledge can be misused to destroy human life.

In fact, knowledge and wisdom are necessary for completion of life. One is incomplete without another. Wisdom is necessary in public as well as private life. Wisdom directs our life goals. It keeps away us from personal prejudices created by knowledge. Wisdom can change enemies into friends. If we are free from control of our sense organs then we can feel wisdom inside us. We need to love other people too. We should think beyond our lives. We must start loving and caring other people to venture on the journey of wisdom.

Russell thinks that wisdom should be used as a goal of education. We are unwise at the beginning of our life. But we can achieve wisdom in our life by cultivating it. Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth,etc removed evil from their life to welcome wisdom in their life. The current age is knowledge age but we need to teach value of wisdom to make people wise.

Knowledge is increasing but not wisdom. Study, experience and research help to gain knowledge. But wisdom teaches us to do better for humanity. Knowledge functions as an engine and wisdom as driver.

Action is related with knowledge. But wisdom is related with results of actions. So, comprehensive vision is linked with wisdom. Knowledge helps to reduce death rate by supplying medicines. But it doesn’t analyze the result of increasing population. Increase in population brings the problem of scarcity of food. Wisdom helps us to see the negative sides of such research and medicine. So, knowledge should be driven by wisdom. Both are inter-related to each other.

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Knowledge and Wisdom Summary & Exercise [English-12]

  • Ramji Acharya
  • 2021, Dec-19

Summary of Knowledge and Wisdom & Exercise

Summary of Knowledge & Wisdom

The Essay ‘Knowledge and Wisdom’ highlights the intertwined relations of knowledge and wisdom in human life. Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization.

Russell makes a distinction between wisdom and knowledge in this essay. Wisdom and knowledge are two distinct concepts. He claims that whereas wisdom is defined as the actual application and use of knowledge to produce value, knowledge is defined as the accumulation of data and information. Wisdom comes from knowledge and experience, not simply memorization.

Knowledge, in Russell’s definition, is the gathering of data and knowledge. Comparable to a generating theory while wisdom is the use of knowledge to add value in a practical manner. Wisdom comes from knowledge and experience, not simply memorization. Wisdom requires a sense of proportion in every way.

A scientist may lower the infant mortality rate by creating a new drug. It seems to result in population growth and food scarcity. The quality of life declines. Atomic knowledge has the potential to be utilized destructively by humans to create nuclear weapons. Knowledge and wisdom are related in the same way that theory and practice are.In this essay, the essayist talks about several factors that contribute to wisdom. According to him, the factors that contribute to wisdom are:

  • a sense of proportion,
  • aware comprehensiveness and feeling
  • emancipation from personal prejudices
  • impartiality and
  • intellectual element

Only Knowledge or Wisdom can’t be sufficient. Both are equally important. Knowledge without wisdom can be harmful. Even complete knowledge is not enough. For example, Hegel wrote with great knowledge about history but made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to war. It is necessary, therefore to combine knowledge with feelings. We need wisdom both in public and private life. We need the wisdom to decide the goal of our life. We need it to free ourselves from personal prejudices.

Wisdom is needed to avoid dislike for one another. Two persons may remain enemies because of their prejudice. If they can be told that we all have flaws then they may become friends. In this essay, Russell defines what wisdom is in the first part and in the second part he talks about how it can be attained.

Without knowledge, wisdom cannot go forward. He says that wisdom and knowledge must go ahead simultaneously. Thus, knowledge and wisdom are remarkable gifts of the clear exposition of Russel. It shows Russel as a great master of lucid style. His intellect is brilliant and his vision is comprehensive.

Check Summary – II

About the Author of Knowledge and Wisdom

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his championing of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), his refining of Gottlob Frege’s predicate calculus (which still forms the basis of most contemporary systems of logic), his defence of neutral monism (the view that the world consists of just one type of substance which is neither exclusively mental nor exclusively physical), and his theories of definite descriptions, logical atomism and logical types. In this essay, 

Exercise of Knowledge & Wisdom

Understanding the text.

What are the factors that contribute to wisdom?

Answer: In the essay “Knowledge and Wisdom”, Bertrand Russell talks about several factors that contribute to wisdom. According to him, the factors that contribute to wisdom are: 

  • a sense of proportion, 
  • impartiality and 

What message does the writer try to convey with the examples of technicians?

Answer: The writer tries to convey the message related to harm with the examples of technicians. According to him, technical knowledge can be harmful to humankind if that knowledge is applied without wisdom. For example, the technicians become happy in lowering the infant death rate in the world but it results in a lack of food supply and lowers the standard of life. Similarly, the knowledge of atomic theory can be misused in making atom bombs that destroy the human race. 

Which leaders does Russell say we’re able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly?

Answer: According to Russell, the leaders like Queen Elizabeth I in England, Henry IV in France and Abraham Lincoln can mix knowledge and wisdom soundly. Queen Elizabeth I and Henry IV remained free from the errors of their time and both, by remaining free were beneficent and certainly not ineffective. Similarly, Abraham Lincoln conducted a great war without ever departing from wisdom. 

Why is wisdom needed not only in public ways but in private life equally? 

Answer: Wisdom is not only needed in public ways but also used in private life equally. It is needed in the choice of ends to be pursued and in emancipation from personal prejudice. In a lack of wisdom, we may fail in choosing the target of our life and getting success in life. 

What, according to Russell, is the true aim of education?

Answer: The true aim of education, according to Russell, is installing wisdom in people. It is wisdom that makes us utilize our knowledge in practical life purposefully without making any harm to humankind. Along with knowledge, people must have the wisdom to be good citizens. 

Can wisdom be taught? If so, how?

Answer: Yes, wisdom can be taught. The teaching of wisdom should have a larger intellectual element than moral instruction. The disastrous results of hatred and narrow-mindedness to those who feel them can be pointed out incidentally in the course of giving knowledge. For example, while teaching the composition of an atom, the disastrous results of it must be taught to eliminate its misuse such as making an atomic bomb. 

Why does the world need more wisdom in the future?

Answer: When we observe the growth of knowledge in various sectors in the present time, it is obvious that there will be even more development of knowledge in the future. In the absence of wisdom, most people are misusing knowledge bringing several negative impacts and this reality will continue in the future too if knowledge is not mixed with wisdom. It is only wisdom, that makes people use the acquired knowledge wisely. For a better future, more wisdom is needed. 

Reference to the Context of Knowledge and Wisdom

According to Russell, “The Pursuit of Knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.” Justify this statement.

Answer: Humans are curious creatures and they always want to learn new things. Most people have spent their whole lives in pursuit of knowledge. Some pieces of knowledge are noble and beneficial for humans whereas sine pieces of knowledge are harmful to us. The knowledge which is combined with wisdom is useful for us because it addresses the total needs of mankind. The knowledge of atomic composition has become harmful to mankind because it is used in making bombs. 

Similarly, Hegal, though he had great knowledge about history, made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to the great disastrous wars. So, it is necessary to combine knowledge with the feeling of humanity. We need an event to decide the aim of our life. It makes us free of personal prejudices. Even noble things are applied unwisely in the lack of wisdom. 

What, according to Russell, is the essence of wisdom? And how can one acquire the very essence?

Answer: According to Russell, the essence of wisdom is emancipation from the tyranny of partiality. It makes our thoughts and feeling less personal and less concerned with our physical states. It is wisdom that makes us care for and love the entire human race, it takes us into the higher stage of spirituality. It makes us able to make the right decision and install a broad vision and unbiasedness in our minds.

We can acquire the very essence by breaking the chain of the egoism of our senses, understanding the ends of human life, applying our knowledge wisely for the benefit of humans, finding noble and attainable goals of our life, controlling our sensory perceptions, being impartial gradually and loving others. 

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Knowledge and Wisdom (Essay) Summary

  Knowledge and Wisdom

by Bertrand Arthur William Russell

About the author

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his championing of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), his refining of Gottlob Frege’s predicate calculus (which still forms the basis of most contemporary systems of logic), his defense of neutral monism (the view that the world consists of just one type of substance which is neither exclusively mental nor exclusively physical), and his theories of definite descriptions, logical atomism and logical types.

In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization.

The essay ‘Knowledge and Wisdom’ is written by a British essayist Bertrand Arthur William Russell. In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information whereas wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization.

According to Russel, knowledge  is defined as the acquisition of data and information. It is like a generating theory.  while  wisdom  is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value.  Wisdom  is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization. A sense of proportion is very much necessary for  wisdom . By inventing medicine, a scientist may reduce the infant death-rate. Apparently, it leads to population explosion and shortage of food. The standard of life comes down. If misused, knowledge of atom can lead human to destruction by manufacturing nuclear weapon. Knowledge and Wisdom have the relation like theory and practice.

In this essay the essayist talks about several factors that contribute to wisdom. According to him, the factors that contribute to wisdom are:

i) a sense of proportion,

ii) aware comprehensiveness and feeling

iii) emancipation from personal prejudices

iv) impartiality and

v) intellectual element

Only Knowledge or Wisdom can’t be sufficient. Both are equally important. Knowledge  without wisdom can be harmful. Even complete  knowledge  is not enough. For example, Hegel wrote with great knowledge about history, but made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to war. It is necessary, therefore to combine  knowledge  with feelings. We need wisdom both in public and private life. We need wisdom to decide the goal of our life. We need it to free ourselves from personal prejudices. Wisdom is needed to avoid dislike for one another. Two persons may remain enemies because of their prejudice. If they can be told that we all have flaws then they may become friends.

In this essay, Russell defines what wisdom is in the first part and in the second part he talks about how it can be attained. Without knowledge, wisdom cannot go forward. He says that wisdom and knowledge must go ahead simultaneously. Thus, knowledge and wisdom are remarkable gifts of the clear exposition of Russel. It shows Russel as a great master of lucid style. His intellect is brilliant and his vision is comprehensive.

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Knowledge and Wisdom Exercise : Summary and Question Answers

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Class 12 English Notes

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions., a. what are the factors that contribute to wisdom, b. what message does the writer try to convey with the example of technicians, c. which leaders does russell say were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly, d. why is wisdom needed not only in public ways, but in private life equally, e. what, according to russell, is the true aim of education, f. can wisdom be taught if so, how, g. why does the world need more wisdom in the future, reference to the context, a. according to russel, “the pursuit of knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.” justify this statement., b. what, according to russell, is the essence of wisdom and how can one acquire the very essence, reference beyond the text, a. why is wisdom necessary in education discuss., b. how can you become wise do you think what you are doing in college contributes to wisdom, don't miss our nepali guide.

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Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell (Themes, Summary, Analysis and Interpretation) - Grade 12- English NEB

summary of the essay knowledge and wisdom

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his championing of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), his refining of Gottlob Frege’s predicate calculus (which still forms the basis of most contemporary systems of logic), his defense of neutral monism (the view that the world consists of just one type of substance which is neither exclusively mental nor exclusively physical), and his theories of definite descriptions, logical atomism and logical types.

In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization.

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Summary of 'Knowledge and Wisdom' by Bertrand Russell

In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization. 

