The Moral Virtue of Prudence

To explain prudences importance in a distinctively Christian but

comprehensive moral teaching, Christian tradition, and particularly St.
Thomas borrowed the classical notion of phronesis, or practical reason.
Christian prudence offers to man a means to participate in the wisdom
of God, in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the
Spirit(1Cor 2:13)
For this grace to work, prudence must depend on something higher
than itself i.e. eternal law.

Eternal law
that law which is named the supreme reason & cannot be otherwise
understood than as unchangeable and eternal.
represents the divine wisdom that directs every created being to its proper
end.
made available to every Christian regardless of their native intellectual
abilities by the infused virtue of prudence
Since it allows Christians participation in the divine wisdom, they enable
them to know the truth about the moral life in accordance with the divine
Word

The heart of all morality is love, and by always following this direction,
Christians inevitably find themselves encountering Christ, who is Gods love
incarnate
- Cardinal Ratzinger (Benedict VI)

Two sources that enabled Christian moral theology to offer a full and
compelling description of prudence as a nexus (link) of knowledge and love:

classical philosophys notion of practical reasoning (phronesis)

Christian concept that love constrains (amor meus, pondus meum

Modern ethicist prudence i.e. exercising right circumspection

In Christian tradition, prudence indicates the full and confident exercise of

authentic love and practical wisdom which are essential elements if
prudence should operate well.

One-sided approaches to prudence:

Certain traditions of moral intellectualism developing the view of John Duns
Scotus that prudence signifies a pure knowing, capable of determining moral
obligation underscoring the thought that prudence is a form of practical
intelligence

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Suarezian voluntarism disregarding the important role that human
appetites play in actually effecting good conduct, while voluntaristtheories
consider a loving will enough to bring about moral integrity
Some moralist making reference to the fact that rational principles cannot
by themselves guarantee that human action will achieve true moral good
Few number of moralists maintaining that human appetites, though having
the seeds of virtue, are unable in themselves to provide a right moral
standard for human conduct

Inasmuch as the virtuous life aims to make human conduct godly, the virtue
that guides the entire moral life must be capable of shaping both the mind
and heart of the believer (Cessario, 2002)

On the issue concerning the development of specialized prudence:

Prudent persons are supposed to engage in activities that aim at different

ends like ones own personal well-being, the well being of the family and of
the state.

principal concern of prudence: implementation of practical knowledge; it

strengthens human
intelligence

Seeing is associated (by Tradition) with the human head:

Isidoreof Seville (7thcent.) suggested that prudence originated from
providence
Prudence (In medieval sculpture) is often represented through a figure with
three faces, each one looking in a different direction
prudence is love choosing wisely between the helpful and the harmful
(accdg to St. Augustine)

Whether prudence is in the appetitive faculty?

Prudence is said to be love, not essentially, but in so far as its activity is
caused by love.
IIa-IIaeq. 47, a.1, ad 1

Prudence guides the believer in the right path toward God.

prudence is the love that well discerns between what helps and hinders us
in striving towards God.

St. Augustines explanation as cited by St. Thomas in IIa-IIaeq. 47, a.1 -

Prudence establishes a recta ratio agibilium, i.e. a right norm or measure for
human conduct
desires an end that is outside pure theoretical knowledge following the fact
that this virtue

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immediately guides the judgment of conscience about the good to be done
or to be avoided
Shapes, then, human acts in concrete situations
a prudent man must know both the universal principles of reason and the
singular about which actions are concerned (IIa-IIaeq.47, a. 3)

Prudence never secures the order of execution, the actual being-there of the
action in a similar way that conscience cannot account for making transition
from the moral mind to the real world of human activity.

How Prudence exercise its directive role in attaining the good ends?

In carrying out a good act, the believer conforms entirely to law which is an
ordination of reason for the common good. But general maxims or universal
principles do not suffice for human act. While prudence relies on the eternal
law, the prudent man must address the concrete individual case. Prudence
as a virtue ensures that a prudent person will act well in most instances. In
the case of Christian prudence, when aided by the gift of Counsel make up
for the limitations of practical reasoning through the action of the Holy Spirit.

Prudence is distinct from art, which is concerned with the good things or
artifacts a person can make. Since it is expected to produce good human
conduct, only well-tempered passion ultimately ensures that an agent who
knows the truth about moral conduct will move to achieve the good end of
moral virtues.

