12. The Virtue of Prudence
19. Prudence as a Natural Virtue
Generally speaking, prudence can be defined as the right judgment on actions (recta ratio agibilium). This refers only to moral acts. Physical actions belong to the non-moral virtue of art, or technique (recta ratio factibilium).1
Prudence is thus defined as an intellectual virtue, since deliberating on the best way of doing something pertains to the practical function of the intellect. But the same definition also applies to prudence in its most proper sense, that is, as a moral virtue: the right judgment that ordains human acts to the last end of human life. We could also define it as the habit of properly choosing the means for a morally good end, or the knowledge of which things to seek and which to reject.
Prudence perfects practical moral reason. Its acts—consulting, judging, and advising—are proper to reason. The act of prudence, however, cannot be identified with this practical judgment alone. There must also be a command of the will so that the action is carried out. A person who knows what to do but does not do it cannot be called prudent.
Therefore, complete prudence includes the uprightness of the appetites, that is, the concurrence of the other moral virtues. In other words, prudence needs the other moral virtues, which in turn need prudence in order to know the just mean in their respective objects—as we saw when we studied moral virtues in general.
20. Prudence as a Supernatural Virtue
We have just seen the human or natural virtue of prudence, which is an acquired virtue. Its supernatural counterpart, however, is an infused virtue. It could be defined as the infused supernatural virtue through which the intellect, illumined by faith, informed by charity, and moved by the Holy Spirit, determines what is to be done as befitting the supernatural end, and what is to be avoided as unbecoming of it.
Like all supernatural virtues with a natural counterpart, supernatural and natural prudence differ in the following points:
· Efficient cause of its acquisition: God through grace is the efficient cause of supernatural prudence, whereas the efficient cause of natural prudence is the repetition of acts.
· End: Supernatural prudence corresponds to a supernatural end, whereas natural prudence is ordered merely toward a natural end.
· Principles: The principles of natural prudence are: (1) understanding the first moral principles (do good and avoid evil), (2) understanding the other moral principles that are accessible to natural reason (natural law and its consequences), and (3) the orientation toward the natural good. Those of supernatural prudence are: (1) understanding the same moral principles, but with the enlightenment of faith (that is, with the additional knowledge of revealed truths), and (2) the orientation toward the supernatural good through charity.2
Supernatural prudence essentially presupposes faith informed by charity.3 The gift of counsel, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, helps supernatural prudence achieve its end in the most perfect possible way.
We will study now the way in which supernatural prudence acts. The deepest principles of prudence are the theological virtues, especially informed faith. These principles are studied and explained by moral and dogmatic theology. Prudence draws conclusions from these premises, applies them to practical cases, and issues a judgment on what should be done or avoided. This judgment, as we already know, is called conscience.
Prudence directs the intellect to determine the golden mean, the right mean of the other virtues. This is the reason of its great importance. It also explains why prudence has traditionally been called auriga virtutum, “the guide of the virtues” (cf. Prv 3:13–17; 16:16; Wis 7:7; Mt 10:16).
21. The Acts of Prudence
The acts of prudence4 are three:
i) Deliberation: to take counsel carefully, to ask, to gather information, to seek advice, to study the means that are needed to perform an action in a virtuous way
ii) Judgment: to sift through the facts and data and come to a conclusion, to reach the conclusion after deliberation
iii) Command: to apply those counsels and judgments to action, to direct the order issued to the faculties so that the action is performed according to the judgment; this is the chief and most characteristic act of prudence
22. The Parts of Prudence
The prerequisites for prudence’s proper operation are called integral parts of prudence. There are eight of them: Five refer to the intellectual deliberation, and three to the implementation of the decision that is reached:
i) Recalling past events; this is experience
ii) Clear knowledge of the present, understanding the situation and the moral principles that are to be applied; this is a sharpness of mind to have a true picture of the facts
iii) Docility, eagerness to learn from others
iv) Shrewdness, a quick conjecture about the means to be used to reach an end; this is facility in connecting ideas, and promptness to decide on urgent matters
v) Reason, a readiness to infer one thing from another
vi) Providence, a consideration and forecasting of future events; this is the ability to anticipate and the foresight to prepare for the future
vii) Circumspection, a careful consideration of the circumstances
viii) Caution in avoiding the obstacles and evils that could occur
In any case, nothing is more useful for practicing prudence than considering things according to their value for eternity.
