Editor's Introduction

Proverbs 4:5 sets forth an exhortation: "Get wisdom; get insight." It may seem strange to introduce an issue of Soundings with a biblical text, especially when one is not going to preach! I do find the reference useful, though. Its pithy expression is reminiscent of the goals of education, for the text points us toward the goal of practical wisdom. Its author seems to think there is no more important task than learning how to negotiate the world. He or she sets this as the task of a lifetime, in which the wise person is the one who grasps the art of fitting behavior with the particularities of circumstance. With respect to speech, for example, the text suggests that "a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver" (25:11). Doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons—this is a worthy, albeit elusive goal.

The essays in this issue of Soundings try to help us in this regard. Bassam Tibi's contribution builds on a lifetime of work in the field of international relations, particularly with respect to the experiences of Muslims. Here, as in a number of his more recent publications, Tibi argues the case for the historical and contemporary utility of an intellectual tradition he (and some others) describe as "Islamic humanism." The special interest of this strand of Muslim thought has to do with the way its characteristic emphases on reason and the possibility of shared "human" (rather than specially revealed) values lend support to global dialogue. As such, Tibi's goal is to provide a kind of therapy for some of the more virulent behaviors associated with both inter-and intra-civilizational conflict. Looking at the remarkable developments associated with the Arab Spring, he worries that the triumph of Islamist parties will undermine hopes for democratic reform, and suggests that a lack of recognition of the possibilities presented by Islamic humanism may lead European and North American policymakers to overestimate the strength of popular support for the Islamists. To put it another way, a lack of effort in ascertaining the contours of the social environment in, say, Egypt may well lead to failures of practical wisdom.

Aaron Stalnaker wants us to learn a rather different kind of lesson. One of the glories of European and North American discourse about values has to do with the emphasis on autonomy—the freedom to define one's values and course of life without undue interference, particularly of the sort associated with coercion by powerful people and institutions. A too-narrow focus on autonomy has negative effects, however. It leads to misconstruals of the discourses of people in other places and times, as well as to a certain forgetfulness about other values. With respect to the first, Stalnaker's special interest is in ancient China, where apprenticeship to a master or teacher is considered critical for self-formation. The very idea of an autonomous self thus seems in some sense to be an illusion—a fact that leads some interpreters to pit a hierarchal, communitarian "East" against an egalitarian, individualistic "West." As Stalnaker has it, the Chinese practice recognizes the limits of a teacher's role, even as it stresses that role's necessity. At some point, a good student "graduates." One might say he or she attains a certain autonomy, albeit one shaped by habits developed over time. This seems an important lesson, not only in estimating the relationship between Chinese and Euro-American vocabularies, but also in thinking clearly about the role of education in forming the kinds of persons who can actually function autonomously, in the sense of accepting the sorts of responsibilities associated with a healthy participation in society.

This brings us to Lisa Carlton's analysis of the ways Americans speak about returning veterans. A personal point: I found this essay particularly interesting, not least because of current plans to build a Veterans' Center at Florida State University. As with Carlton's essay, the FSU project is largely a response to the perceived needs of that relatively small percentage of citizens who have performed the bulk...