Major Word Meanings of this Essay

proportion (n.): a part or share of a whole 

absorb (v.): to take, draw or suck something in 

distorting (v.): pull or twist out of shape 

inculcate (v.): implant, infuse, instil 

bound up (v.): to limit something 

fanatical (adj.): a person who is too enthusiastic about something 

Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872–1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his championing of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), his refining of Gottlob Frege’s predicate calculus (which still forms the basis of most contemporary systems of logic), his defence of neutral monism (the view that the world consists of just one type of substance which is neither exclusively mental nor exclusively physical), and his theories of definite descriptions, logical atomism and logical types.

“Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.”

– Sandra Carey

Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to Russell, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization.

A sense of proportion is very much necessary for wisdom. By inventing medicine, a scientist may reduce the infant death rate. Apparently, it leads to a population explosion and a shortage of food. The standard of life comes down. If misused, knowledge of atoms can lead humans to destruction by manufacturing a nuclear weapon.

Knowledge without wisdom can be harmful. Even complete knowledge is not enough. For example, Hegel wrote with great knowledge about history but made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to war. It is necessary, therefore to combine knowledge with feelings.

We need wisdom both in public and private life. We need the wisdom to decide on the goal of our life. We need it to free ourselves from personal prejudices. Wisdom is needed to avoid dislike for one another. Two persons may remain enemies because of their prejudice. They may become friends if they can be told that we all have flaws.

Question Answer

a. What are the factors that contribute to wisdom? 

Ans: - In the essay “Knowledge and Wisdom”, Bertrand Russell talks about several factors that contribute to wisdom. According to him, the factors that contribute to wisdom are :

i) a sense of proportion, 

ii) comprehensiveness with broad feeling, 

iii) emancipation from personal prejudices and tyranny of sensory perception, 

iv) impartiality and

v) awareness of human needs and understanding. 

b. What message does the writer try to convey with the examples of technicians? 

Ans: - Russell has given some examples of technicians to convey the message that lone technical knowledge can be harmful to humankind if that knowledge is applied without wisdom. They can't find out how their knowledge in one field can be harmful in another field. For example, the discovery of medicine to decrease the infant mortality rate can cause population growth and food scarcity. Similarly, the knowledge of atomic theory can be misused in making atom bombs. 

c. Which leaders does Russell say were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly? 

Ans: - According to Russell, Queen Elizabeth I in England, Henry IV in France and Abraham Lincoln can mix knowledge and wisdom soundly. Queen Elizabeth I and Henry IV remained free from the errors of their time being Global Trade Starts Here Alibaba.com unaffected by the conflict between the Protestants and the Catholics. Similarly, Abraham Lincoln conducted a great war without ever departing from wisdom. 

d. Why is the wisdom needed not only in public ways but in private life equally? 

Ans: - Wisdom is not only needed in public ways but also used in private life equally. It is needed in the choice of ends to be pursued and in emancipation from personal prejudice. In a lack of wisdom, we may fail in choosing the target of our life and we may not have sufficient patience and sufficient persuasiveness in convincing people. 

e. What, according to Russell, is the true aim of education? 

Ans: - The true aim of education, according to Russell, is installing wisdom in people. It is wisdom that makes us utilize our knowledge in practical life purposefully without doing any harm to humankind. Along with knowledge, people must have the wisdom to be good citizens. 

f. Can wisdom be taught? If so, how? 

Ans: - Yes, wisdom can be taught. The teaching of wisdom should have a larger intellectual element than moral instruction. The disastrous results of hatred and narrow-mindedness to those who feel them can be pointed out incidentally in the course of giving knowledge. For example, while teaching the composition of an atom, the disastrous results of it must be taught to eliminate its misuse such as making an atom bomb. Reference to the Context Answer the following questions. 

a. According to Russell, “The Pursuit of Knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.” Justify this statement. 

Ans: - Humans are curious creatures who always want to learn new things. Most people have spent their whole lives in pursuit of knowledge. Some pieces of knowledge are noble and beneficial for humans whereas some pieces of knowledge are harmful to us. The knowledge which is combined with wisdom is useful for us because it addresses the total needs of mankind. The knowledge of atomic composition has become harmful to mankind because it is used in making bombs.

Similarly, Hegal, though he had great knowledge about history, made the Germans believe that they were a master race. It led to the great disastrous wars. So, it is necessary to combine knowledge with the feeling of humanity. We need an event to decide the aim of our life. It makes us free from personal prejudices. Even noble things are applied unwisely in the lack of wisdom

b. What, according to Russell, is the essence of wisdom? And how can one acquire the very essence?  

Ans: - According to Russell, the essence of wisdom is emancipation from the tyranny of being partiality. It makes our thoughts and feeling less personal and less concerned with our physical states. It is wisdom that makes us care and love the entire human race, it takes us into the higher stage of spirituality. It makes us able to make the right decision, and install a broad vision and unbiasedness in our minds. We can acquire the very essence by breaking the chain of the egoism of our senses, understanding the ends of human life, applying our knowledge wisely for the benefit of humans, finding noble and attainable goals of our life, controlling our sensory perceptions, being impartial gradually and loving others. 

Reference Beyond the Text 

a. Why is wisdom necessary in education? Discuss.

Ans: It is wisdom that makes our minds broad and unbiased. When we gain wisdom, our thoughts and feelings become less personal. It makes us use our knowledge wisely. It helps us to utilize our knowledge for the benefit of humankind. When we have wisdom we love even our enemy, we completely get rid of ego, and we don't have any kind of prejudices.

If education/knowledge is one part of human life then wisdom is another part. If one compasses these both parts appropriately, then s/he becomes a perfect being. The goal of education is not only to impart knowledge but also to create good citizens. People may misuse the acquired knowledge if they don't have wisdom and it doesn't come automatically, it must be taught. It must be one of the goals of education and must be taught in schools. It must be planted and nursed in one's mind with practical examples. 

Understanding the Text 

b. What message does the writer try to convey with the example of technicians?

c. Which leaders does Russell say were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly?

g. Why does the world need more wisdom in the future? Reference to the context 

a. According to Russel, “The pursuit of knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.” Justify this statement. 

b. What, according to Russell, is the essence of wisdom? And how can one acquire the very essence? 

Reference beyond the text 

a. Why is wisdom necessary in education? Discuss. 

b. How can you become wise? Do you think what you are doing in college contributes to wisdom? 

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English XII

3. Knowledge and Wisdom

question

In this essay, Russell makes a distinction between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge and wisdom are distinct concepts. Russell provides a definition of wisdom and a number of approaches to achieving it. He laments the lack of a comparable increase in wisdom in spite of a wealth of information. He defines wisdom as the practical application and use of knowledge to produce value, while knowledge is the gathering of data and information. Wisdom comes from more than just memory; it also comes from study and actual experience.

By describing factors that contribute to wisdom, Russell defines wisdom. A sense of proportion is the first. It's the ability to analyze a problem's relevant variables in detail. It's hard because of specialization. For instance, scientists discover novel drugs without knowing how these drugs will affect people's lives. The medications might lower the mortality rate for newborns. However, it might lead to more people living there. Poorer nations may experience food shortages. A lower standard of living may result from an increase in population. The atom's composition could be used by a madman to destroy the world. Without insight, information can be risky.

The needs of humanity as a whole should be linked to knowledge. Knowledge that is comprehensive is insufficient. It ought to be connected to a particular comprehension of the purpose of life. This can be demonstrated with the assistance of history study. For instance, Hegel expounded on history with extraordinary verifiable information, yet he urged the Germans to feel that they were a predominant race. The war resulted from it. Consequently, it is essential to incorporate feelings and information. An illiterate man has knowledge but no feelings.

In both our public and private lives, we require wisdom. To determine our life's purpose, we need wisdom. We expect it to be devoid of personal prejudices. If a new idea is too big to accomplish, we might pursue it in an inappropriate manner. In search of the "philosopher's stone," also known as the "elixir of life," people have given up their lives. They weren't useful. They were looking for straightforward solutions to the complex problems facing humanity. A man may attempt the impossible, but in the process, he may put himself in danger.

In a similar vein, personal wisdom is required to avoid animosity. Two people may continue to be enemies due to their prejudice. A person might despise the other because of perceived flaws. If they are made aware that we all have flaws, they might become friends. Russell argues that reasoned argument can prevent hatred. Getting rid of our sense organs is the first step toward wisdom. Our senses help us develop our ego. The senses of sight, sound, and touch are essential to our existence. The primary means by which we perceive the world are our senses. We discover that there are other things as we grow up. They begin to appear to us. Consequently, we cease to view ourselves as individuals. We become wise when we start thinking about other people. We gave up our egotism. Although it is difficult to completely eradicate selfishness, we can consider our surroundings from a broader perspective. When we begin to value things that do not directly affect us, wisdom emerges. Wisdom begins when we begin to love other people.

Insight, as indicated by Russell, can be instructed as a point of schooling. We learn to love our neighbors, whether they are friends or foes, from the story of the Good Samaritan. Because we stop loving those who harm society, we frequently miss the point of this story. Only understanding, not hatred will get you out. Russell basically tells us not to hate anyone. The author uses Queen Elizabeth I, Henry IV, and Abraham Lincoln as historical examples of notable people who avoided making the same mistakes in the past. The dangers of hatred and narrow-mindedness may be brought to light during education. Russell is of the opinion that an educational strategy can incorporate both knowledge and morals. Education should teach people to see things in relation to other parts of the world. They should be encouraged to think of themselves as citizens of the world.

The author then goes on to list five things that contribute to wisdom. These are the main ones: comprehensiveness, proportionality, emancipation, impartiality, understanding, and awareness of human needs. We become more evil as our knowledge expands. We would require increasingly more insight to utilize our insight. We need more wisdom to make the most of our growing knowledge. We won't be able to achieve our goals and fulfill our life's purpose until then.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW.

a. What factors are associated with wisdom?

The following elements contribute to wisdom:

Comprehension, proportionality, emancipation, and impartiality are all aspects of comprehensiveness.

b. With the example of technicians, what message is the author attempting to convey?

The author makes an effort to convey a message about harm by using technicians as an illustration. He is of the opinion that applying technical knowledge without wisdom could be detrimental to humanity. Technologists, for instance, may be pleased that the global infant mortality rate has decreased, but this result in a lack of food and a lower standard of living. Similarly, understanding atomic theory can be used to construct atomic bombs that will eradicate humanity.

c. According to Russell, which leaders were able to effectively combine knowledge and wisdom?

According to Russell, leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Henry IV of France, and Queen Elizabeth I of England were able to successfully combine knowledge and wisdom. Both Queen Elizabeth I and Henry IV stayed clear of their time's deficiencies, and thus, they were both kind and doubtlessly not fruitless. Similarly, Abraham Lincoln never strayed from the path of wisdom while leading a massive battle.

d. Why is wisdom necessary not only in public settings but also in private ones?

Wisdom is required not only in public settings but also in private ones. Wisdom is required when choosing objectives and overcoming personal prejudice. Because we lack wisdom, we might not be able to choose the goal of our life and succeed.

e. According to Russell, what exactly is the purpose of education?

Russell maintains that the true goal of education is to instill wisdom in individuals. Wisdom enables us to use our knowledge effectively in the real world without harming other people. Knowledge and wisdom must be combined by citizens to be good citizens.

f. Can wisdom be cultivated? How, then?

