The Vitality of Stupidity

Abstract

It is argued that the focus within organization studies on wisdom is one‐sided in the sense that it ignores stupidity, wisdom’s little stepbrother. Too often it is simply taken for granted that an increase in wisdom will lead to a decrease in stupidity. The problem with this assumption is that it is philosophically uninformed. Stupidity and wisdom stand in a deeply paradoxical relationship, which has been studied by philosophers at least since the Stoics. Some recent contributions to this endless debate will be highlighted in this paper. However, the overall aim of the paper is to show that organizations too are familiar with these philosophical paradoxes.

Keywords:

• Idiocy
• Stupidity
• Wisdom
• Work

Additional information

Notes on contributors

René ten Bos

René ten Bos is professor of philosophy and organizational theory at Radboud University, The Netherlands. He is the author of 13 or so books and more than 100 articles which merely suggest a wisdom where there is not. Currently, he is writing a book on animals and the various ways human beings organize, domesticate and copy them. A central thought in this book is that animals cannot be stupid.