Subjective parts of prudence are the specific kinds of prudence that apply to specific human actions. These are personal prudence and political prudence. The latter is sometimes subdivided into military, legislative, and economic prudence.
Potential parts are annexed virtues that are concerned with secondary acts or matters. The three potential parts of prudence are:
i) Eubulia: the habit of seeking right counsel,
ii) Synesis, or good sense: the virtue of judging aright according to ordinary rules,
iii) Gnome: the virtue of judging aright from the higher principles, the unbiased judgment or the sense of making proper exception, being able to distinguish those cases that go out of common norms; epikeia is a virtue intimately related to this.
23. Sins Against Prudence
The sin that is opposed to prudence by defect is imprudence. There are four kinds of imprudence:
i) Precipitation
ii) Thoughtlessness, or lack of consideration of all circumstances, which always follows the former
iii) Inconstancy
iv) Negligence.
All these arise from lust, which darkens the judgment of reason, due to excessive attachment to material things. Envy and anger may also be factors.
The sins that are opposed to prudence by excess are:
· prudence of the flesh, or ignoring supernatural considerations,
· cunning, which leads to deceit and fraud,
· anxiety for temporal things and for the future.
All these take their origin from avarice, which makes one put his heart in the things of this world: money, and the like.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 54, a. 4; CCC, 1806, 1835.
2. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 65, a. 2.
3. Cf. Ibid., II-II, q. 47, aa. 13–14.
4. Cf. Ibid., II-II, q. 47, a. 8.
Generally speaking, prudence can be defined as the right judgment on actions (recta ratio agibilium). This refers only to moral acts. Physical actions belong to the non-moral virtue of art, or technique (recta ratio factibilium).1
Prudence is thus defined as an intellectual virtue, since deliberating on the best way of doing something pertains to the practical function of the intellect. But the same definition also applies to prudence in its most proper sense, that is, as a moral virtue: the right judgment that ordains human acts to the last end of human life. We could also define it as the habit of properly choosing the means for a morally good end, or the knowledge of which things to seek and which to reject.
Prudence perfects practical moral reason. Its acts—consulting, judging, and advising—are proper to reason. The act of prudence, however, cannot be identified with this practical judgment alone. There must also be a command of the will so that the action is carried out. A person who knows what to do but does not do it cannot be called prudent.
Therefore, complete prudence includes the uprightness of the appetites, that is, the concurrence of the other moral virtues. In other words, prudence needs the other moral virtues, which in turn need prudence in order to know the just mean in their respective objects—as we saw when we studied moral virtues in general.
20. Prudence as a Supernatural Virtue
We have just seen the human or natural virtue of prudence, which is an acquired virtue. Its supernatural counterpart, however, is an infused virtue. It could be defined as the infused supernatural virtue through which the intellect, illumined by faith, informed by charity, and moved by the Holy Spirit, determines what is to be done as befitting the supernatural end, and what is to be avoided as unbecoming of it.
Like all supernatural virtues with a natural counterpart, supernatural and natural prudence differ in the following points:
· Efficient cause of its acquisition: God through grace is the efficient cause of supernatural prudence, whereas the efficient cause of natural prudence is the repetition of acts.
· End: Supernatural prudence corresponds to a supernatural end, whereas natural prudence is ordered merely toward a natural end.