True, wisdom can be learned. Teaching wisdom ought to have a greater intellectual component than teaching morality. The devastating effects of hatred and narrow-mindedness can be mentioned incidentally while imparting knowledge to those who feel them. For instance, in addition to teaching about the atom's composition, it is necessary to teach about the devastating effects of its misuse, such as the creation of atomic weapons.

g. Why is there a future demand for more wisdom?

In the future, the world will require more wisdom. It is abundantly clear that knowledge will continue to grow in the future when we examine the current state of knowledge in various fields. The majority of people misuse knowledge due to lack of wisdom, resulting in a variety of negative outcomes, and this trend will continue if knowledge is not combined with wisdom in the future. People can only make wise use of their knowledge with wisdom. For a brighter future, more wisdom is required.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

a. Russell asserts, "Unless it is combined with wisdom," that "the pursuit of knowledge may become harmful." Justify your position.

I completely agree with Bertrand Russell. Wisdom is essential for any person who is in search of knowledge. For example, the pioneer scientist may not have thought that the nuclear fusion technology, if landed on wrong hands then it would create a devastating consequence. Therefore, while pursuing knowledge one should have wisdom. They should not only concerned of inventing or discovering something, they should also contemplate on it merits and demerits. Mark Zuckerberg had only thought of connecting people by Facebook, but today Facebook has been a major reason for relationship breakages and crimes.

b. According to Russell, what exactly constitutes wisdom? And how is the very essence obtained?

The essence of wisdom, according to Russell, is to break free from the confines of the physical and emotional worlds and look beyond them. He thinks it's a bad idea to work toward goals that are impossible to achieve. He also says that knowledge comes from being free of personal prejudice, which makes one's thoughts and feelings less personal.

Wisdom is not always the result of knowledge. The practical application and use of knowledge to generate value, according to Russell, is wisdom. Instead of relying solely on memory, one can acquire the very essence of wisdom through learning and actual experience.

REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT

a. Why is wisdom necessary in education? Discuss.

Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge by being impartial, and calculating both the good and bad sides and wisdom starts with knowledge which is gained through education. Therefore, when still the brain is innocent, unaffected by the outside negative impressions, knowledge should be accompanied by wisdom. Teachers should not only give knowledge but also teach wisdom so that any individual’s conscience develops positively. It is valuable in education because today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, doctors, scientists, managers and what not.

b. How do you develop wisdom? Do you think that the things you are doing in college help you become wise?

Wisdom is hard to develop because not everyone is wise despite having immense knowledge. In order to develop wisdom one should learn and habituate to think critically and analytically. Without careful examination of application of knowledge wisdom cannot be achieved. Therefore, transcending above what is apparently visible is the way to develop wisdom. Talking about the activities that is being done in college will make us wise provided that there are no mentors who teach us to scrutinize the available knowledge. We are still kids and we lack critical thinking abilities, we are driven by emotion more than reason. Therefore, if we are trained to think wisely we can become wise or else we will just be knowledgeable.

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From Knowledge to Wisdom

The Key to Wisdom

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Nicholas Maxwell University College London

