Why do we need practical wisdom? A Chinese lesson in the process of globalisation

Abstract

The term ‘shijianzhihui’ (实践智慧) is a Chinese translation of the ancient Greek word φρονησις (phronesis). Aristotle first defined it as the philosophical term practical wisdom. It is a kind of wisdom in the field of praxis, which is distinguished from theoretical wisdom (sophia) in the field of theory (theoria) and productive wisdom (techne) in the field of production (poiesis). This article holds that practical wisdom has two basic elements. One is that practice is prior to theory, which means that practical wisdom takes it as the starting point to solve practical problems; it aims at good action through integrating various theories. Moreover, it regards the maximisation of real benefits as evaluation criterion. The other is that all participants in practice should have the right to speak, which means that since all agents have practical wisdom and cooperatively act for a win–win situation, they all should have their voice in the cooperative actions. Only through practical wisdom, rather than theoretical wisdom, can practical problems be solved. In the last two decades, Chinese scholars began to regard the concept of practical wisdom as an important issue. Contemporary China in particular needs practical wisdom. This is because we once made a perfect fetish of the theoretical wisdom of Marxism, which resulted in failure in the nation’s development and the people’s lives; it was a bitter lesson. At the same time, practical wisdom is required at the global level, because the Western hegemonic powers are trying to remodel the whole world in accordance with the theoretical superstition of liberalism, which is now the root cause of much international turmoil. The emphasis on practical wisdom could mean that human practice in the age of globalisation could break away from all sorts of theoretical myths and could direct its energies to the real needs of humanity and their common practical judgement.

Keywords:

• practical wisdom
• practice
• globalisation
• China

Acknowledgement

The English version of this article is translated from Chinese by Liu Yu, revised by the author and proofread by Mario Wenning and is an outcome of the project (13AZX003) of the National Foundation for Social Sciences – A Study of the Linguistic Turn in Marx’s Practical Philosophy, and the project of high-level talents in Guangdong Province – A Comparative Study of Marxist, Chinese Traditional and Western Practical Philosophies.

Notes

1. See Aristotle (2001, 1023–1024).

2. See Aristotle (1933, 3, 128).

3. See Yan Qun (2003, 59).

4. See Zhou Fucheng (1964, 313, 319).

5. See Aristotle (1965, 505).

6. See Chen Ailun (1985, 58).

7. See Aristotle (1990, 119).

8. See Hong Handing (1997).

9. See Xu Changfu (2008).

10. See Liu Yu (2013).

11. See Zhang Rulun (1995); Hong Handing (2001); Zhang Nengwei (2002); Pan Xiaohui (2003); Wang Zisong et al. (2003); Han Chao (2007); Li Yitian (2012). Two new translations and commentaries of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics appeared. They are Nicomachean Ethics, translated and commented on by Liao Shenbai, and Nicomachean Ethics, translated, commented on and introduced by Deng Anqing. Both of them translate phronesis into mingzhi (明智). See Aristotle (2003, 2010).

12. For instance, Deng Youchao (2007) and Liu Dongyan (2009).

13. See Wang Nanshi (2011).

14. See Yu Jiyuan (2009); Yang Guorong (2012).

15. See my books, Xu Changfu (2002, 2012a) and Yang Guorong (2013).

16. See Aristotle (2001, 1033).

17. Aristotle (2001, 965).

18. See Aristotle (2001, 965).

19. See Aristotle (2001, 936).

20. See Aristotle (2001, 964).

21. See Aristotle (2001, 953).

22. Aristotle (2001, 953).

23. See Aristotle (2001, 1026–1027, 1033–1036).

24. Fairbank (1978, 1–2).

25. See Fairbank (1980, 153).

26. Fairbank (1978, 2).

27. Marx and Engels (1959, 11).

28. See Deng Xiaoping (1993b, 373).

29. See Sun Yat-sen, ‘The Three Principles of People’, in Sun Yat-sen (1981, 326–351).

30. Mao Tse-tung (1969, 413).

31. See Karl Marx, ‘The Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy’, in Marx and Engels (1959, 43).

32. See Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, in Marx and Engels (1959, 20).

33. See Engels (1969).

34. See Lenin (1929, 154–155).

35. Fairbank (1978, 2).

36. See MacFarquhar and Fairbank (1991, 2).

37. See Engels’ answer to the twenty-second question in his The Principles of Communism, in Engels (1969).

38. See Lenin (1969, 47–48).

39. According to different researches, during the Great Leap Foreword, the amount of abnormal death in China is estimated from as few as thirty million to as many as fifty-five million or more. See Dikötter (2010, 324–334).

40. See Wang Nianyi (1988, 623).

41. See MacFarquhar and Fairbank (1987, 520).

42. Rawls (1993, xviii).

43. See Kang You-wei (2007, 325–326).

44. See Xu Changfu (2012b).

45. Karl Kautsky accused the Soviet Union of making Marxism the state religion. This critique applies equally to China. See Kautsky (1946, 29).

46. See MacFarquhar and Fairbank (1991, 241).

47. See Mao Tse-tung, ‘Oppose Stereotyped Party Writing’, in Mao Tse-tung (1967, 189).

48. See Mao Tse-tung, ‘On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship’, in Mao Tse-tung (1969, 413).

49. It is said that Zhang Chunqiao, one of the Gang of Four, is the author of this proposition. See The Mass Criticism Group of the Ministry of Education (1976).

50. Deng Xiaoping has a well-known saying that ‘It does not matter if it is a yellow cat or a black cat, as long as it catches mice’. See Deng Xiaoping (1993a, 323). About Deng Xiaoping’s opinions on market economy, see Deng Xiaoping (1993b, 372–375).

51. See Hu Jintao (2012, 42).

52. Confucius (2003, 149).

53. See Fukuyama (1992, 65–66).

54. Samir Amin calls this situation polarisation, though he does not distinguish between liberalism as theoretical principles and liberalism as political ideology. See Amin (2003, 93).

55. Francis Fukuyama really disseminates liberalism as an ideology. See Fukuyama (1992, xi).

56. According to the data on the official website of the Shanghai Statistics Bureau, the Gini Coefficient of China in 1978 was only 0.202. See Shanghai Statistics Bureau (2014).

57. The National Bureau of Statistics of China (2013) announced on 18 January 2013 that the Gini Coefficient of China in recent decades is as follows: 2003, 0.479; 2004, 0.473; 2005, 0.485; 2006, 0.487; 2007, 0.484; 2008, 0.491; 2009, 0.490; 2010, 0.481; 2011, 0.477; 2012, 0.474.

58. Alfred Tarski drew a distinction between object language and meta-language. About its interpretation, see Miller (2007, 278–279).