Interpret: wisdom and emancipation (Russell)

Bertrand Russell argues that wisdom is needed in private life as much as in public affairs, and that it is chiefly freedom from the narrow, self-centred view that sees only the present moment and one's own interests.

Explanation

• Wisdom in private life. People need wisdom not only in politics and world affairs but in daily personal matters, such as dealing with family, friends and their own feelings.
• Tyranny of the here and the now. Most people are naturally ruled by what is immediate and near: their own pain, desires and passing moods. Russell calls this a tyranny. Wisdom is emancipation, or release, from it.
• Impartiality. The wise person tries to see things as they are, not only as they affect himself. He takes a wider view of time, place and people, and does not let personal feeling distort his judgement.
• Growth in wisdom. A child at first thinks only of himself. As he grows, his thoughts and feelings take in more people and a wider world, so that his own troubles seem small in a larger picture. This gradual approach towards impartiality is growth in wisdom.
• Can it be taught? Russell answers yes to both questions: wisdom, understood in this sense, can be taught, and teaching it should be one of the aims of education.

Message

True wisdom means a broad, impartial outlook that frees us from selfish and short-sighted thinking, and education should aim to develop it.