Practical Wisdom, Voluntary Action and Moral Responsibility

greek word for practical wisdom

phronesis

what is practical wisdom

an intellectual virtue of practical reasoning that allows us to make good moral choices through deliberation and act on that deliberation

what are virtues

traits of mind or character that enable us to achieve eduaimonia

where do moral virtues belong

an irrational part of the soul which is responsive to reason

where do intellectual virtues belong

the rational part of the soul

what does practical wisdom involve

knowing good from bad, applying that in a context, carrying out that action

issues with deliberation

might deliberate to the wrong end, might take too long, might not carry it out right

can practical wisdom be taught

no

how is practical wisdom acquired

through experience

how can our deliberation fail

we can deliberate the wrong ends, we can mistake the wrong means to achieve an end

for virtues to be truly morally good, what must you be doing

know what you are doing and choose it for its own sake

what is the only kind of action you can be praised or blamed for

voluntary action

what would make an action involuntary

extreme force (physical or psychological) or ignorance

what kind of ignorance counts as voluntary

acting in ignorance

what sort of ignorance is involuntary

acting out of ignorance

what does aristotle argue we always deliberate about

means, rather than ends

what is deliberation

reasoning about what we can change

does aristotle think we deliberate about means and ends or just means

just means - we don’t deliberate about ends as ends becuase there is always some further ends