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In Aristotle's work, phronesis is the intellectual virtue that helps turn one's moral instincts into practical action. [ 4 ] [ 10 ] He writes that moral virtues help any person to achieve the end, and that phronesis is what it takes to discover the means to gain that end. [ 4 ]
Related: 75 Stoic Quotes from Philosophers of Stoicism About Life, Happiness and Wisdom. 50 Aristotle Quotes. Canva/Parade. 1. “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom ...
Practical wisdom or prudence (phrónēsis) is the perspicacity necessary to conduct personal business and affairs of state. It encompasses the skill to distinguish the beneficial from the detrimental, to understand the attainment of happiness, and to discern the right course of action in every situation.
Hence, rhetorical reason is a modality of phronesis and also, as Aristotle famously notes, a counterpart of dialectic. That is, it depends upon practical wisdom for its proper work, and, in that work, it operates much like dialectical inference, only its proper domain is the particular case as opposed to the general question.
Aristotle ends his investigation by comparing the importance of practical wisdom (phronesis) and philosophical wisdom (sophia). Although Aristotle describes sophia as the more serious (it is concerned with higher things), he mentions the earlier philosophers, Anaxagoras and Thales , as examples proving that one can be wise, having both ...
Aristotle also says, for example in NE Book VI, that such a complete virtue requires intellectual virtue, not only practical virtue, but also theoretical wisdom. Such a virtuous person, if they can come into being, will choose the best life of all, which is the philosophical life of contemplation and speculation.
As John McDowell puts it, practical wisdom involves a "perceptual sensitivity" to what a situation requires. [ 12 ] Eudaimonia ( εὐδαιμονία ) is a state variously translated from Greek as 'well-being', 'happiness', 'blessedness', and in the context of virtue ethics, 'human flourishing'. [ 13 ]
The word derives from the 14th-century Old French word prudence, which, in turn, derives from the Latin prudentia meaning "foresight, sagacity". It is often associated with wisdom, insight, and knowledge. The virtue of prudence is the ability to judge between virtuous and vicious actions, not only in a general sense, but with regard to ...