Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction: A Hierarchical Framework for Understanding Wisdom -- Part I: The Sources of Wisdom -- 1. The Sources of Wisdom -- 2. Profundity with Panache: The Unappreciated Proverbial Wisdom of Sub-Saharan Africa -- 3. "A House Divided": From Biblical Proverb to Lincoln and Beyond -- 4. Israel's Wisdom Literature and the Intrinsic Integrity of Creation -- 5. Wisdom on Death and Suffering -- 6. It Takes Wisdom to Use Wisdom Wisely -- Part II: The Science of Wisdom -- 7.Wisdom Traditions as Mechanisms for Organismal Integration: Evolutionary Perspectives on Homeostatic "Laws of Life" -- 8. Wisdom and Human Neurocognitive Systems: Perceiving and Practicing the Laws of Life -- 9. A Neurolinguistic Perspectiveon Proverbs and the Laws of Life -- 10. On the Emergence of Wisdom: Expertise Development -- 11. The Science of Art: How the Brain Responds to Beauty -- 12. A Scientific Study of Wisdom (Or Its Contributing Parts) -- Part III: The Learning of Wisdom -- 13. Wise Emotions -- 14. Setting the Stage for the Development of Wisdom: Self-understanding and Moral Identity During Adolescence -- 15. Lessons Learned: The Role of Religion in the Development of Wisdom in Adolescence -- 16. Maxims to Live By: The Art and Scienceof Teaching Wise Sayings -- 17. Seeing Wisely-Learning to Become Wise -- Contributors -- Name and Subject Index -- Scripture Index.

The study of wisdom is challenging and thought provoking. This volume sheds light on the age-old question: What is wisdom and where does it come from? Evidence of wisdom can be seen in both perception and performance, in sacred scriptures and in brain images. An eminent group of scholars from fields as diverse as theology, philosophy, medicine, biology, psychology, and linguistics were brought together to bring focus to this understudied area of scientific research. Editor Warren Brown presents his research on brain functioning, drawn from observing individuals with damage to specific neural areas, to suggest the importance of integration between hemispheres of the brain to comprehend complex situations in a way that may be termed "wise." Diana Van Lancker also looks at hemispheres of the brain and explores studies that show that left brain functioning is related to prayers, chants, and sayings often used in religious practice. Wolfgang Mieder, recognized as the foremost scholar in the study of proverbs, explores the secular use of the biblical proverb of "A house divided against itself cannot stand" (Matt. 12:25). R. E. Clements also looks to the book of Proverbs and focuses on its ultimate goal: virtue and wholeness.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.