My experiences have led me to some conclusions. Being ‘right’ is not enough. Being correct, reasoned, logical, rational, are all not enough. Because even if you are right, and there’s almost no way to prove you wrong, doesn’t mean people will agree with you or trust you. Because somebody who is too Righteous, and unlikable, will compel others away. This is why many egotistical thinkers and intelligencia of the distant past, are rejected and unpopular while they were alive, but then taken quickly after they died. People do not want to serve an unlikable persona, no matter how ‘right’ you are.
This is where the Artistry comes in. A philosopher could persuade and convince the masses of practically whatever you want. Because philosophy predates politics. Politicians have the same ability and skill. They can convince and seduce people of almost anything. But politicians are not concerned with truth, meaning, values, and philosophy. Politicians are focused almost entirely on power, and gaining it throughout society, by attempting to control society, and the people within. The primary objective of philosophy and philosophers, is more truth, more wisdom, and more knowledge. Thus the aims of philosopher and politician are divergent.
To persuade and convince people, usually fools and incompetents, is no great feat. Thus it doesn’t really matter if you’re ‘Right’ or whether you can persuade, seduce, and convince others even when you’re ‘Wrong’. For philosophy, the greater truths are the point. So what is wisdom them, in the context of knowledge? Knowledge is empty until you begin to guess whether what you know is true or false. If what a person knows is false then it is obviously dangerous, a liability. If what a person knows is true then it is an asset. Thus wisdom represents an application of judgment, true or false, over knowledge. True knowledge versus false knowledge. And this requires Judgment. Judgment requires Morality. Thus wisdom requires Morality.
Much of knowledge cannot be deemed true or false, without empiricism and realism, without applying and enacting knowledge directly against the world, existence. To put theory into practice. To merge the ideals, with the real.
