Prudence

Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person

This module will contain the following
topics:
1.Prudence
2.Integral Parts of Prudence
3.Potential Parts of Prudence
Prudence
• Prudence, as defined by the Merriam
Webster Dictionary, is the ability to govern
and discipline oneself by the use of reason
and it is one of the four Cardinal virtues.
Cardinal Virtues
•Prudence
•Justice
•Fortitude
•Temperance
Prudence
• It is also called the mother of all the virtues.
• The word has been derived from an Old French
word prudence, which has also been derived
from the Latin word, prudentia, meaning
“foresight, sagacity.”
• Prudence is most commonly associated with
words such as wisdom, insight, and knowledge.
• It is an intellectual and moral virtue that seeks to
direct particular human acts through
righteousness, towards a good end.
• Prudence is the application of universal
principles to particular situations, and so an
understanding of universal moral principles is
absolutely necessary.
• Prudence was considered by the ancient Greeks
and later on by Christian philosophers, most
notably Thomas Aquinas, as the cause, measure
and form of all virtues.
• It is considered to be the auriga virtutum or the
charioteer of the virtues.
• Prudence is considered the measure of moral virtues
since it provides a model of ethically good actions.
• "The work of art is true and real by its
correspondence with the pattern of its prototype in
the mind of the artist.
• In similar fashion, the free activity of man is good by
its correspondence with the pattern of prudence."
(Josef Pieper)
• In Greek and Scholastic philosophy, "form"
is the specific characteristic of a thing that
makes it what it is.
• With this language, prudence confers upon
other virtues the form of its inner essence;
that is, its specific character as a virtue.
Integral Parts of
Prudence
Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person
• Prudence begins with an understanding of the
first principles of practical reason, which St.
Thomas Aquinas calls synderesis.
• It is a natural habit by which we are inclined to a
number of ends.
Life
• The human person has a natural inclination to
preserve his life; for he sees his life as basically
good. Human existence is a rational animal kind
of existence. It is basically good to be as a
rational animal, created in the image and
likeness of God, in the image of knowledge and
love (intellect and will).
Truth
• This human person, who is fundamentally,
intelligibly, and intrinsically good, desires to
know truth for its own sake. As Aristotle says in
his Metaphysics: "All men by nature desire to
know". Knowing is a mode of existing. In
knowing anything, one becomes what one
knows ("the intellect is in a way all things").
Beauty
• Man has, at the same time, a natural
inclination to behold the beautiful, to see it,
to intuit it, to contemplate it. And so he
visits art museums, listens to beautiful
music, gazes at the sunset or the beautiful
face of a child, and he even contemplates
the beauty of divine providence.
Leisure, Play, Art

• Man is a maker. He brings all his sense and

intellectual powers to bear upon the project
of producing works of art, such as paintings,
poetry, sculptures, buildings, monuments,
etc., just for the sake of creating, or playing
games just for the sake playing, such as golf,
cards, chess, etc.
Sociability

• The human person inclines to harmony

between himself and others. He is a social
and political animal. He is born into a family
and discovers himself through others, such
as his parents and siblings. He tends to
establish friendships. He is glad to "see" his
friends, to "hear" their voices.
Religion

• Man aspires after what is higher than

himself because he is aware of a desire in
him for perfect happiness. He beholds his
own finitude and the finitude of creation.
He aspires to what is beyond the temporal
to the eternal, yet he cannot transcend the
limits of his nature.
Marriage

•Man is inclined to marry, to give himself

completely to another, to belong to
another exclusively in one flesh union.
Even a marriage consummated by sexual
union is a kind of knowing.
Integrity
• Man is inclined to seek integration within
himself, an integration of the complex
elements of himself. This is because he
seeks to be most fully, and one (along with
good, beauty, and true) is a property of
being.
Elements that must be present
for any complete or perfect act
of the virtue.
• Memoria/Memory: accurate memory that is true
to reality; an ability to learn from experience
• Docilitas/Docility: an open-mindedness that
recognizes variety and is able to seek and make
use of the experience and authority of others.
• Intelligentia: The understanding of first
principles.
• Sollertia/Shrewdness: quick-wittedness or the
ability to evaluate a situation quickly.
• Ratio/Reasoning: Discursive reasoning and the
ability to research and compare alternatives
• Providentia/Foresight: the capacity to estimate
whether particular actions can realize goals.
• Circumspection: the ability to take all relevant
circumstances into account
• Caution: the ability to mitigate risk.
Prudential judgment

• In ethics, a "prudential judgment" is one

where the circumstances must be weighed
to determine the correct action. Generally,
it applies to situations where two people
could weigh the circumstances differently
and ethically come to different conclusions.
Potential Parts of Prudence

•Good Counsel (eubolia)

•Good Judgment (synesis and gnome)
THANK YOU!!!!!