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  • © 2019

Applying Wisdom to Contemporary World Problems

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Utlises psychological science to confront global issues

  • Offers practical wisdom with the aim of positively impacting on civil society, health and social justice

  • Provides academic perspectives on complex and ingrained global problems in a practical, optimistic and accessible way

  • Extends intellectual tools for researchers, students and policy makers in addressing major issues with the right actions

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
  2. Wise Reasoning in an Uncertain World

    • Igor Grossmann, Anna Dorfman
    Pages 51-79
  3. Can Moral Exemplars Promote Wisdom?

    • Megan Mischinski, Eranda Jayawickreme
    Pages 173-200
  4. Can Wisdom Be Helpful?

    • Ursula M. Staudinger
    Pages 237-253
  5. Wisdom in the Workplace

    • Hannes Zacher, Ute Kunzmann
    Pages 255-292
  6. The Practical Applications of Self-Transcendent Wisdom

    • Carolyn M. Aldwin, Michael R. Levenson
    Pages 293-307
  7. How Wisdom Can Help Solve Global Problems

    • Nicholas Maxwell
    Pages 337-380
  8. Practical Wisdom and Health Care

    • Barry Schwartz, Kenneth E. Sharpe
    Pages 381-406
  9. Not Today, and Probably Not Tomorrow Either: Obstacles to Wisdom and How We May Overcome Them

    • Judith Glück, Robert J. Sternberg, Howard C. Nusbaum
    Pages 445-464
  10. Back Matter

    Pages 465-470

About this book

This book presents perspectives from world experts in the field of wisdom studies to propose how wisdom can provide the foundation upon which solutions to social and global problems can be grounded. The authors argue that where society has come to rely on leaders with skills relating to knowledge and intelligence; instead we should focus on wisdom-based acumen for our leaders in government, business, and the military.

In this book the authors offer evidence-based definitions of wisdom and apply these to world problems they believe could potentially be solved using wise solutions. Among the case studies confronted are terrorism and war, poverty and economic disparity, climate change, increasing antibiotic resistance and political corruption.

Focusing on the cognitive, social and emotional processes involved in everyday decision-making, this book presents a compelling argument for the application of wise problem-solving to complex world issues that will appeal in particular to those in leadership, teaching and policy roles, and open new pathways in the fields of wisdom-studies, psychology, sociology and political theory.





Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Human Development, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA

    Robert J. Sternberg

  • Center for Practical Wisdom, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA

    Howard C. Nusbaum

  • Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Judith Glück

About the editors

Robert J. Sternberg is Professor of Human Development, Cornell University, USA and Honorary Professor of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany.  His PhD is from Stanford and he holds 13 honorary doctorates. Sternberg has won the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology and the William James and James McKeen Cattell Awards from the APS.

Howard Nusbaum is the Stella M. Rowley Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago, USA and is currently Director of the Center for Practical Wisdom.  He was Division Director for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences at the NSF from 2015 to 2017. He studies communication, learning, and wise reasoning.

Judith Glück is Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. She previously worked at University of Vienna and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Her research investigates the definition, development, and measurement of wisdom. She is co-editor of the Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom.




Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access