Finding Wisdom Within—The Role of Seeing and Reflective Practice in Developing Moral Imagination, Aesthetic Sensibility, and Systems Understanding

Sandra Waddock

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Finding Wisdom Within—The Role of Seeing and Reflective Practice in Developing Moral Imagination, Aesthetic Sensibility, and Systems Understanding

Sandra Waddock

Boston College, USA

Volume 7: 2010, pp. 177-196: ABSTRACT

This paper explored the linkages among moral imagination, systems understanding, and aesthetic sensibility as related to the emergence (eventually) of wisdom. I develop a conceptual framework that links these capacities to wisdom through the capacity to "see" moral and ethical issues, which I argue is related to "the good", to see a realistic understanding of systems in which the observer is embedded, or "the true", and to appreciate the aesthetic qualities associated with a system or situation, or "the beautiful". The relationship between the good, the true, and the beautiful is used to argue that all three types of seeing are building blocks for achievement of wisdom. The paper then briefly explores some of the ways that these capacities can potentially be incorporated into the classroom.