Sophia and Phronesis in Psychology, Philosophy, and Traditional Wisdom

Abstract

This issue of Research in Human Development was inspired by a previous issue in which the authors proposed a definition of wisdom that integrated sophia (transcendent wisdom) and phronesis (practical wisdom). This introduction briefly reviews the history of wisdom in the Near East and West, and wisdom's appearance in modern psychology, particularly in regard to the emphases on transcendent and practical wisdom. The articles in this issue are introduced, and the implications of a fuller understanding of transcendent wisdom for developing wisdom, and for wisdom research, are emphasized.