The Art and Science of Vocation
The Art and Science of Vocation
Wisdom and Conscience as Companions on a Way
Undergraduates study a wide range of subjects that differ markedly from one another in terms of methods, sources, and norms. Moreover, the world they will enter after graduation is marked by an increasing degree of supercomplexity, demanding fractal ways of knowing. Students in all fields will be better prepared to face this situation if they develop certain practices related to vocational thinking, giving attention to the virtues of practical and speculative wisdom and to the role of conscience. Perhaps especially in the natural sciences, where decisions are too often made in a purely instrumental way, these practices can expand students’ repertoire of approaches to the larger questions of meaning and purpose that naturally arise in their studies. The chapter concludes by describing a particular instance in which some of these concepts and tools were employed among students, in order to illustrate their importance for vocational exploration and discernment.
Keywords: vocation, calling, natural sciences, supercomplexity, virtue, practical wisdom, speculative wisdom, conscience, science and religion
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