Section 1 of " Arguing for Wisdom in the University: An Intellectual Autobiography ", Philosophia , vol 40, no. 4, 2012. Nearly forty years ago I discovered a profoundly significant idea - or so I believe. Since then, I have expounded and developed the idea in six books [1] and countless articles published in academic journals and other books. [2] I have talked about the idea in universities and at conferences all over the UK, in Europe, the USA and Canada. And yet, alas, despite all this effort, few indeed are those who have even heard of the idea. I have not even managed to communicate the idea to my fellow philosophers. What did I discover? Quite simply: the key to wisdom. For over two and a half thousand years, philosophy (which means "love of wisdom") has sought in vain to discover how humanity might learn to become wise - how we might learn to create an enlightened world. For the ancient Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato and the rest, discovering how to become wise was the fundamental task for philosophy. In the modern period, this central, ancient quest has been laid somewhat to rest, not because it is no longer thought important, but rather because the quest is seen as unattainable. The record of savagery and horror of the last century is so extreme and terrible that the search for wisdom, more important than ever, has come to seem hopeless, a quixotic fantasy. Nevertheless, it is this ancient, fundamental problem, lying at the heart of philosophy, at the heart, indeed, of all of thought, morality, politics and life, that I have solved. Or so I believe. When I say I have discovered the key to wisdom, I should say, more precisely, that I have discovered the methodological key to wisdom. Or perhaps, more modestly, I should say that I have discovered that science contains, locked up in its astounding success in acquiring knowledge and understanding of the universe, the methodological key to wisdom. I have discovered a recipe for creating a kind of organized inquiry rationally designed and devoted to helping humanity learn wisdom, learn to create a more enlightened world. What we have is a long tradition of inquiry - extraordinarily successful in its own terms - devoted to acquiring knowledge and technological know-how. It is this that has created the modern world, or at least made it possible. But scientific knowledge and technological know-how are ambiguous blessings, as more and more people, these days, are beginning to recognize. They do not guarantee happiness. Scientific knowledge and technological know-how enormously increase our power to act. In endless ways, this vast increase in our power to act has been used for the public good - in health, agriculture, transport, communications, and countless other ways. But equally, this enhanced power to act can be used to cause human harm, whether unintentionally, as in environmental damage (at least initially), or intentionally, as in war. It is hardly too much to say that all our current global problems have come about because of science and technology. The appalling destructiveness of modern warfare and terrorism, vast inequalities in wealth and standards of living between first and third worlds, rapid population growth, environmental damage - destruction of tropical rain forests, rapid extinction of species, global warming, pollution of sea, earth and air, depletion of finite natural resources - all only exist today because of modern science and technology. Science and technology lead to modern industry and agriculture, to modern medicine and hygiene, and thus in turn to population growth, to modern armaments, conventional, chemical, biological and nuclear, to destruction of natural habitats, extinction of species, pollution, and to immense inequalities of wealth across the globe. Science without wisdom, we might say, is a menace. It is the crisis behind all the others. When we lacked our modern, terrifying powers to act, before the advent of science, lack of wisdom did not matter too much: we were bereft of the power to inflict too much damage on ourselves and the planet. Now that we have modern science, and the unprecedented powers to act that it has bequeathed to us, wisdom has become, not a private luxury, but a public necessity. If we do not rapidly learn to become wiser, we are doomed to repeat in the 21st century all the disasters and horrors of the 20th: the horrifyingly destructive wars, the dislocation and death of millions, the degradation of the world we live in. Only this time round it may all be much worse, as the population goes up, the planet becomes ever more crowded, oil and other resources vital to our way of life run out, weapons of mass destruction become more and more widely available for use, and deserts and desolation spread. The ancient quest for wisdom has become a matter of desperate urgency. It is hardly too much to say that the future of the world is at stake. But how can such a quest possibly meet with success? Wisdom, surely, is not something that we can learn and teach, as a part of our normal education, in schools and universities? This is my great discovery! Wisdom can be learnt and taught in schools and universities. It must be so learnt and taught. Wisdom is indeed the proper fundamental objective for the whole of the academic enterprise: to help humanity learn how to nurture and create a wiser world. But how do we go about creating a kind of education, research and scholarship that really will help us learn wisdom? Would not any such attempt destroy what is of value in what we have at present, and just produce hot air, hypocrisy, vanity and nonsense? Or worse, dogma and religious fundamentalism? What, in any case, is wisdom? Is not all this just an abstract philosophical fantasy? The answer, as I have already said, lies locked away in what may seem a highly improbably place: science! This will seem especially improbable to many of those most aware of environmental issues, and most suspicious of the role of modern science and technology in modern life. How can science contain the methodological key to wisdom when it is precisely this science that is behind so many of our current troubles? But a crucial point must be noted. Modern scientific and technological research has met with absolutely astonishing, unprecedented success, as long as this success is interpreted narrowly, in terms of the production of expert knowledge and technological know-how. Doubts may be expressed about whether humanity as a whole has made progress towards well being or happiness during the last century or so. But there can be no serious doubt whatsoever that science has made staggering intellectual progress in increasing expert knowledge and know-how, during such a period. It is this astonishing intellectual progress that makes science such a powerful but double-edged tool, for good and for bad. At once the question arises: Can we learn from the incredible intellectual progress of science how to achieve progress in other fields of human endeavour? Is scientific progress exportable, as it were, to other areas of life? More precisely, can the progress-achieving methods of science be generalized so that they become fruitful for other worthwhile, problematic human endeavours, in particular the supremely worthwhile, supremely problematic endeavour of creating a good and wise world? My great idea - that this can indeed be done - is not entirely new (as I was to learn after making my discovery). It goes back to the 18th century Enlightenment. This was indeed the key idea of the Enlightenment, especially the French Enlightenment: to learn from scientific progress how to achieve social progress towards an enlightened world. And the philosophes of the Enlightenment, men such as Voltaire, Diderot and Condorcet, did what they could to put this magnificent, profound idea into practice in their lives. They fought dictatorial power, superstition, and injustice with weapons no more lethal than those of argument and wit. They gave their support to the virtues of tolerance, openness to doubt, readiness to learn from criticism and from experience. Courageously and energetically they laboured to promote reason and enlightenment in personal and social life. Unfortunately, in developing the Enlightenment idea intellectually, the philosophes blundered. They botched the job. They developed the Enlightenment idea in a profoundly defective form, and it is this immensely influential, defective version of the idea, inherited from the 18th century, which may be called the "traditional" Enlightenment, that is built into early 21st century institutions of inquiry. Our current traditions and institutions of learning, when judged from the standpoint of helping us learn how to become more enlightened, are defective and irrational in a wholesale and structural way, and it is this which, in the long term, sabotages our efforts to create a more civilized world, and prevents us from avoiding the kind of horrors we have been exposed to during the last century. The task before us is thus not that of creating a kind of inquiry devoted to improving wisdom out of the blue, as it were, with nothing to guide us except two and a half thousand years of failed philosophical discussion. Rather, the task is the much more straightforward, practical and well-defined one of correcting the structural blunders built into academic inquiry inherited from the Enlightenment. We already have a kind of academic inquiry designed to help us learn wisdom. The problem is that the design is lousy. It is, as I have said, a botched job. It is like a piece of engineering that kills people because of faulty design - a bridge that collapses, or an aeroplane that falls out of the sky. A quite specific task lies before us: to diagnose the blunders we have inherited from the Enlightenment, and put them right. So here, briefly, is the diagnosis. The philosophes of the 18th century assumed, understandably enough, that the proper way to implement the Enlightenment programme was to develop social science alongside natural science. Francis Bacon had already stressed the importance of improving knowledge of the natural world in order to achieve social progress. The philosophes generalized this, holding that it is just as important to improve knowledge of the social world. Thus the philosophes set about creating the social sciences: history, anthropology, political economy, psychology, sociology. This had an immense impact. Throughout the 19th century the diverse social sciences were developed, often by non-academics, in accordance with the Enlightenment idea. Gradually, universities took notice of these developments until, by the mid 20th century, all the diverse branches of the social sciences, as conceived of by the Enlightenment, were built into the institutional structure of universities as recognized academic disciplines. The outcome is what we have today, knowledge-inquiry as we may call it, a kind of inquiry devoted in the first instance to the pursuit of knowledge. But, from the standpoint of creating a kind of inquiry designed to help humanity learn how to become enlightened and civilized, which was the original idea, all this amounts to a series of monumental blunders. In order to implement properly the basic Enlightenment idea of learning from scientific progress how to achieve social progress towards a civilized world, it is essential to get the following three things right. 1. The progress-achieving methods of science need to be correctly identified. 2. These methods need to be correctly generalized so that they become fruitfully applicable to any worthwhile, problematic human endeavour, whatever the aims may be, and not just applicable to the one endeavour of acquiring knowledge. 3. The correctly generalized progress-achieving methods then need to be exploited correctly in the great human endeavour of trying to make social progress towards an enlightened, civilized world. Unfortunately, the philosophes of the Enlightenment got all three points wrong. They failed to capture correctly the progress-achieving methods of natural science; they failed to generalize these methods properly; and, most disastrously of all, they failed to apply them properly so that humanity might learn how to become civilized by rational means. Instead of seeking to apply the progress-achieving methods of science, after having been appropriately generalized, to the task of creating a better world, the philosophes applied scientific method to the task of creating social science. Instead of trying to make social progress towards an enlightened world, they set about making scientific progress in knowledge of social phenomena. That the philosophes made these blunders in the 18th century is forgivable; what is unforgivable is that these blunders still remain unrecognized and uncorrected today, over two centuries later. Instead of correcting the blunders, we have allowed our institutions of learning to be shaped by them as they have developed throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, so that now the blunders are an all-pervasive feature of our world. The Enlightenment, and what it led to, has long been criticized, by the Romantic movement, by what Isaiah Berlin has called 'the counter-Enlightenment', and more recently by the Frankfurt school, by postmodernists and others. But these standard objections are, from my point of view, entirely missing the point. In particular, my idea is the very opposite of all those anti-rationalist, romantic and postmodernist views which object to the way the Enlightenment gives far too great an importance to natural science and to scientific rationality. My discovery is that what is wrong with the traditional Enlightenment, and the kind of academic inquiry we now possess derived from it - knowledge-inquiry - is not too much 'scientific rationality' but, on the contrary, not enough. It is the glaring, wholesale irrationality of contemporary academic inquiry, when judged from the standpoint of helping humanity learn how to become more civilized, that is the problem. But, the cry will go up, wisdom has nothing to do with reason. And reason has nothing to do with wisdom. On the contrary! It is just such an item of conventional 'wisdom' that my great idea turns on its head. Once both reason and wisdom have been rightly understood, and the irrationality of academic inquiry as it exists at present has been appreciated, it becomes obvious that it is precisely reason that we need to put into practice in our personal, social, institutional and global lives if our lives, at all these levels, are to become imbued with a bit more wisdom. We need, in short, a new, more rigorous kind of inquiry which has, as its basic task, to seek and promote wisdom. We may call this new kind of inquiry wisdom-inquiry. But what is wisdom? This is how I define it in From Knowledge to Wisdom, a book published some years ago now, in 1984, in which I set out my 'great idea' in some detail: "[wisdom is] the desire, the active endeavour, and the capacity to discover and achieve what is desirable and of value in life, both for oneself and for others. Wisdom includes knowledge and understanding but goes beyond them in also including: the desire and active striving for what is of value, the ability to see what is of value, actually and potentially, in the circumstances of life, the ability to experience value, the capacity to use and develop knowledge, technology and understanding as needed for the realization of value. Wisdom, like knowledge, can be conceived of, not only personal terms, but also in institutional or social terms. We can thus interpret [wisdom-inquiry] as asserting: the basic task of rational inquiry is to help us develop wiser ways of living, wiser institutions, customs and social relations, a wiser world." (From Knowledge to Wisdom, p. 66.) What, then, are the three blunders of the Enlightenment, still built into the intellectual/institutional structure of academia? First, the philosophes failed to capture correctly the progress-achieving methods of natural science. From D'Alembert in the 18th century to Karl Popper in the 20th, the widely held view, amongst both scientists and philosophers, has been (and continues to be) that science proceeds by assessing theories impartially in the light of evidence, no permanent assumption being accepted by science about the universe independently of evidence. Preference may be given to simple, unified or explanatory theories, but not in such a way that nature herself is, in effect, assumed to be simple, unified or comprehensible. This orthodox view, which I call standard empiricism is, however, untenable. If taken literally, it would instantly bring science to a standstill. For, given any accepted fundamental theory of physics, T, Newtonian theory say, or quantum theory, endlessly many empirically more successful rivals can be concocted which agree with T about observed phenomena but disagree arbitrarily about some unobserved phenomena, and successfully predict phenomena, in an ad hoc way, that T makes false predictions about, or no predictions. Physics would be drowned in an ocean of such empirically more successful rival theories. In practice, these rivals are excluded because they are disastrously disunified. Two considerations govern acceptance of theories in physics: empirical success and unity. In demanding unity, we demand of a fundamental physical theory that it ascribes the same dynamical laws to the phenomena to which the theory applies. But in persistently accepting unified theories, to the extent of rejecting disunified rivals that are just as, or even more, empirically successful, physics makes a big persistent assumption about the universe. The universe is such that all disunified theories are false. It has some kind of unified dynamic structure. It is physically comprehensible in the sense that explanations for phenomena exist to be discovered. But this untestable (and thus metaphysical) assumption that the universe is physically comprehensible is profoundly problematic. Science is obliged to assume, but does not know, that the universe is comprehensible. Much less does it know that the universe is comprehensible in this or that way. A glance at the history of physics reveals that ideas have changed dramatically over time. In the 17th century there was the idea that the universe consists of corpuscles, minute billiard balls, which interact only by contact. This gave way to the idea that the universe consists of point-particles surrounded by rigid, spherically symmetrical fields of force, which in turn gave way to the idea that there is one unified self-interacting field, varying smoothly throughout space and time. Nowadays we have the idea that everything is made up of minute quantum strings embedded in ten or eleven dimensions of space-time. Some kind of assumption along these lines must be made but, given the historical record, and given that any such assumption concerns the ultimate nature of the universe, that of which we are most ignorant, it is only reasonable to conclude that it is almost bound to be false. The way to overcome this fundamental dilemma inherent in the scientific enterprise is to construe physics as making a hierarchy of metaphysical assumptions concerning the comprehensibility and knowability of the universe, these assumptions asserting less and less as one goes up the hierarchy, and thus becoming more and more likely to be true, and more nearly such that their truth is required for science, or the pursuit of knowledge, to be possible at all. In this way a framework of relatively insubstantial, unproblematic, fixed assumptions and associated methods is created within which much more substantial and problematic assumptions and associated methods can be changed, and indeed improved, as scientific knowledge improves. Put another way, a framework of relatively unspecific, unproblematic, fixed aims and methods is created within which much more specific and problematic aims and methods evolve as scientific knowledge evolves. There is positive feedback between improving knowledge, and improving aims-and-methods, improving knowledge-about-how-to-improve-knowledge. This is the nub of scientific rationality, the methodological key to the unprecedented success of science. Science adapts its nature to what it discovers about the nature of the universe. This hierarchical conception of physics, which I call aim-oriented empiricism, can readily be generalized to take into account problematic assumptions associated with the aims of science having to with values, and the social uses or applications of science. It can be generalized so as to apply to the different branches of natural science. Different sciences have different specific aims, and so different specific methods although, throughout natural science there is the common meta-methodology of aim-oriented empiricism. So much for the first blunder of the traditional Enlightenment, and how to put it right. [3] Second, having failed to identify the methods of science correctly, the philosophes naturally failed to generalize these methods properly. They failed to appreciate that the idea of representing the problematic aims (and associated methods) of science in the form of a hierarchy can be generalized and applied fruitfully to other worthwhile enterprises besides science. Many other enterprises have problematic aims - problematic because aims conflict, and because what we seek may be unrealizable, undesirable, or both. Such enterprises, with problematic aims, would benefit from employing a hierarchical methodology, generalized from that of science, thus making it possible to improve aims and methods as the enterprise proceeds. There is the hope that, as a result of exploiting in life methods generalized from those employed with such success in science, some of the astonishing success of science might be exported into other worthwhile human endeavours, with problematic aims quite different from those of science. Third, and most disastrously of all, the philosophes failed completely to try to apply such generalized, hierarchical progress-achieving methods to the immense, and profoundly problematic enterprise of making social progress towards an enlightened, wise world. The aim of such an enterprise is notoriously problematic. For all sorts of reasons, what constitutes a good world, an enlightened, wise or civilized world, attainable and genuinely desirable, must be inherently and permanently problematic. Here, above all, it is essential to employ the generalized version of the hierarchical, progress-achieving methods of science, designed specifically to facilitate progress when basic aims are problematic. It is just this that the philosophes failed to do. Instead of applying the hierarchical methodology to social life, the philosophes sought to apply a seriously defective conception of scientific method to social science, to the task of making progress towards, not a better world, but to better knowledge of social phenomena. And this ancient blunder, developed throughout the 19th century by J.S. Mill, Karl Marx and many others, and built into academia in the early 20th century with the creation of the diverse branches of the social sciences in universities all over the world, is still built into the institutional and intellectual structure of academia today, inherent in the current character of social science. Properly implemented, in short, the Enlightenment idea of learning from scientific progress how to achieve social progress towards an enlightened world would involve developing social inquiry, not primarily as social science, but rather as social methodology, or social philosophy. A basic task would be to get into personal and social life, and into other institutions besides that of science - into government, industry, agriculture, commerce, the media, law, education, international relations - hierarchical, progress-achieving methods (designed to improve problematic aims) arrived at by generalizing the methods of science. A basic task for academic inquiry as a whole would be to help humanity learn how to resolve its conflicts and problems of living in more just, cooperatively rational ways than at present. The fundamental intellectual and humanitarian aim of inquiry would be to help humanity acquire wisdom - wisdom being, as I have already indicated, the capacity to realize (apprehend and create) what is of value in life, for oneself and others. One outcome of getting into social and institutional life the kind of aim-evolving, hierarchical methodology indicated above, generalized from science, is that it becomes possible for us to develop and assess rival philosophies of life as a part of social life, somewhat as theories are developed and assessed within science. Such a hierarchical methodology provides a framework within which competing views about what our aims and methods in life should be - competing religious, political and moral views - may be cooperatively assessed and tested against broadly agreed, unspecific aims (high up in the hierarchy of aims) and the experience of personal and social life. There is the possibility of cooperatively and progressively improving such philosophies of life (views about what is of value in life and how it is to be achieved) much as theories are cooperatively and progressively improved in science. Wisdom-inquiry, because of its greater rigour, has intellectual standards that are, in important respects, different from those of knowledge-inquiry. Whereas knowledge-inquiry demands that emotions and desires, values, human ideals and aspirations, philosophies of life be excluded from the intellectual domain of inquiry, wisdom-inquiry requires that they be included. In order to discover what is of value in life it is essential that we attend to our feelings and desires. But not everything we desire is desirable, and not everything that feels good is good. Feelings, desires and values need to be subjected to critical scrutiny. And of course feelings, desires and values must not be permitted to influence judgements of factual truth and falsity. Wisdom-inquiry embodies a synthesis of traditional Rationalism and Romanticism. It includes elements from both, and it improves on both. It incorporates Romantic ideals of integrity, having to do with motivational and emotional honesty, honesty about desires and aims; and at the same time it incorporates traditional Rationalist ideals of integrity, having to do with respect for objective fact, knowledge, and valid argument. Traditional Rationalism takes its inspiration from science and method; Romanticism takes its inspiration from art, from imagination, and from passion. Wisdom-inquiry holds art to have a fundamental rational role in inquiry, in revealing what is of value, and unmasking false values; but science, too, is of fundamental importance. What we need, for wisdom, is an interplay of sceptical rationality and emotion, an interplay of mind and heart, so that we may develop mindful hearts and heartfelt minds (as I put it in my first book What's Wrong With Science?). It is time we healed the great rift in our culture, so graphically depicted by C. P. Snow. The revolution we require - intellectual, institutional and cultural - if it ever comes about, will be comparable in its long-term impact to that of the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, or the Enlightenment. The outcome will be traditions and institutions of learning rationally designed to help us realize what is of value in life. There are a few scattered signs that this intellectual revolution, from knowledge to wisdom, is already under way. It will need, however, much wider cooperative support - from scientists, scholars, students, research councils, university administrators, vice chancellors, teachers, the media and the general public - if it is to become anything more than what it is at present, a fragmentary and often impotent movement of protest and opposition, often at odds with itself, exercising little influence on the main body of academic work. I can hardly imagine any more important work for anyone associated with academia than, in teaching, learning and research, to help promote this revolution. Notes [1] What's Wrong With Science? (Bran's Head Books, 1976), From Knowledge to Wisdom (Blackwell, 1984; 2nd edition, Pentire Press, 2007), The Comprehensibility of the Universe (Oxford University Press, 1998, paperback 2003), and The Human World in the Physical Universe: Consciousness, Free Will and Evolution (Rowman and Littlefield, 2001), Is Science Neurotic? (Imperial College Press, 2004), Cutting God in Half - And Putting the Pieces Together Again (Pentire Press, 2010). For critical discussion see L. McHenry, ed., Science and the Pursuit of Wisdom: Studies in the Philosophy of Nicholas Maxwell (Ontos Verlag, 2009).

