We can acquire some degree of wisdom. Wisdom is our most valuable asset for it allows us to know what is or is not the case about something in the world we inhabit. Wisdom can be found by application or reflective philosophy. The practical application of reason together with noting our experience combine meaningfully when we face the world and what we are head on. We should not be seeking an ideal state but a state which knows the state we are. And we can aid this process by adopting certain behaviours—reducing our needs, living within our means, eliminating anxiety. From there we can find meaning in a life which allows us to choose freely and to act in ways which are appropriate to the fulfilment of a best possible life.
Benjamin Franklin has this to say. ‘Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that; for it is true, we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct ... they that won’t be counselled, can’t be helped ... if you will not hear reason, she’ll surely rap your knuckles’ (Franklin, 1995, p. 55). Carefulness, prudence, and cheer. Franklin was a sort of Epicurean. He believed in labour though, of course—he was in a puritan world which depended on the success of the work ethic—but he knew the value of life was found in understanding something of it, reflecting on it, becoming a little wise before it was too late. His words are an apt conclusion to this experiment in reflection.