· Principles: The principles of natural prudence are: (1) understanding the first moral principles (do good and avoid evil), (2) understanding the other moral principles that are accessible to natural reason (natural law and its consequences), and (3) the orientation toward the natural good. Those of supernatural prudence are: (1) understanding the same moral principles, but with the enlightenment of faith (that is, with the additional knowledge of revealed truths), and (2) the orientation toward the supernatural good through charity.2
Supernatural prudence essentially presupposes faith informed by charity.3 The gift of counsel, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, helps supernatural prudence achieve its end in the most perfect possible way.
We will study now the way in which supernatural prudence acts. The deepest principles of prudence are the theological virtues, especially informed faith. These principles are studied and explained by moral and dogmatic theology. Prudence draws conclusions from these premises, applies them to practical cases, and issues a judgment on what should be done or avoided. This judgment, as we already know, is called conscience.
Prudence directs the intellect to determine the golden mean, the right mean of the other virtues. This is the reason of its great importance. It also explains why prudence has traditionally been called auriga virtutum, “the guide of the virtues” (cf. Prv 3:13–17; 16:16; Wis 7:7; Mt 10:16).
21. The Acts of Prudence
The acts of prudence4 are three:
i) Deliberation: to take counsel carefully, to ask, to gather information, to seek advice, to study the means that are needed to perform an action in a virtuous way
ii) Judgment: to sift through the facts and data and come to a conclusion, to reach the conclusion after deliberation
iii) Command: to apply those counsels and judgments to action, to direct the order issued to the faculties so that the action is performed according to the judgment; this is the chief and most characteristic act of prudence
22. The Parts of Prudence
The prerequisites for prudence’s proper operation are called integral parts of prudence. There are eight of them: Five refer to the intellectual deliberation, and three to the implementation of the decision that is reached:
i) Recalling past events; this is experience
ii) Clear knowledge of the present, understanding the situation and the moral principles that are to be applied; this is a sharpness of mind to have a true picture of the facts
iii) Docility, eagerness to learn from others
iv) Shrewdness, a quick conjecture about the means to be used to reach an end; this is facility in connecting ideas, and promptness to decide on urgent matters
v) Reason, a readiness to infer one thing from another
vi) Providence, a consideration and forecasting of future events; this is the ability to anticipate and the foresight to prepare for the future
vii) Circumspection, a careful consideration of the circumstances
viii) Caution in avoiding the obstacles and evils that could occur
In any case, nothing is more useful for practicing prudence than considering things according to their value for eternity.
Subjective parts of prudence are the specific kinds of prudence that apply to specific human actions. These are personal prudence and political prudence. The latter is sometimes subdivided into military, legislative, and economic prudence.
Potential parts are annexed virtues that are concerned with secondary acts or matters. The three potential parts of prudence are:
i) Eubulia: the habit of seeking right counsel,
ii) Synesis, or good sense: the virtue of judging aright according to ordinary rules,
iii) Gnome: the virtue of judging aright from the higher principles, the unbiased judgment or the sense of making proper exception, being able to distinguish those cases that go out of common norms; epikeia is a virtue intimately related to this.
23. Sins Against Prudence
The sin that is opposed to prudence by defect is imprudence. There are four kinds of imprudence:
i) Precipitation
ii) Thoughtlessness, or lack of consideration of all circumstances, which always follows the former
iii) Inconstancy
iv) Negligence.
All these arise from lust, which darkens the judgment of reason, due to excessive attachment to material things. Envy and anger may also be factors.
The sins that are opposed to prudence by excess are:
· prudence of the flesh, or ignoring supernatural considerations,
· cunning, which leads to deceit and fraud,
· anxiety for temporal things and for the future.
All these take their origin from avarice, which makes one put his heart in the things of this world: money, and the like.
Footnotes:
1. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 54, a. 4; CCC, 1806, 1835.
2. Cf. ST, I-II, q. 65, a. 2.
3. Cf. Ibid., II-II, q. 47, aa. 13–14.
4. Cf. Ibid., II-II, q. 47, a. 8.