Practical Wisdom

The Right Way to Do the Right Thing.

by Kenneth Sharpe and Barry Schwartz

How Bad Intentions Can Destroy Good Ideas: The Case of Microcredit

When you do the right thing for the wrong reason, it eventually stops being the right thing. Read More

Do Grades As Incentives Work?

The limits of grades as incentives for students. Read More

What Hairdressers Can Teach Us about Practical Wisdom

Aristotle thought that our fundamental, mundane social practices demanded wise judgment, like the judgment displayed every day by hairdressers. Read More

Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing

Practical wisdom develops as we try to do the right thing, and fail, and learn from our mistakes. Rules that protect against mistakes are the enemy of wisdom. Read More

The Right Way to Do the Right Thing

The principle of patient choice" sounds like a great principle. Choice resonates with the underlying values of freedom and self-determination that are so much a part of American culture. Yes, patient autonomy is a good principle. But sometimes, this good principle and good treatment conflict. And it takes a wise doctor to know how to manage the conflict. Read More

Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing

We Americans are growing increasingly disenchanted with the institutions on which we depend. In our new book, Practical Wisdom: The Right Way to Do the Right Thing, we argue that what philosopher Aristotle called practical wisdom is what's needed to make our instutions run better. Read More