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Practical wisdom

Practical wisdom. Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk. Aristotle on phronesis. Practical wisdom is ‘a true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man’ ( Nicomachean Ethics VI.5)

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Practical wisdom

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  1. Practical wisdom Michael Lacewing enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk

  2. Aristotle on phronesis • Practical wisdom is ‘a true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man’ (Nicomachean Ethics VI.5) • It is not merely theoretical knowledge of what is good or bad, but also the capacity to act on such knowledge.

  3. Features of practical wisdom • a general conception of what is good or bad, which Aristotle relates to the conditions for human flourishing; • the ability to perceive, in light of that general conception, what is required in terms of feeling, choice, and action in a particular situation; • the ability to deliberate well; and • the ability to act on that deliberation.

  4. Demanding • Type of insight into the good and relation to virtues is very complex • Cannot be taught, but learned through experience • Only the good person knows what is truly good

  5. Objection • Without virtue, we can’t know what is good – so not everyone knows what is good • True, but this knowledge comes in degrees, and we can hold most people responsible • And people can improve their knowledge of what is good by trying to become better people

  6. Insight • Understanding human flourishing in general • Understanding what is required in a particular situation in light of a general understanding of what is good • There are no rules • Understanding how to act in this situation

  7. Insight • There are no true generalizations about good and bad • Moral (practical) reasoning is a form of intuitive reason, grasping what is required in each case • As with perception, argument may not convince – you need to ‘see’ • What is not general cannot be taught

  8. Insight • Understanding what counts as a virtue • Which character traits are necessary for a good life • Which emotional responses are good here and now • The virtuous person feels and chooses ‘at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way’

  9. The doctrine of the mean • You can feel anger too much (common!) or too little (rare) • About too many people • Too often • Too angry • = Short-tempered • Being good-tempered doesn’t mean only getting moderately angry or only moderately often, but as the situation requires.

  10. The doctrine of the mean • Virtues tend to lie between two opposing vices, e.g. honesty: • ‘Too much’ = tactlessness • ‘Too little’ = deceitfulness

  11. Objection • The doctrine of the mean is no practical help – how often or how angry should we get? • Aristotle says the mean is where the person with practical wisdom judges it to be • The ‘mean’ is meaningless: ‘Too much’ and ‘too little’ aren’t actually quantities on a single scale

  12. Guidance • The theory of practical wisdom and virtue provides no guidance for life • Reply: not true – we should think of situations in terms of the virtues • What if the virtues seem to conflict, e.g. justice and mercy? • This is where practical wisdom is needed most – but did you think life wouldn’t be messy?

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