Phronesis (practical wisdom)
In Aristotle, the capacity to deliberate well about what should be done, in a particular situation, with a view to a good life as a whole.
Definition
Aristotle distinguishes it from scientific knowledge, which concerns what cannot be otherwise, and from craft, which makes things. Phronesis concerns action — what could be otherwise and depends on us. It is not applied mechanically: it sees what the situation calls for.
It has one feature awkward for anyone who would like to program it: it is acquired through experience. Aristotle notes that a young man can be an excellent mathematician, but is rarely a man of practical wisdom, for lack of having lived enough. Practical wisdom does not reduce to rules; it is recognised in someone.
See also
Related notions
In the essays
In the library