A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Practising Wisdom: Wisdom Is Realised in Practice, in History; 
Authors: Kemmis, Stephen; Huttunen, Rauno; Mahon, Kathleen; Heikkinen, Hannu L. T.
Editors: Billett, Stephen; Heikkinen, Hannu L. T.; Tynjälä, Päivi; Virolainen, Maarit
Edition: 1
Publication year: 2026
Book title : Wisdom in Practice : Conceptions, Perspectives and Development
Series title: Professional and Practice-based Learning
Number in series: 38
First page : 75
Last page: 97
ISBN: 978-981-92-0729-9
eISBN: 978-981-92-0730-5
ISSN: 2210-5549
eISSN: 2210-5557
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-92-0730-5_4
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-92-0730-5_4
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/533826485
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
This chapter complements Chap. 3 in this volume. The question of wisdom in practice is addressed here from a perspective that is different from, and complementary to, the philosophical and psychological perspectives introduced in the previous chapter. The basic assumption of this chapter is that wisdom manifests itself—or fails to manifest itself—in everyday practices. In this chapter, practices are addressed from a social perspective—in particular, from the perspective of the theory of practice architectures, a particular version of practice theory. Rooted in the philosophical legacy of Aristotle and Hegel, a Marxian view of praxis as ‘sensuous human activity’ and ‘history-making action’ is outlined. Next, a contemporary view of practice is introduced as learned, situated, embodied human social action in history. It is argued that practising-in-history is the medium in which people discover how things turn out, and in which they discover whether those consequences might be judged ‘wise’. Next, it is argued that wise action comes from listening (attending to different sources), noticing, reflecting, deliberating, discerning, and prioritising, which are not only mental processes but also practices, as we have defined them. People can learn to do these things better, and when they do so they transform themselves and their worlds. It is then argued that the double purpose of education (learning to live well in worlds worth living in) aligns with developing isdom. Finally, to conclude, some suggestions are made about educating people for wisdom in practice.
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