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[2] See, for example, "Science, Reason, Knowledge and Wisdom: A Critique of Specialism", Inquiry 23, 1980, pp. 19-81; "What Kind of Inquiry Can Best Help Us Create a Good World?", Science, Technology and Human Values 17, 1992, pp. 205-227; "What the Task of Creating Civilization has to Learn from the Success of Modern Science: Towards a New Enlightenment", Reflections on Higher Education 4, 1992, pp. 139-157; "Can Humanity Learn to Become Civilized? The Crisis of Science without Civilization", Journal of Applied Philosophy 17, 2000, pp. 29-44; "A new conception of science", Physics World 13, no. 8, 2000, pp. 17-18; "From Knowledge to Wisdom: The Need for an Academic Revolution", London Review of Education, 5, 2007, pp. 97-115, reprinted in. R. Barnett and N. Maxwell, eds., Wisdom in the University (Routledge, 2008, pp. 1-19) "Do We Need a Scientific Revolution?", Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry, vol. 8, no. 3, September 2008, pp. 95-105. All my articles are available online here .

[3] For further details see my The Comprehensibility of the Universe: A New Conception of Science, Oxford University Press, 1998; Is Science Neurotic?, Imperial College Press, 2004; and From Knowledge to Wisdom, especially chs. 5, 9, and 2nd ed., ch. 14. Back to text

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This is an association of people sympathetic to the idea that academic inquiry should help humanity acquire more wisdom by rational means. Wisdom is taken to be the capacity to realize what is of value in life, for oneself and others. It includes knowledge, understanding and technological know-how, and much else besides. Friends of Wisdom try to encourage universities and schools actively to seek and promote wisdom by educational and intellectual means. At present, Friends of Wisdom communicate with one another in the main by email (JISCMAIL).

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Knowledge and Wisdom Summary | Class 12

Knowledge and Wisdom Summary | Class 12

March 19, 2024 March 19, 2024 Admin

In his essay, Russell distinguishes between knowledge and wisdom, emphasizing that knowledge is the acquisition of information, while wisdom is the practical application of knowledge to create value. He laments the lack of a corresponding increase in wisdom despite vast amounts of knowledge. Russell defines wisdom by highlighting factors that contribute to it.

One crucial factor is a sense of proportion, the ability to consider all relevant factors in a problem, which is challenging due to specialization. For instance, while scientists may discover new medicines that reduce infant mortality, they may overlook the potential consequences on population growth and food shortages. Misusing knowledge, such as understanding atomic composition, can lead to catastrophic outcomes like nuclear weapons.

Knowledge, without wisdom, can be harmful. It must align with the broader needs of humanity and be linked to an understanding of life’s purpose. Russell illustrates this with historical examples, like Hegel’s writings leading to war due to beliefs in racial superiority.

Wisdom is essential in personal and public life, helping individuals avoid prejudices and cultivate empathy. It involves freeing oneself from sensory influences and egoism, leading to a broader perspective and love for others. Russell advocates teaching wisdom in education, citing the Good Samaritan parable as a lesson in universal love and understanding.

Ultimately, Russell believes that integrating knowledge and wisdom into education can cultivate global citizenship and prevent the dangers of hatred and narrow-mindedness. Wisdom, he argues, is not just about acquiring information but applying it thoughtfully and ethically for the greater good of society.

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3. Knowledge and Wisdom | by Bertrand Russell | ESSAY | Summary | Que.-Ans. | Compulsory English XII | LITERATURE | NEB 12

summary of the essay knowledge and wisdom

3. Knowledge and Wisdom

by Bertrand Russell

"Knowledge and Wisdom" is an essay written by Bertrand Russell that delves into the distinction between knowledge and wisdom and the significance of embracing both in the pursuit of a meaningful life. Russell begins by stating that knowledge and wisdom are not synonymous, and while knowledge is essential for understanding the world around us, wisdom is critical for applying that knowledge in a thoughtful and compassionate manner.

The essay highlights the potential dangers of knowledge without wisdom, as the accumulation of knowledge alone does not guarantee a better society. Russell argues that knowledge can be misused or employed for destructive purposes if not tempered by wisdom. He cites historical examples of highly educated individuals who have used their knowledge for harmful ends, emphasizing that knowledge alone does not guarantee moral conduct or wisdom.

In contrast, wisdom is described as the ability to make sound judgments, to discern the consequences of actions, and to act with compassion and empathy. Russell identifies wisdom as a product of experience, reflection, and a deep understanding of human nature. He believes that wisdom can be cultivated through self-awareness and a willingness to learn from life's experiences.

Russell emphasizes that the pursuit of knowledge should not be an end in itself but rather a means to the ultimate goal of wisdom. He argues that education should focus not only on imparting information but also on nurturing critical thinking and ethical values. Without the development of wisdom, the knowledge acquired may become a tool for self-centered pursuits rather than a force for the greater good.

The essay also discusses the role of wisdom in guiding social and political decisions. Russell advocates for the inclusion of wise individuals in positions of power and influence, as they are more likely to make choices that benefit society as a whole rather than serving their own interests. He criticizes the prevalence of unwise leaders who prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability and the common good.

Furthermore, Russell warns against the dangers of dogmatism and closed-mindedness, arguing that true wisdom involves remaining open to new ideas and being willing to question and reassess one's beliefs. He emphasizes the importance of humility in the face of the vastness of human knowledge, recognizing that there will always be much that we do not know.

In conclusion, "Knowledge and Wisdom" by Bertrand Russell is an insightful essay that explores the distinction between knowledge and wisdom and underscores the importance of cultivating both for a well-rounded and enlightened life. Russell advocates for the integration of knowledge and wisdom, with wisdom serving as a guiding force to ensure that knowledge is used responsibly and ethically. He urges individuals and societies to value wisdom and to prioritize its cultivation as a means to navigate complex issues and make decisions that promote the common good. Ultimately, the essay serves as a timeless reminder of the significance of combining knowledge and wisdom to lead fulfilling and purposeful lives.

Understanding the text 

Answer the following questions. 

a. What are the factors that contribute to wisdom? 

In the essay "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell explores the elements that lead to wisdom. He identifies five key factors contributing to wisdom: first , a sense of proportion, which involves understanding the relative significance of different aspects of life; second , comprehensiveness with broad feeling, meaning having a wide-ranging perspective and empathetic understanding; third , emancipation from personal prejudices and the tyranny of sensory perception, allowing for unbiased judgment; fourth , impartiality, enabling fair and just decision-making; and fifth , awareness of human needs and understanding, recognizing the complexities of human nature and the importance of compassion. Russell emphasizes that wisdom is essential to guide the application of knowledge for the greater good and highlights the significance of cultivating these attributes to attain true wisdom.

b. What message does the writer try to convey with the examples of technicians? 

In "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell provides examples of technicians to illustrate that technical knowledge, without wisdom, can have harmful consequences for humanity. Technicians possess expertise in specific fields but may lack the understanding of how their knowledge can impact other areas. For instance, the advancement of medicine to reduce infant mortality can inadvertently lead to overpopulation and food shortages. Likewise, the knowledge of atomic theory can be misused to create destructive atomic bombs. Russell emphasizes the importance of wisdom in guiding the application of knowledge to avoid such unintended negative outcomes and highlights the need for a holistic and thoughtful approach in addressing complex issues.

c. Which leaders does Russell say were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly? 

In "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell highlights Queen Elizabeth I, Henry IV of France, and Abraham Lincoln as examples of individuals who effectively combined knowledge and wisdom. These historical figures demonstrated the ability to make sound decisions, unswayed by the prevailing conflicts of their time. Queen Elizabeth I and Henry IV maintained their impartiality and avoided being influenced by the religious strife between Protestants and Catholics in their respective countries. Similarly, Abraham Lincoln displayed wisdom during a tumultuous period by skillfully navigating a great war without compromising on principles of wisdom. Russell uses these examples to emphasize that true wisdom lies in the ability to apply knowledge judiciously, remaining steadfast in the face of challenges and conflicts.

d. Why is the wisdom needed not only in public ways but in private life equally? 

In "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell emphasizes that wisdom is crucial not only in public affairs but also in our private lives. It plays a vital role in determining the goals we pursue and helps us overcome personal biases. Without wisdom, we may struggle to make the right choices for our lives, leading to dissatisfaction and confusion. Additionally, lacking wisdom can hinder our ability to be patient and persuasive in convincing others of our ideas or beliefs. Russell highlights the significance of wisdom in both personal and social contexts, as it shapes our decisions and interactions with the world around us.

e. What, according to Russell, the true aim of education? 

In "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell argues that the ultimate goal of education is to cultivate wisdom in individuals. He believes that wisdom is the key to using knowledge effectively and responsibly in practical life, without causing harm to others. Knowledge alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by wisdom to ensure that it is applied for the betterment of humanity. Russell emphasizes that education should not only focus on imparting knowledge but also on developing wisdom in people, enabling them to make ethical and thoughtful decisions. With wisdom, individuals can become not only knowledgeable citizens but also responsible and compassionate members of society.

f. Can wisdom be taught? If so, how? 

