Wisdom's Imagination: Moral Reasoning and the Book of Proverbs

A common assumption about Israelite wisdom literature is the presumed naïveté, simplicity, or rigidity of the worldview represented by Proverbs, especially in contrast to other Israelite wisdom books. This article argues that, to the contrary, Proverbs evidences a richly imaginative character of mor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Main Author: Stewart, Anne W. 1983- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2016
In: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Further subjects:B Ethics
B Wisdom
B Imagination
B Proverbs
B Metaphor
B Moral Reasoning
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Electronic
Description
Summary:A common assumption about Israelite wisdom literature is the presumed naïveté, simplicity, or rigidity of the worldview represented by Proverbs, especially in contrast to other Israelite wisdom books. This article argues that, to the contrary, Proverbs evidences a richly imaginative character of moral reasoning that points to a fairly complex understanding of the moral world. Informed by the work of cognitive linguist Mark Johnson, this study explores several aspects of the pedagogy of imagination in the book, including the use of cognitive prototypes and metaphor, and it discusses how these tropes function as structures of moral reasoning. Further, this article considers the implications of these elements for the book's implicit view of the moral world, as well as its pedagogical goal of training the young in wisdom.
ISSN:1476-6728
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0309089215611542