The Theory of Deliberative Wisdom
Eric Racine
The MIT Press (May 2025)

How to develop and then apply the power of moral agency in  what has become a VUCA world

As I began to read this book, I hoped to have questions such as these answered:

1. “What is the theory of deliberative wisdom?”
2. “What are its basic tenets?”
3. “What is its unique significance?”

Eric Racine thoroughly responds to these and other questions throughout his lively and eloquent narrative.

For example, he suggests that “the ability to enact creative problem solving is facilitated by in-depth understandings of the transactional nature of moral situations and moral experience both generally and in specific cases. The theory of deliberative wisdom provides a specific articulation of what ethics is and where such a process of learning is central to human flourishing. However it remains itself only a tool that does not in itself guarantee any particular outcome of success, because all tools — in ethics and beyond — have their limitations.

“This also means that a deliberatively ethically wise person is not an aristocratic, self-imbued, stiff, rigid, or authoritative person who wields ethical knowledge as a weapon, but rather an open-minded, creative, and flexible person who is able to see opportunities for positive experiences where others might not. This is partly the case because knowledge of human flourishing can never be the kind of knowledge that forecloses eventual challenges and learning from others.”

Please see Pages 53-55, 60-64, and 74-76 for a more comprehensive examination of several compelling issues.

In Chapter 10, Racine explains key features of ethical deliberation and ethical imagination. In the next chapter, he shifts his attention to key moments in ethical deliberation. This material gives you a much better explanation of the process and the issues involved. Here are the three key moments:

“1. What is the problem? Broadening and deepening the understanding of the situation via stakeholder consultation and face-to-face discussion

2. What are the possible solutions/courses of action? Envision action scenarios, notably based on the processes of imagination and dramatic rehearsal

3. What is the preferred solution/course of action? Reaching a judgment or decision based on the comparative evaluation and analysis of scenarios for their ethical merits”

Please see Pages 241-262 for Racine’s thorough explanation of this process’ WHAT and WHY as welll as HOW

Those who read and then (I hope) re-read The Theory of Deliberative Wisdom with appropriate care will develop the sensitivities as well as the skills to identify and evaluate, then resolve all manner of problems with deliberative wisdom.

These are among Racine’s concluding thoughts: “In all matters, we will need to strengthen and cultivate our abilities to live in a plural world by finding common goals and values. Also, concentration of political power leads to the possibility of pitting human populations against each other in ways that too easily disregard what ordinary people have in common.  To mend disagreements and foster open deliberation in a pluralistic world, we must avoid situations wherein the meaning of the words we learn and use to do the thinking for us and imprison us in the meanings of past experiences. We must tap into creativity to ensure that our vocabulary genuinely connect to our experiences but also reflect the meaning of our aspirations. Therein lies much future work for deliberative wisdom.”

Who will derive the greatest value from the material in this book? First and obviously, anyone who now struggles to make ethical decisions in an increasingly pluralistic world, a world that is far more volatile, more uncertain, more complex, and more ambiguous than at any prior time that I can recall.

I also highly recommend this book to anyone who — when forced to make a difficult decision — tends to be guided by impulse and emotion rather than by reason,  by what Eric Racine characterizes as “deliberative wisdom.”

Obviously, no brief commentary such as mine can do full justice to the scope and depth of the information, insights, and counsel in The Theory of Deliberative Wisdom but I hope I have at least indicated why I think the material could be of substantial interest and value to those who absorb and digest, then act upon it.

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Here are two suggestions while you are reading The Theory of Deliberative Wisdom: First, highlight key passages. Also,  perhaps in a notebook kept near-at-hand (e.g. Apica Premium C.D. Notebook A5), record your comments, questions, and action steps (preferably with deadlines). Pay special attention to all of the Figures and Tables that are strategically inserted throughout the lively and eloquent narrative.

These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will expedite frequent reviews of key material later.