We explain what discernment means, the origin of the term and its moral meaning. Furthermore, its relationship with the ability to understand.
What is discernment?
When we talk about discerning, or discernment, we are referring to the ability to differentiate things from each other that is, to distinguish something from the rest, or even appreciating what is good and what is bad. When we go to a judge, an authority or a specialist, we count on their specific preparation to allow them to discern what the solution to our problem is, that is, what is the ideal way to resolve it.
This word comes from the Latin word discerncomposed of dis- (“by different means”) and cernere (“sieve”, “separate”), so that from its origins it implies the concept of choice, of identifying (and therefore separating) the parts of something. Hence, both religious and philosophical traditions of the West have proposed different models and/or procedures to be able to discern good from evil, what is real from what is false, etc.
The concept of discernment, thus, is traditionally related to understanding: in order to distinguish the parts of something, it is necessary to understand it first; and also with the knowledge: Those who know more about something have a greater ability to differentiate its elements.
This becomes quite evident when we use the verb discern as a synonym for see: in the phrase “there is so much smoke that I cannot discern who I am talking to”, we are equating it with seeing, identifying or recognizing, and therefore also with knowing and understanding.
In the Western cultural tradition, it is common to equate the concepts of vision and understanding: hence, to refer to someone who is not very intelligent, we say that “he is dim-witted” or, also, that “he does not have much discernment.”
Continue with: Intuition
References
- “Discernment” on Wikipedia.
- “Discern” in the Dictionary of the language of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Discern” in Legal Encyclopedia.
- “Radication of the word discern” in Etymologies of Chile.net.
