THERE'S NOT ENOUGH WISDOM.

Philosophia, ( Philosophy) was in the original Latin term, defined as the love of wisdom.  Today there are many more threads, (more than can be named here) in areas, such as the philosophy of politics, philosophies of various sciences and as an academic discipline, the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, of reality and existence; this last one is huge and I question whether a definition of it, or for it, can be fixed.  By their own place within existence,  the various wisdoms must surely wax and wane, change their nature and be constantly redefined.

 In Malmesbury this year a festival of Philosophy was held.  It has been suggested that there is a lack of wisdom today, that there should be a drive to raise the profile of philosophical study amongst people. Perhaps a festival is one method of doing it.  When reporters obtained popular local thought on the general topic, a few people admitted to not knowing what philosophy is, a larger number made a stab at an answer, some expressed disinterest.  Those making an attempt to define their understanding of the subject gave varied answers, and under the huge umbrella of all the philosophies, none, it seemed to me, could have been wrong.

So, where does that leave us when trying to determine how much wisdom there truly is around us today?  Who is to determine whether there is a lack of wisdom, or to measure how much wisdom there is. What acceptable measures could be used?  It appears to me, the very nature of philosophy, esoteric as it can be, is tied up with subjectivity, and determining measures to measure wisdom is unlikely to be entirely successful, (if at all) because the discussion would in all likelihood be embroiled in endless philosophical debate.

YAY OR NAY, THAT IS PART OF THE QUESTION

According to a community newsletter, a retired man of the cloth is offering enlightenment with aspects of philosophical thinking. As I was wheeling my trolley around the grocery store, I was silently debating about whether to come out of the closet of greyness and participate. Turning into a new aisle, I bumped into the man himself.

"Oh", says I, "I was just thinking about you".

Retired man's bushy eyebrows rose in a mix of surprise and I thought I detected a glimmer of alarm. After all, we did not know each other from any regular community contact or distant friendship. I sensed a quick explanation was called for.

I said quickly, "I read you were interested in developing a philosophy group"

He visibly relaxed and with a drawn out "Ye-e-s" he explained he was thinking about throwing a quote into the arena, which he thought might be more at the level of ethics than pure philosophy. At the height of the recent riots in London (UK), he explained, someone described the rioters and looters as 'feral rats'

Exhaling with a long "So-o-oh",the ex-man of the cloth said, "if we examine the meaning of feral, as it relates to animals, do we get into the nature or nurture argument"?

I'm still thinking.... have you any thoughts