Nicholas Maxwell in Context: The Relationship of His Wisdom Theses to the Contemporary Global Interest in Wisdom

Macdonald, Copthorne. (2009). Nicholas Maxwell in Context: The Relationship of His Wisdom Theses to the Contemporary Global Interest in Wisdom. Leemon McHenry, Ed. Science and the Pursuit of Wisdom: Studies in the Philosophy of Nicholas Maxwell. Ontos Verlag. pp. 61-81.

This chapter in Leemon McHenry's book acknowledges Nicholas Maxwell's quest since the early 1980s:

Maxwell has called for a shift in academic focus from knowledge acquisition for its own sake to “what is of value in life” for human beings. Knowledge acquisition is to continue, of course, but now in the service of realizing that which is widely beneficial. As he has put it: “The basic task of rational inquiry is to help us develop wiser ways of living, wiser institutions, customs and social relations, a wiser world.”

Macdonald then goes on to show that while the revolution of academia that Maxwell hoped for has not occurred, there has been a serious evolution of academia in that direction.

The full-text article is online.