Yes, wisdom can be taught through a combination of intellectual and moral instruction. The focus should be on imparting knowledge while also highlighting the consequences of actions and decisions. By incorporating real-life examples and discussions into the learning process, individuals can understand the potential outcomes of their choices. For instance, when teaching scientific concepts like the composition of an atom, educators can also emphasize the destructive consequences of misusing this knowledge, such as in the creation of atomic weapons. By providing context and promoting critical thinking, learners can develop a sense of responsibility and ethical awareness in their decision-making, ultimately fostering wisdom in their actions and interactions with others.

Reference to the Context 

a. According to Russell, “The Pursuit of Knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.” Justify this statement. 

Humans' innate curiosity drives them to seek knowledge throughout their lives. However, not all knowledge is beneficial; some can be harmful if not combined with wisdom. Wisdom is essential as it addresses the overall needs of humanity. For instance, the knowledge of atomic composition, while useful for certain purposes, can lead to disastrous consequences when used to create bombs. History shows that even great knowledge, like that of Hegel, can be misapplied, leading to harmful beliefs and actions. Therefore, combining knowledge with a sense of humanity is crucial in decision-making and in setting the aim of our lives. Wisdom helps us free ourselves from personal prejudices and ensures noble knowledge is used appropriately. Ultimately, the integration of knowledge and wisdom is essential for the betterment of humanity.

b. What, according to Russell, is the essence of wisdom? And how can one acquire the very essence? 

Wisdom, as per Russell, involves liberating ourselves from the limitations of personal biases and egoism. It enables us to transcend our individual concerns and embrace a broader sense of care and love for humanity as a whole. By breaking free from the tyranny of our senses and understanding the true purpose of human life, we can acquire wisdom. Applying our knowledge wisely for the betterment of others, setting noble and attainable goals, and gradually developing impartiality and love for others are essential aspects of attaining wisdom. It elevates us to a higher level of spirituality, allowing us to make the right decisions and cultivate an unbiased and expansive mindset. Wisdom is the key to becoming more compassionate and understanding beings, leading to the collective benefit of humanity.

Reference Beyond the Text 

a. Why is wisdom necessary in education? Discuss. 

Wisdom plays a crucial role in broadening and unbiased thinking. It goes beyond mere knowledge and imparts a sense of selflessness and compassion towards others. With wisdom, we learn to utilize our knowledge for the betterment of humanity, showing love even towards our enemies and eliminating ego and prejudices. Education is not just about imparting knowledge; it should also aim to cultivate wisdom in individuals to create good citizens.

Teaching wisdom is essential as it prevents the misuse of knowledge. Wisdom does not automatically come to us; it needs to be nurtured and taught. Education must include the goal of instilling wisdom in students, with practical examples to reinforce its importance. When knowledge and wisdom are combined effectively, individuals become more complete and responsible beings.

Wisdom enables individuals to make well-considered decisions, fostering a greater understanding of human needs and the consequences of actions. It liberates us from the shackles of personal biases, allowing for more impartial and compassionate thinking. By promoting wisdom, education helps build a society that values empathy, altruism, and the well-being of all its members.

The integration of wisdom in education can have far-reaching positive effects on the world. When individuals learn to use their knowledge wisely and consider the broader implications of their actions, they contribute to a more harmonious and compassionate society. Teaching wisdom in schools can have a transformative impact on future generations, leading to a more enlightened and empathetic world.

Overall, wisdom is a vital aspect of human development and should be given equal importance alongside the acquisition of knowledge. By instilling wisdom in students, we foster the growth of well-rounded individuals who can make positive contributions to society and lead humanity towards a more compassionate and enlightened future.

b. How can you become wise? Do you think what you are doing in college contributes to wisdom?

According to Bertrand Russell, wisdom is characterized by the absence of hatred, personal prejudice, and partiality. Wisdom requires being impartial and free from ego, which often leads to feelings of hatred. Hatred is detrimental and lacks wisdom. Instead, wisdom fosters a caring and loving attitude towards all human beings, making individuals sensitive, patient, and persuasive in their interactions while avoiding enmity.

To acquire the essence of wisdom, one must break free from personal prejudices and let go of egoistic tendencies. Understanding the true purpose and ends of human life is also essential in cultivating wisdom. Moreover, wisdom involves applying knowledge in a broad and wise manner to maintain harmonious human relationships.

The practice of wisdom leads individuals towards greater compassion and empathy for others. By shedding personal biases and embracing impartiality, wisdom allows people to see beyond their individual interests and act in a way that benefits the greater good. This broader perspective leads to better decision-making, as it considers the well-being of all involved.

Furthermore, wisdom enables individuals to handle various situations with sensitivity and patience, ensuring they can navigate complex issues with a calm and understanding approach. It also enhances the ability to persuade and influence others positively, promoting cooperation and harmony in human interactions.

Studying in college contributes to wisdom by providing a diverse and comprehensive learning experience. College education exposes students to various subjects, perspectives, and ideas, promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Interacting with peers and professors fosters social and emotional intelligence, enhancing empathy and understanding. College challenges individuals to think independently, consider multiple viewpoints, and make informed decisions. Through academic and personal growth, students gain the wisdom to navigate complexities, make responsible choices, and contribute meaningfully to society.

In summary, wisdom is the art of avoiding hatred and personal prejudice while embracing impartiality and compassion. It requires breaking free from egoistic tendencies and understanding the true purpose of human life. With wisdom, individuals can apply their knowledge in a broad and wise manner, fostering harmonious human relationships. By practicing wisdom, people become more caring, patient, and persuasive, leading to a more enlightened and empathetic society.

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Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell: Summary | Questions and Answers | Class 12 English

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Compare and Contrast on Knowledge and Wisdom

Compare and Contrast on Knowledge and Wisdom

In this article, the author discusses the differences between knowledge and wisdom. Although both involve the mind and are difficult to acquire, they are fundamentally different. Knowledgeable people focus on planning and completing tasks, while wise people prioritize using their time effectively and balancing work and pleasure. The key difference between the two is that knowledge is simply information until it is retained in the mind, while wisdom cannot exist without a functioning brain. Ultimately, wise people understand the reasons and significance behind events, while knowledgeable people only know the surface-level details.

Though knowledge and wisdom may seem alike, they are actually very different. They share two commonalities – they involve the mind and are difficult to acquire. Those with knowledge understand that tomatoes are fruits, while those with wisdom know not to include them in fruit salads. While anyone can gain knowledge on any subject, only a few possess the ability to utilize and apply that knowledge effectively. Knowledgeable individuals devote significant time to carefully strategize the timing and duration of events.

After completing the task of planning everything, wise individuals spend the remaining time achieving their listed goals, realizing that everything needs to be completed eventually. They understand the limitations of excessive planning and recognize the importance of utilizing available time to accomplish tasks. Wise individuals acknowledge that planning every single moment is unattainable and an inefficient way to live life.

Wise individuals also understand that not every task can be completed within the designated time and must allocate their time for both work and enjoyment. To sum up, knowledgeable individuals and wise individuals may possess the same level of intellect and intelligence, but there remains a considerable distinction between the two. Knowledgeable individuals frequently possess greater awareness of when and where, while wise individuals hold deeper insights into the reasons, method, and significance behind events.

When it comes to personal tragedy, someone who has knowledge would understand what to say and when. However, a wise person would know what should be said and how, as they already understand the reasons behind it. The primary distinction between wisdom and knowledge is that knowledge is merely information until it is effectively memorized. Without a brain, knowledge remains as mere information. In contrast, wisdom requires a mind as it cannot be learned or memorized. Without a brain, wisdom cannot exist as there is no capacity for understanding.

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summary of the essay knowledge and wisdom

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Knowledge and Wisdom,1954, by Bertrand Russell

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Knowledge and Wisdom Exercise Class 12 English : Questions Answers

Exercise of Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell PDF Class 12

The Essay "Knowledge and Wisdom" Exercise by Bertrand Russell  PDF  class 12 English

a. What are the factors that contribute to wisdom?

In the essay "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell discusses numerous factors that lead to wisdom. Among the characteristics that lead to wisdom, according to him, are: 

(I) a sense of proportion, 

(ii) comprehensiveness with wide emotion, 

(iii) emancipation from personal biases and sensory experience,

(iv) impartiality, and 

(v) knowledge of human needs and understanding.

b. What message does the writer try to convey with the examples of technicians?

Russell has provided several examples of technicians to illustrate the dangers of relying only on technical expertise. They're unable to see how their expertise in one subject may be detrimental in another. As an example, population expansion and food shortages may result from the discovery of a treatment that lowers newborn mortality. Atomic physics may be abused in the same way to create atomic weapons.

c. Which leaders does Russell say were able to mix knowledge and wisdom soundly?

It is said that Henry IV of France and Abraham Lincoln are examples of people who are able to combine knowledge and wisdom successfully, according to Russell. Queen Elizabeth I and Henry IV were undisturbed by the battle between the Protestants and the Catholics, which allowed them to stay free from the faults of their period. Like Abraham Lincoln, who never deviated from the path of wisdom during the Civil War.

d. Why is wisdom needed not only in public ways but in private life equally?

When it comes to wisdom, it may be applied in both public and personal life at the same time. It's essential for making decisions about goals and objectives, as well as for letting go of one's own biases. Without wisdom, we may not be able to choose our life's purpose or have the patience to persuade others about it.

e. What, according to Russell, the true aim of education?

According to Russell, the fundamental goal of education is to instill knowledge in individuals. Wisdom is the ability to apply what we've learned in the classroom to the real world in a way that doesn't hurt others or ourselves. To be decent citizens, individuals need more than just information. They need wisdom, too.

f. Can wisdom be taught? If so, how?

It is possible to teach wisdom according to Russel. Wisdom should be taught with a greater emphasis on logic and reasoning than on morality. In the process of imparting information, people who harbor animosity and narrow-mindedness may unwittingly learn about the devastating consequences of their actions. An atom bomb, for example, can only be made by misusing an atom's composition, thus it's important to educate students about the consequences of its abuse.

g. Why does the world need more wisdom in the future?

If knowledge is not paired with wisdom, most individuals will continue to misuse their information, which has a number of bad consequences. Wisdom is the only thing that makes people intelligently apply the information they've gained. That's why more wise evaluation and outlook is necessary for a brighter future.

Reference to the Context

Answer the following questions.

a. According to Russell, “The Pursuit of Knowledge may become harmful unless it is combined with wisdom.” Justify this statement.

People are interested and want to learn new things, thus the answer is yes. Most individuals have dedicated their whole life to learning. Humans may benefit from certain knowledge, but we can also be harmed by other types of information as well. We may benefit from wisdom and knowledge since it meets the needs of all people.

Making weapons with the understanding of atomic composition has made it dangerous to humankind. Hegal, despite his vast knowledge of history, convinced the Germans that they were the superior race. There were terrible conflicts as a result of it. Knowledge must be paired with a sense of compassion. To determine our life's purpose, we need a defining moment. It liberates us from our own preconceived notions about other people. In the absence of discernment, even great things might be employed in imprudent ways.

b. What, according to Russell, is the essence of wisdom? And how can one acquire the very essence?