Only a well-formed rational and sense appetites ensures the truth-claim of

the minor premise of a practical syllogism, e.g. at this time and given the
circumstances, I should not now take this drink

It is necessary that prudence must involve the formation of both the intellect
and appetites

intellectual virtue -aims to determine objective truth in the context of the

here and now moral situation
a virtue of the practical intellect -depends on the rectitude of the appetites,
with the outcome that whatever prudential judgment makes, concretely
realizes the ends of human nature

Prudence qualifies as a virtue simpliciter, it makes the person out rightly

good

Excellence of mind vs. excellence of character

Prudence (moral virtue or habitus) renders its agent good and renders good
what he does

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Prudence (as recta ratio agibilium) is particularly concerned with the actual
performance of a good act

Prudence, according to Christian tradition is identified with watchful

solicitude

Be prudent, watching out for your prayer life (1 Peter 4:7)

Christian prudence demands care about the important matters of life
even a right measure of anxiety when its appropriate.
Prudent man is one who remains tranquil, not because he is not
solicitous about anything, but because the prudent person is not over-
anxious about many things, but remains confident and unworried over
matters where one ought to have trust (IIa-IIae, q. 47, a 9, ad 3)
the certitude of prudence cannot be so great as to remove all anxiety
(IIa-IIae, q. 47, a 9)
A prudent man cannot be expected to have certainty where it cannot
exist, nor can he be deceived by false certainties (Pieper, 1965)

2. PRUDENCE AND CONSCIENCE

Conscience
part of the movement of mans aspiration toward God in company with
those who seek justice (Pinckaers, 2005)
origin is the natural and primitive light of synderesis, defined by St. Thomas
as the habitus of the first principles of practical reason, a sense of good and
evil bound to the very nature of the human spirit
situated at the conjunction of the two faculties, reason and will, according
to the measure of their inclination to truth and goodness.

Synderesis
belongs to the very nature of the soul,
a light that is permanent and unchanging
function is to condemn evil and tend toward the good
gives the primary basis for our moral judgments and it cannot err
enlightens all mankind and is indestructible, regardless of the sins and
errors that veil and darken it in our hearts
original source of all judgments of conscience
(strictly speaking) the spark of conscience, the origin of the light that
illuminates conscience.

Prudence draws its wisdom from the habitus of the first principles of practical
reason (synderesis), which it applies in concrete behavior & therefore shares

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with Conscience the same source of light (Synderesis) and join in the same
work, the elaboration of moral judgment.

Judgment of Conscience Judgment of prudence

Remains at the level of knowledge
Although it judges the moral
quality of our behavior, it is not a
virtue; rather it is the application of
synderesis in the appraisal of acts
we have carried out or will carry out.
Sees action within the limits of
what is obligatory
Concerned with past actions,
carries with it either an accusation
and so causes remorse, or an
approval and thus excuses
On future actions it either incites or
forbids on the strength of obligation
Includes the involvement of the
appetite i.e. of the affective will.
Prudence, in fact, is not content to
deliberate, to counsel, or to judge in
the abstract
Its distinctive action is the
command i.e. the decision to act,
which necessarily includes the
participation of the will.
Sees action in view of its perfection
directly concerned with the present
moment of the action, because it is
through the decision that it brings
the action into being in a particular
way.
Solicitude or vigilance were
associated to it by STA, similar to
the active attention to the present

While the judgment of conscience concerns a particular case, this

judgment remains in the order of cognition (in pure cognition). Prudence
ensures that the right judgments of conscience move a person to carry
out virtuous actions (Cessario, 2002)

3. PRUDENCE & THE MORAL VIRTUES

Prudence indicates a perfection of human intelligence applied to action

How does prudence effectively direct the other moral virtues?

prudence helps the believer determine the right means to achieve a good
moral objective; prudence directs the person toward the concretization of the
good ends that make up human flourishing
Though prudence directs, this does not imply that it actually determines the
particular end or telos that formally defines each of the moral virtues
prudence according to arranges our activities which serve to reach (these
ends)The end concerns the moral virtues, not as though they appointed
the end, but because they tend out to the end which is appointed by natural
reason. In this they are helped by prudence, which prepares the way for
them, by disposing the means. Hence it follows that prudence is more
excellent than the moral virtues and moves them: yet synderesis moves

