Phronesis

I have come to a conclusion that after class I find a better understanding of what we read. I would have to say that it is due to the fact that we are able to talk in groups and get different perspectives of the reading besides getting only our own.

I found that Hursthouse's tone was very angry. Maybe that is just how I read it. But I think what ties this and Aristotle together is the fact that practical wisdom, phronesis, is needed in order to have virtue or be virtuous. Without the practical wisdom there would be no determination in what is appropriate and what is not. Which also goes is without it there is no way to determine what is good and what is wrong.

At first I thought that Aristotle was stating that only with age can one gain experience or knowledge. But after discussing it with my group, they had a different view. Their view was that Aristotle was just stating that with age comes more experience because they're older so have lived longer than the young. After hearing that, it made me think of it rather differently. I suppose that is true. But let's to say that there are 'older individuals' who have not experienced much due to the lack of wanting to try, that would be different then. Not every old person is wise or is full of knowledge but we could say the same for the young.

I have come to a conclusion that if we do not know that we need virtues then how can we become virtuous? In order to have virtue or be virtuous we must have phronesis, since it is what enables and triggers us to have practical wisdom, and with practical wisdom come the ability to decide what to do and what not to do.