Phronesis 56 (3):204-261 (2011)
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Abstract |
Aristotle repeatedly claims that character-virtue “makes the goal right“, while Phronesis is responsible for working out how to achieve the goal. Many argue that these claims are misleading: it must be intellect that tells us what ends to pursue. I argue that Aristotle means just what he seems to say: despite putative textual evidence to the contrary, virtue is (a) a wholly non-intellectual state, and (b) responsible for literally supplying the contents of our goals. Furthermore, there are no good textual or philosophical reasons to reject this straightforward interpretation. Contrary to widespread opinion, Aristotle does not characterize Phronesis as supplying ends. Instead, its ethical import lies wholly in its ability to “determine the mean“. Moreover, because character involves non-rational cognition of the end as good, Aristotle can restrict practical intellect to deliberation without abandoning his anti-Humean view that we desire our ends because we find them good
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Keywords | Practical reason Aristotle Virtue Character Phronesis |
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DOI | 10.1163/156852811x575907 |
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References found in this work BETA
Internal and External Reasons.Bernard Williams - 1979 - In Ross Harrison (ed.), Rational Action. Cambridge University Press. pp. 101-113.
Aristotle on learning to be good.Myles F. Burnyeat - 1980 - In Amélie Oksenberg Rorty (ed.), Essays on Aristotle's Ethics. University of California Press. pp. 69--92.
Virtue Theory and Abortion.Rosalind Hursthouse - 1991 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 20 (3):223-246.
II—Deliberation and Practical Reason.David Wiggins - 1976 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 76 (1):29-52.
Virtue Theory and Abortion.Rosalind Hursthouse - 1997 - In Roger Crisp & Michael Slote (eds.), Virtue Ethics. Oxford University Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
Right Reason in Plato and Aristotle: On the Meaning of Logos.Jessica Moss - 2014 - Phronesis 59 (3):181-230.
Aristóteles e a necessidade do conhecimento científico.Lucas Angioni - 2020 - Discurso 50 (2):193-238.
A Developmental Theory for Aristotelian Practical Intelligence.Matt Ferkany - 2020 - Journal of Moral Education 49 (1):111-128.
Using Practical Wisdom to Facilitate Ethical Decision-Making: A Major Empirical Study of Phronesis in the Decision Narratives of Doctors.Chris Turner, Alan Brockie, Catherine Weir, Catherine Hale, Aisha Y. Malik & Mervyn Conroy - 2021 - BMC Medical Ethics 22 (1):1-13.
View all 30 citations / Add more citations
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