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prudence, just as the understanding of principles moves science.( IIa-IIaeq.
47, a. 6 ad. 3)
Prudence so develops the first principles that the prudent mans actions
help to attain and realize the end of the moral virtues
attainment of the end of the virtue demands more than what a simple grasp
of first principles provides; prudence constitutes a form of reasoning,
specifically, discursive reasoning to know practical truth by collecting and
appreciating all of the contingencies surrounding a particular situation
Prudence integrates right reason into human emotion; between the first
spark of synderesis and the proper act of prudence (i.e. command), the
mature moral person develops a well-defined
structure of practical reasoning

Three distinct moments in the development of a well-defined structure of

practical reasoning:
1. first a stage of universal moral reflection which is the pre-scientific
grasp of moral principles
2. second, the appearance of moral science or ethics
3. third, the act of conscience, or a practical judgment carried out by
applying moral knowledge to a particular act which is to be done or has
already been done

The scholastic theologians interpretation of prudence followed the model

of a demonstrative syllogism. Speculative discursive reasoning involves 2
intellectual operations:
a. the seizure of first principles of speculative reason through the quasi-
habitus of understanding (intellectus)
b. the acts of judgment and reasoned demonstration that develops the
conclusions of a particular science
How does prudence effectively direct the other moral virtues

In contrast to the syllogism of the speculative intellect, the practical

syllogism of prudence demands a movement from the order of intention
(actussignatus) to the order of execution (actusexercitus); hence a prudent
person opts to act prudently (i.e. in accord with principles of moral science)

The virtue of prudence must both:

conform -conforms mans behavior so that his act will be in accord with the
right direction that the ends or goods of human nature specifies, or with the
reality as God knows the world to be
be conformed-must be conformed to moral wisdom, i.e. to all that human
intelligence can know
about a given subject; It also learns from divine truth

Prudent persons do not just deliberate about how to act but are moved to
action thus behaves in a virtuous way

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While imperative decision constitutes the major act of prudence, there are
three moments in the realization of a prudential act, namely,
counsel,judgment and command.

Three moments in the realization of a prudential act

1. Counsel-a rational deliberation about the means to an end; Seeking
counsel necessitates a prudent person to already have the rectitude of
appetite that bears upon the end of the moral virtues
2. Judgment -a rational determination or decision that strengthens the
affective settling onto means that consent achieves; question what am
I to do now is prudences preoccupation
3. Command -being the principal act of prudence, transforms the
judgment of conscience into an imperative; can be accounted for the
existential coming-to-be of the virtuous act

4. PRUDENCE AND CHARITY

the highest and most fruitful achievements of Christian life defend
upon the happy collaboration
of prudence and charity
This collaboration springs from the pre-eminence of charity over prudence.
Christian prudence means definitely the opening of the realm of
determinative factors of our actions and (in faith informed by love) not only
to natural experienceable realities but also to those new and invisible
realities. While prudence is the form of the moral virtues, charity is the form
even of prudence itself.

How the formation of prudence by charity happens

an event that no one in a natural way may be able to understand
said to take place when the three theological virtues are infused into our
being; what is certain is that all our works and being are elevated by charity
to a level which is otherwise unattainable and utterly inaccessible

The eye of perfected friendship with God is aware of deeper dimensions of

reality, which an average man and average Christians eye is not aware of
(Pieper, 1965)

ELEMENTS OF PRUDENCE

a) integral parts - referring to those which are essential to the constitution of

a virtue or for Prummer(1988) those things required for a perfect act of the
virtue; these represent the characteristic activities or psychological
disposition that any moral virtue requires in order to accomplish its proper
act and as component parts, these characteristics do not constitute distinct
virtues;

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b) subjective parts - referring to specific types of a generic virtue or the
species of the general virtue; these represent the different species of a
cardinal virtue; as real virtues (habitus) they have the full and univocal
realization of the virtue at hand as subjective parts they fully realize the
generic definition of the moral virtue;

c) potential parts - referring to the accessory or allied virtues or according to

Prummer, annexed virtues which are concerned with secondary acts or
secondary matters; though they constitute real virtues in themselves, they
realize the formal type of the cardinal virtue only in an analogous i.e.
restricted way, while representing a diminishment of the full cardinal virtue it
can happen that a potential part represents a more noble expression of
human behavior than the virtue to which it is allied (e.g. religion as potential
part of justice)

