The Virtue of Prudence

Prudence is the knowledge of how to act, how to conduct one’s life rightly. St. Augustine says that prudence is”the knowledge of what to seek and what to avoid.”Prudence belongs to the knowing faculty of the soul, rather than tothe appetitive faculty; that is, it belongs to the intellect ratherthan to the will. Since intellect (as the thinking mind thatenlightens the will for its choice) is called reason, prudence,properly speaking, is in reason as in its proper subject.

Prudence is no mere knowledge of what things are (ofwhat is so), but of how to act (of what to do). Hence,prudence belongs to the practical intellect or reason, not to the speculative intellect.

Prudence is not just a general grasp or understanding of right procedure. It serves a man in the concrete and individual situations that make up his daily life.

Prudence is one of the cardinal virtues. While, as wehave seen, it is, strictly speaking, in the intellect, it is a guide to right action on the part of the will, and hence it shares the nature of a moral virtue, that is, a will-virtue.

Although prudence suffuses the other moral virtues, itis a distinct and special virtue on its own account.

Prudence does not set up the end and purpose of the moral virtues, but regulates the means by which these virtuesoperate to their determinate ends. It does not indicate what the moral virtues are to do, but shows them the right way to do it.

Prudence discerns the mean or measure of moral virtues,and sees how their action can be reasonable, and not marred either by excess or deficiency. For prudence is the knowledge of how things ought to be done.

And prudence, as Aristotle says (Ethic. vi),gives orders. Prudence commands. It does not, indeed, take over the work of the will. It shows with certitude and authority how the will ought to choose. And, to a reasonable will, this amounts to a command. This function of commanding is really the chief act of prudence.

Prudence gives her commands in no aloof, detached fashion. Prudence is ever careful, watchful, solicitous that aperson’s conduct be right.

Prudence is not only a private virtue, looking solely to the individual good conduct of a person; it also serves the common good. St. Paul (I Cor. 10:33) indicates the social function of prudence when he says: “Not seeking that which is profitable to myself, but to many, that they may be saved.”

Indeed, prudence is of different species according asit serves a person in his personal conduct, or serves the good ofthe home (domestic prudence), or the good of the commonwealth(political prudence).

Political prudence is itself of two kinds, for it mustbe in the rulers and legislators on one hand, and in the citizens on the other hand. Aristotle (Ethic. vi) says that prudence is like a mastercraft in rulers, and like a handicraft in those who are ruled.

True prudence, as a virtue, is only in the good. Serious sin casts out prudence. A sinful person in his evil life may exercise a kind of craftiness that has the outer look of prudence, but it is not the genuine article.

A person in the state of grace has prudence, for hehas charity, and charity cannot exist without prudence. Prudencesuffuses all virtues; it is a kind of bond that links them together, and it is necessary to them all.

Prudence is a natural virtue, too. We have been speaking chiefly of supernatural prudence, but we must notice that there is a natural prudence also. This natural prudence is called natural, not because it belongs necessarily to human nature, but because it can be acquired by the powers of human nature. It is acquired by being taught, or by learning through experience, or in both ways.

Prudence is not forgotten. Forgetfulness may, indeed,hinder prudent action, but the virtue itself is not lost through forgetting.