Download Practical wisdom - A Level Philosophy

Practical wisdom
Michael Lacewing
[email protected]
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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’
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.
The doctrine of the mean
• Virtues tend to lie between two
opposing vices, e.g. honesty:
– ‘Too much’ = tactlessness
– ‘Too little’ = deceitfulness
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
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?