Integral Parts
Memory, i.e. the recalling of the past
Intellect (intuition or insight), i.e. clear knowledge of the present
Docility (teachableness), i.e. a readiness to learn
Shrewdness (sagacity, acumen), i.e. a quick conjecture regarding the
means to be used
Reason (reasoned judgment), i.e. a readiness to infer one thing from
another
Providence (foresight), i.e. a consideration of the future events
Circumspection, i.e. a careful consideration of circumstances
Caution, care in avoiding evil and obstacles

Subjective Parts
Personal (monastic) prudence which is needed to govern ones own life
Political Prudence (which enjoys a e certain excellence over individual or
personal prudence) which is required for special undertakings such as
military life or for assuming the burdens of civil
governance that is ordained to promote the common good

Potential Parts
Eubuliaor the virtue of good counsel or well-advisedness in investigation,
according to Prummer it is the habit of seeking right counsel; strengthens the
act of counsel
Synesisor judiciousness i.e. sound judgment about ordinary matters. or
according to Prummer the virtue of judging aright according to ordinary rules
Gnome or farsightedness signifying sharp sightedness or perspicacity of
judgment in the face of circumstances other than what constitutes the
normal routine

Roles of Prudence

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1.Setting a specific means or path to putting a virtuous desire into action
how to carry out a
virtuous intention
2.Determining what counts as a virtuous action given the particular situation
at hand
3.Properly balancing many diverse commitments and projects in ones life

6. SINS AGAINST PRUDENCE

A virtuous act attains an authentic or true moral good through the aid of
well-regulated reason while vice produces actions that are not in conformity
with the rule of right reason; consequently a definite form of evil through a
vicious action is generated either through excess or by defect

a. Imprudence
1. Precipitousness or undue haste in taking actions is contrary to good
counsel or eubulia
2. Inconsideration or thoughtlessness goes against sound judgment
3. Inconstancy and negligence weakens the persons resolve to follow
through on the command or imperium

b. Counterfeit Prudence
1. Carnal or fleshly prudence. One pursues his own disordered self-interests.
As a type of exaggerated egoism, the person with this vice looks after
created goods first and last, e.g. a miser who masters every possible way to
gain a profit; a rich person who masters every form of seduction that leads to
sexual gratification. True prudence concerns itself of course with an ordered
hierarchy of goods like maintaining a careful diet to be able to study better.

2. Cunning, guile and deception. To pursue some end, whether right or

wrong, a person adopts means that are not genuine, but fake and spurious.
Resourceful means are pursued to hide from one self or from another the evil
means taken in order to accomplish an objective. While the goals may be
respectable in themselves, just because of deceitful means taken to achieve
them, the moral action is undermined.

7.THE GIFT OF COUNSEL

Inasmuch as there is a real lack of proportion between what the virtue (even
an infused virtue) can achieve in a person and the final end of the Christian
life that consists in beatitude, there is a need for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Disproportion between mans capacity & his ultimate end

We have died with Christ. We carry about in our bodies the sign of his
death, so that the living Christ may also be revealed in us. The life we live is

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not now our ordinary life but the life of Christ: a life of sinlessness, of
chastity, of simplicity and every other virtue.
- St. Ambrose Treatise on the Flight from the World

Even infused prudence need the assistance of the gift of Counsel on

account of its probative character.
that practical reason works in a discursive way.

Why Prudence in its probative character, need the assistance of the

Gift of Counsel

there are a variety of ways by which practical reason can fail to grasp or
discern the moral good:

ordinary counsel taking and deliberation that prudence needs bear with
great hardship the mixture of unsettling factors (can tilt the effective
operation of the said virtue)especially the disturbance caused by disordered
passions
Since even virtuous counsel naturally follows human reasonings standard,
the souls journey to God needs a special guidance from the Holy Spirit an
assistance that should not be construed as a bestowal of new information
like a personal revelation, rather by connaturality(Counsel develops out of
familiarity with divine things that grace gives to man)

Prudence or eubulia, whether acquired or infused, directs man in the

research of counsel, according to principles that the reason can grasp; hence
prudence or eubulia makes man take good counsel either for himself or for
another. Since, however, human reason is unable to grasp the singular and
contingent things which may occur, the result is that the thoughts of mortal
men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain (Wis. 9:14). Hence in the
research of counsel, man requires to be directed by God who comprehends
all things: and this is done through the gift of counsel, whereby man is
directed as though counseled by God, just as, in human affairs, those who
are unable to take counsel for themselves, seek counsel from those who are
wiser.
Summa TheologiaeIIa-IIaeq. 52, a. 1, ad 1.

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