According to Russell, Wisdom is freedom from the tyranny of bias. There is less focus on our physical health when we don't think about it. Wisdom is what elevates us to a greater level of spirituality by causing us to care and love the whole human race. To make the appropriate judgment, we need to have a wide perspective and an open mind. Understanding the end of human existence, properly using our knowledge, establishing noble and achievable objectives, managing our sensory perceptions, progressively becoming impartial and loving others are all ways in which we might gain the essence.

Reference Beyond the Text

a. Why is wisdom necessary in education? Discuss.

Wisdom allows us to see the world in a more expansive and objective way. The intimacy of our thoughts and emotions diminishes as we get older. So that we may properly use what we've learned. It enables us to put our knowledge to good use for the greater good of humanity. In the presence of knowledge, we are able to love even our adversaries, to entirely shed our ego and to be free of every bias. Education/knowledge is a component in a person's life, but so is wisdom. In order to achieve perfection, one must be able to handle both of these aspects. In addition to teaching information, education aims to cultivate decent people. People who lack wisdom, which does not come to them naturally but must be taught, may abuse the newfound information they've gathered. As an educational aim, it should be taught in schools. When it's first planted, it has to be nurtured by real-world examples.

b. How can you become wise? Do you think what you are doing in college contributes to wisdom?

Wisdom is a tough notion to describe, but we can all identify it when we see it in action. Wise people are self-aware, open to new ideas, and cognizant of the fact that the world around them is continuously changing. I think college only partially contributes to wisdom.

Wisdom takes time to acquire. The only way to grow wisely is to be patient and to work hard at it. Wise thinking is linked to a better quality of life, less negative emotions, better relationships, and less depressed thinking. Despite how smart a person is, he will make mistakes. When you do something wrong, you learn from it. Keep in mind that making mistakes is an important part of learning and growing, so don't worry about it. Positive thinking is also an important step on the way to becoming wise. What ever happens in your life, keep your spirits up, have faith in yourself, and keep going even if things don't go your way. A wise person doesn't worry about anything. The problem can be solved calmly. This is how I think we can be wise.

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An In-Depth Summary of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451

This essay about Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” provides an in-depth summary of the novel, highlighting its themes of censorship, conformity, and the power of knowledge. It focuses on the transformation of the protagonist, Guy Montag, from a fireman who burns books to a defender of intellectual freedom. Influenced by his encounters with Clarisse McClellan, a young neighbor, and Faber, a former professor, Montag begins to question his society’s norms. The essay details his rebellious actions, his confrontation with Captain Beatty, and his eventual escape to join a group of intellectuals. The novel’s conclusion emphasizes hope and the importance of preserving knowledge in the face of oppression.

How it works

Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” is a seminal work of dystopian fiction that explores themes of censorship, conformity, and the power of knowledge. Published in 1953, the novel is set in a future society where books are banned, and “firemen” burn any that are found. The title refers to the temperature at which book paper supposedly catches fire and burns.

The story centers on Guy Montag, a fireman who lives in a world where the government strictly controls information and suppresses intellectual freedom.

Montag’s job is to burn books, a task he performs without question until he encounters a series of individuals who ignite his curiosity and doubt about his society’s values. His transformation begins when he meets Clarisse McClellan, a young, free-spirited neighbor who opens his eyes to the beauty of the world and the joy of thinking for oneself. Clarisse’s unconventional views and inquisitive nature starkly contrast with the oppressive norms of the society, making Montag start to question his role as a fireman and the purpose of his existence.

Montag’s awakening continues as he witnesses a woman choosing to die with her books rather than live without them. This incident profoundly affects him, revealing the deep, personal connection people can have with literature. He begins to steal and read books, hiding them in his home and seeking understanding from the very objects he once destroyed. Montag’s internal conflict and growing disillusionment with society lead him to seek guidance from Faber, a former English professor who still cherishes books despite the risks.

Faber becomes Montag’s mentor, helping him understand the importance of literature and critical thinking. Together, they devise a plan to undermine the oppressive system by planting books in the homes of firemen to discredit the profession and incite doubt. However, their plan is fraught with danger, and Montag’s rebellious actions soon draw the attention of the authorities.

Captain Beatty, Montag’s fire chief, is a complex antagonist who understands the power of books but justifies their destruction as a means of maintaining social order. Beatty’s confrontations with Montag illustrate the tension between knowledge and ignorance, freedom and control. In a climactic confrontation, Montag is forced to kill Beatty to protect himself, marking a point of no return in his rebellion against the societal norms.

As Montag becomes a fugitive, the novel delves into his flight from the city and his search for a community of like-minded individuals. He encounters a group of intellectuals led by Granger, who preserve books by memorizing them, each person becoming a living repository of literature. This group represents hope for the future, embodying the resilience of human knowledge and culture despite oppressive regimes.

The novel ends on an ambiguous yet hopeful note, as the city is destroyed in a war, and Montag and his new companions prepare to rebuild society. They aim to create a world where knowledge is cherished and preserved, highlighting Bradbury’s message about the enduring importance of intellectual freedom and the dangers of censorship.

“Fahrenheit 451” remains relevant today, as it addresses timeless issues about the role of media, the impact of technology on human relationships, and the importance of independent thought. Bradbury’s portrayal of a society numbed by superficial entertainment and deprived of critical thinking serves as a cautionary tale about the potential consequences of allowing governmental overreach and societal complacency to erode personal freedoms.

The novel’s themes encourage readers to reflect on the value of literature and the need to defend intellectual freedom against all forms of censorship. Montag’s journey from a conformist fireman to a defender of knowledge underscores the transformative power of books and the written word. “Fahrenheit 451” challenges us to consider the significance of our own actions in preserving or undermining the freedoms we often take for granted. Through its compelling narrative and profound themes, Bradbury’s work continues to inspire and provoke thought about the kind of world we want to live in and the importance of protecting the free exchange of ideas.

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Trump Had Good Fortune So Far With His Four Cases. Then Came a Verdict.

Until the jury’s decision on Thursday, the four criminal cases that threatened Donald Trump’s freedom were stumbling along, pleasing his advisers.

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Donald Trump stands facing the camera, court officers in the distance behind him.

By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan

  • May 30, 2024

Donald J. Trump’s run of luck in his criminal cases has expired.

Before the conviction on Thursday in Manhattan, the former president had drawn what some of his closest advisers regarded as a defense lawyer’s equivalent of an inside straight: something close to perfection. Mr. Trump had lost civil cases with costly damages , but the four criminal cases that threatened his freedom were stumbling along so badly that his advisers were often incredulous at his good fortune.

In the Florida case in which he was charged with obstruction of justice and unlawfully holding onto classified documents, a Trump-nominated judge had spent so much time puzzling over minor issues that the trial would almost certainly be delayed beyond the presidential election in November.

In the Georgia case, the prosecutor who had charged Mr. Trump as part of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election was caught in a romantic affair with the man she had hired to help her prosecute Mr. Trump.

And with the federal charges over his efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, the Supreme Court has significantly narrowed the chances of a trial before the election, having taken up the presidential immunity arguments put forth by Mr. Trump’s lawyers.

His streak ended minutes after 5 p.m. on Thursday, as 12 jurors found Mr. Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that could have imperiled his 2016 presidential campaign.

As the verdict was announced by the jury foreman, there was almost no reaction from Mr. Trump’s two rows of friends, family and aides. Mr. Trump sat slack and glum at the defense table. On the bench behind him, his son Eric shook his head from side to side. The courtroom was silent as the foreman repeatedly announced, “Guilty. Guilty.”

summary of the essay knowledge and wisdom

The Trump Manhattan Criminal Verdict, Count By Count

Former President Donald J. Trump faced 34 felony charges of falsifying business records, related to the reimbursement of hush money paid to the porn star Stormy Daniels in order to cover up a sex scandal around the 2016 presidential election.

When Mr. Trump got up to leave court, his face looked as if he’d been punched in the solar plexus. As he entered the aisle of the courtroom, he reached for Eric Trump’s hand and they clasped their hands together. The former president left with an entourage that included his longtime friend, the real-estate investor Steve Witkoff. “He is my dear friend,” Mr. Witkoff said later. “I stand with him.”

Mr. Trump exited the courthouse in his motorcade, smiling out the window at his fans as he typically does. But days of predictions from his allies that the case would end in a hung jury or even in an acquittal did not come to pass.

Such an outcome seemed almost unthinkable to the Trump team as recently as last summer, according to several people with knowledge of the discussions.

Back then, the conventional wisdom among Mr. Trump’s lawyers was that the Manhattan case would never see daylight. Mr. Trump’s lawyers spent relatively little time thinking about it. Instead they focused on the cases they viewed as far more serious and perilous: in particular, the two federal cases brought by the special counsel Jack Smith.

The Trump team liked its chances in the Florida documents case, with a perceived friendly judge and a friendly jury pool, the people with knowledge of the discussions said. But the team was pessimistic about the Washington trial, in which Mr. Trump would face charges of scheming to hold onto power through lies and intimidation. There, they met a judge, Tanya Chutkan, who seemed to them as hostile as the city’s residents, who overwhelmingly vote Democratic and had a close-up perspective on the violence that was committed on the former president’s behalf at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Mr. Trump’s lawyers thought that the Washington trial would surely be held before the election, and they didn’t like their chances.

Then, their delay tactics — and moves made by Mr. Smith’s team — meant that the two federal cases were stalled. And the Manhattan trial was suddenly the first one on deck.

Some close to Mr. Trump noted an irony: Inside the Manhattan district attorney’s office, the hush money case was nicknamed the “zombie case.” It kept being killed off and then resurrected, according to Mark Pomerantz, who had worked in the office but resigned in early 2022 after the new district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, declined to immediately proceed with prosecuting Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg was skeptical of relying on the testimony of Michael D. Cohen, who had pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, and people close to Mr. Trump assumed that Mr. Bragg was being pressured into a prosecution that he never truly believed in.

But here the case was — back on the calendar, set for an April trial, just three months before the Republican National Convention. And the former president and New York native was forced to face a jury in a city that widely despises him. He will now be sentenced on July 11, just a few days before the start of the convention where he is set to be nominated for a third time.

In private conversations with his advisers in recent days and weeks, Mr. Trump, who was found liable by two civil juries in the last year and a half in Manhattan, had often seemed resigned to the notion that he would be convicted in this case. He has insisted privately that the verdict can play to his political advantage, just as the indictments energized and consolidated his support in the Republican primaries.

He has telegraphed for almost a year now his playbook for managing the fallout.

Mr. Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill and in conservative media assiduously prepared their audiences to be outraged, whatever the outcome. There was no need for talking points to be distributed. Everyone knew what to think and what to say. Minutes after the verdict, Mr. Trump’s allies said roughly the same thing in simultaneous posts on social media: This was a threat to the U.S. system of justice.

His allies whom he endorsed were asked by his team to post on social media in support of him. And one of his top advisers warned on the X platform that a Republican candidate for Senate had “ended” his campaign after having urged people to respect the verdict.

Mr. Trump has asserted, relentlessly and without evidence, that the Manhattan charges are part of a sweeping conspiracy against him, orchestrated by President Biden and unnamed henchmen around him. His allies, chief among them his former strategist Stephen K. Bannon, have already called for congressional Republicans to issue subpoenas to anybody involved in any of the prosecutions of Mr. Trump.

For over a year, Mr. Trump’s political campaign and legal woes have been completely entwined.

