Speaking before an audience of alumni and students, three professors commented on the nature of wisdom, international relations, health care and transcendentalism on Saturday in Dartmouth Hall.
The symposium presented perspectives from government professor Jennifer Lind, Geisel School of Medicine professor Joseph O'Donnell and English professor Donald Pease.
Lind focused on the Kennedy administration's approach to foreign relations in Japan, commenting on wisdom in government. Lind praised the administration for embracing the wisdom of equal partnership, after noting how President John Kennedy was able to reestablish positive relations with Japan by taking a genuine interest in the Japanese people when relations were fraying.
"Now, of course it may be much harder, or even impossible, to transform alliances in the way we transformed the one between the United States and Japan," Lind said. "But the lessons of the '60s both help offer a potential solution."
O'Donnell, a senior advising dean at Geisel, spoke about creating wisdom by helping students. Drawing inspiration from remarks by President Phil Hanlon, O'Donnell said it is important to sometimes allow students to fail.
O'Donnell further explained Aristotle's five stages of wisdom: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. These stages of wisdom help students understand what rules are important, which rules to break and how to break them in order to create wisdom.
It is impossible to progress past each stage without gaining a realization of what actions are not successful, he said.
Delving into the works of transcendentalist author Ralph Waldo Emerson, Pease spoke about the goal of a liberal arts education and the process of turning facts into unique knowledge and insight. Pease, who chairs the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program, also discussed the techniques we perform on ourselves to liberate our senses.
Following the prepared speeches, the audience asked diverse questions, including on the impact of technology on wisdom and on labor policies in Japan.
Ben Parker '16, the only undergraduate in attendance, said he found the event relevant.
"I wanted to understand what others thought the definition of wisdom was," Parker said. "They used mostly anecdotes which I enjoyed because it was better than a vague lecture about the concept of wisdom."
Dan Lucey '77, who organized the event in collaboration with numerous community members, had been thinking about planning the symposium for close to two years.
"I began thinking about what was important in life, and wisdom was one word that kept coming back," Lucey said. "Dartmouth seemed like it would be the perfect forum for the conversation since it had such a profound impact on my life."
While at the College, Lucey attended Pease's lectures and was mentored by O'Donnell. Lucey asked Lind to participate after he read an op-ed she had written in The Washington Post.
The date for the symposium was chosen to correspond with the Class of 1938, 1943 and 1948 reunions and the home football game over the weekend, Lucey said.
The symposium, titled "Perspectives on Wisdom: Invitation to a Dialogue," was sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations.