Yet while his indictments empirically helped him in Republican primaries — boosting his standing in the polls and turbocharging his online fund-raising — it’s less clear what effect a conviction might have for the broader electorate to whom Mr. Trump must appeal to win in November.

The public’s views of Mr. Trump have long been remarkably stable. Mr. Trump currently holds a lead over Mr. Biden in five of the six closest swing states, according to the latest New York Times/Siena College polls of the states likely to decide the presidential election. Most swing-state voters said that they were not paying much attention to the trial, but Mr. Trump has an opening among undecided voters, who were about evenly divided on whether he could get a fair and impartial trial.

Working in Mr. Trump’s favor is the fact that, of the four criminal cases Mr. Trump is facing, voters across the country consider the hush money charges to be the least serious . In a national poll taken a month into the trial, Quinnipiac University asked voters if Mr. Trump’s conviction in the Manhattan hush money case would influence their vote. Just 6 percent of his supporters said that a conviction would make them less likely to vote for him. While the share is small nationally, such voters could be decisive in closely fought states.

“Voters have short memories and even shorter attention spans,” Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, said. Just as the former president’s two impeachments have faded from memory, he said, “a guilty verdict in the hush money trial may be overshadowed by the first presidential debate.”

“There’s nothing that has come out in this trial that has been a shocker or a surprise to throw this back into the court of public opinion,” Mr. Newhouse added.

It’s almost a certainty that the conviction will intensify what is already a burning Republican anger across the country. In a Fox News poll taken during the trial, the vast majority of Mr. Trump’s supporters said that he was not being treated fairly by the legal system, and half said he had done nothing wrong regarding the payments.

“So many Republican voters — even those who were maybe lukewarm on Trump — have been angry in a way I’ve never seen our base — more angry than after the 2020 election, more angry than after any impeachment trial,” Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, said.

“There’s a sense of personal resentment,” added the senator, who is on a shortlist to be Mr. Trump’s running mate. “Here is this symbol of American law and order — the courtroom — weaponized against the only candidate who ever gave a damn about them.”

Nobody is working harder to stoke that MAGA fury than Mr. Trump.

On Wednesday, the day after the actor Robert De Niro joined Biden campaign staff for a news conference outside the Lower Manhattan courthouse, Mr. Trump regaled reporters about how Trump supporters had shouted down Mr. De Niro.

“He got MAGA’d. He got MAGA’d yesterday,” Mr. Trump said in the hallway outside the courtroom. “He got a big dose of it.”

Ruth Igielnik contributed reporting.

Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman

Jonathan Swan is a political reporter covering the 2024 presidential election and Donald Trump’s campaign. More about Jonathan Swan

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

Guilty Verdict : Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts  of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his bid for the White House in 2016, making him the first American president to be declared a felon .

Next Steps: The judge in the case set Trump’s sentencing for July 11, and Trump already indicated that he plans to appeal. Here’s what else may happen .

Reactions: Trump’s conviction reverberated quickly across the country and over the world . Here’s what Trump , voters , New Yorkers , Republicans  and the White House  had to say.

The Presidential Race : The verdict will test America’s traditions, legal institutions and ability to hold an election under historic partisan tension , reshuffling a race that has been locked in stasis and defined by a polarizing former president.

Making the Case: Over six weeks and the testimony of 20 witnesses, the Manhattan district attorney’s office wove a sprawling story  of election interference and falsified business records.

Legal Luck Runs Out: The four criminal cases that threatened Trump’s freedom had been stumbling along, pleasing his advisers. Then his good fortune expired .

Connecting the Dots: As rumors circulated of Trump’s reported infidelity, two accounts of women  being paid to stay silent about their encounters became central to his indictment.

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  1. Knowledge and Wisdom Summary: Class 12 English

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  2. Knowledge And Wisdom By Bertrand Russell Summary

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  3. 3.3 Knowledge and Wisdom -by Bertrand Russell/ Essay/ Summary/ Questions and Answers/ NEB/ Class 12

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  4. Write Essay on Knowledge and Wisdom Summary

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  5. Summary of Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell

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  1. Summary of Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell

    Summary of the Essay Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell Class 12 English. About the Author: Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his championing of ...

  2. Summary of 'Knowledge and Wisdom' by Bertrand Russell

    Main Summary [Brief] In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value.

  3. Summary of Russell's Essay, Knowledge and Wisdom

    Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to Russell, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom is gained through learning and practical experience, not just memorization. A sense of proportion is very much ...

  4. Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell [Summary, analysis ...

    Knowledge and Wisdom Bertrand Russell [Summary, analysis, Main Ideas] In the essay, Russell lists many methods for obtaining wisdom and bemoans the fact that, despite tremendous information, there has been no equivalent rise in wisdom. Bertrand Russell discusses several factors that contribute to wisdom in his essay "Knowledge and Wisdom."

  5. Summary of Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell

    Summary . In the essay, Russel distinguishes knowledge from wisdom. Knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, whereas wisdom as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. Wisdom is achieved through learning and practical experience.

  6. PDF Knowledge and Wisdom

    It is by no means uncommon to find men whose knowledge is wide but whose feelings are narrow. Such men lack what I call wisdom. It is not only in public ways, but in private life equally, that wisdom is needed. It is needed in the choice of ends to be pursued and in emancipation from personal prejudice. Even an end which it would be noble to ...

  7. Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell

    He discusses the role of knowledge and wisdom in society and the dangers of knowledge without wisdom. The essay reflects the intellectual climate of the early 20th century, but its themes and insights remain relevant today. Theme The main theme of the essay is the distinction between knowledge and wisdom. Russell argues that knowledge is about ...

  8. Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell: Summary and Theme/Class 12

    The current age is knowledge age but we need to teach value of wisdom to make people wise. Knowledge is increasing but not wisdom. Study, experience and research help to gain knowledge. But wisdom teaches us to do better for humanity. Knowledge functions as an engine and wisdom as driver. Action is related with knowledge.

  9. Knowledge and Wisdom Summary & Exercise [English-12]

    Russell makes a distinction between wisdom and knowledge in this essay. Wisdom and knowledge are two distinct concepts. He claims that whereas wisdom is defined as the actual application and use of knowledge to produce value, knowledge is defined as the accumulation of data and information. Wisdom comes from knowledge and experience, not simply ...

  10. Knowledge and Wisdom (Essay) Summary

    Summary. The essay 'Knowledge and Wisdom' is written by a British essayist Bertrand Arthur William Russell. In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information whereas wisdom is defined as the ...

  11. Knowledge and Wisdom Exercise : Summary and Question Answers

    Summary Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to Russell, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value. ... The essay 'Knowledge and Wisdom' written by Bertrand Russell talks about the need to integrate knowledge ...

  12. Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell (Themes, Summary ...

    In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of the knowledge to create value.

  13. Summary of 'Knowledge and Wisdom' by Bertrand Russell

    Main Summary [Brief] In this essay, Russell differentiates between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different things. According to him, knowledge is defined as the acquisition of data and information, while wisdom is defined as the practical application and use of knowledge to create value.

  14. Knowledge and Wisdom || NEB ENGLISH Grade 12(XII)

    Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge by being impartial, and calculating both the good and bad sides and wisdom starts with knowledge which is gained through education. Therefore, when still the brain is innocent, unaffected by the outside negative impressions, knowledge should be accompanied by wisdom.

  15. The Key to Wisdom

    Wisdom, like knowledge, can be conceived of, not only personal terms, but also in institutional or social terms. We can thus interpret [wisdom-inquiry] as asserting: the basic task of rational inquiry is to help us develop wiser ways of living, wiser institutions, customs and social relations, a wiser world." (From Knowledge to Wisdom, p. 66.)

  16. Knowledge and Wisdom Summary

    Knowledge and Wisdom Summary | Class 12. March 19, 2024 March 19, ... In his essay, Russell distinguishes between knowledge and wisdom, emphasizing that knowledge is the acquisition of information, while wisdom is the practical application of knowledge to create value. He laments the lack of a corresponding increase in wisdom despite vast ...

  17. 3. Knowledge and Wisdom

    Summary "Knowledge and Wisdom" is an essay written by Bertrand Russell that delves into the distinction between knowledge and wisdom and the significance of embracing both in the pursuit of a meaningful life. Russell begins by stating that knowledge and wisdom are not synonymous, and while knowledge is essential for understanding the world ...

  18. Knowledge And Wisdom Summary Essay Sample (300 Words)

    Download. Knowledge - and wisdom. Sometimes we have all we need of one, but not enough of the other. And often, too often, we don't know the difference. Often, too often, we mistake knowledge, the accumulation of facts, for wisdom, the ability to make the right choices in life. To succeed as individuals, and as a nation, we need to know how to ...

  19. Knowledge and Wisdom by Bertrand Russell: Summary

    The essay 'Knowledge and Wisdom' was written by Bertrand Russell, a British writer. In this essay, the writer distinguishes between knowledge and wisdom. He critiques the global explosion of knowledge but emphasises that knowledge and wisdom are not synonymous. He states that knowledge involves acquiring data, while wisdom involves practical ...

  20. The Meaning and Dimensions of Wisdom

    Wisdom is discernible in individuals' problem-solving approaches, interpersonal interactions, and aspirational living characterized by purpose and rectitude. It is a dynamic and evolving attribute, continually shaped by experiences, introspection, and a dedication to personal evolution. In contemporary society, the pursuit of wisdom retains ...

  21. ⇉Compare and Contrast on Knowledge and Wisdom Essay Example

    Compare and Contrast on Knowledge and Wisdom. Though knowledge and wisdom may seem alike, they are actually very different. They share two commonalities - they involve the mind and are difficult to acquire. Those with knowledge understand that tomatoes are fruits, while those with wisdom know not to include them in fruit salads.

  22. Knowledge and Wisdom, by Bertrand Russell

    Knowledge and Wisdom,1954, by Bertrand Russell. 要旨邦訳. Bertrand Russell Quotes 366. Most people would agree that, although our age far surpasses all previous ages in knowledge, there has been no correlative increase in wisdom. But agreement ceases as soon as we attempt to define `wisdom' and consider means of promoting it.

  23. Knowledge and Wisdom Exercise Class 12 English

    The Essay "Knowledge and Wisdom" Exercise by Bertrand Russell PDF class 12 English. Exercise. a. What are the factors that contribute to wisdom? In the essay "Knowledge and Wisdom," Bertrand Russell discusses numerous factors that lead to wisdom. Among the characteristics that lead to wisdom, according to him, are: (I) a sense of proportion,

  24. An In-Depth Summary of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

    Essay Example: Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" is a seminal work of dystopian fiction that explores themes of censorship, conformity, and the power of knowledge. Published in 1953, the novel is set in a future society where books are banned, and "firemen" burn any that are found. The title refers

  25. Trump's Luck in 4 Criminal Trials Ends With Hush-Money Verdict

    May 30, 2024. Donald J. Trump's run of luck in his criminal cases has expired. Before the conviction on Thursday in Manhattan, the former president had drawn what some of his closest advisers ...

  26. Sustainability

    Combining the Intangible Cultural Heritage and sustainable development has been an important effort of UNESCO since the new century. This study discusses the suitability of educational tourism development of intangible cultural heritage. On the one hand, it was beneficial to improve the comprehensive quality of students; on the other hand, it was conducive to protecting and rationally ...