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WiP - Joseph Bjelde / Phronesis is for rulers

Skinner building at the University of Maryland

WiP - Joseph Bjelde / Phronesis is for rulers

Philosophy Wednesday, November 1, 2023 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Skinner Building, 1116

Wednesday November 1, our Work in Progress welcomes WIP Joseph Bjelde of Humboldt University, who this term is visiting Harvard's Hellenistic Studies Center in DC. Professor Bjelde's presentation will claim that "Phronesis is for rulers." An abstract follows. 

Phronesis is for rulers

I'll argue that phronesis, for Aristotle, is not merely the intellectual side of full moral virtue, which makes fully virtuous moral agents excellent at (solo) deliberation.  Rather, starting from a long-puzzling claim at the end of Politics 3.4 that "phronesis is the only virtue unique to rulers," I'll argue that phronesis is a specifically (and objectionably) political virtue, aimed not at solo but at joint deliberation.  In the last part of the talk, I consider what it will cost neo-Aristotelians to depoliticize phronesis.

Add to Calendar 11/01/23 13:00:00 11/01/23 14:00:00 America/New_York WiP - Joseph Bjelde / Phronesis is for rulers

Wednesday November 1, our Work in Progress welcomes WIP Joseph Bjelde of Humboldt University, who this term is visiting Harvard's Hellenistic Studies Center in DC. Professor Bjelde's presentation will claim that "Phronesis is for rulers." An abstract follows. 

Phronesis is for rulers

I'll argue that phronesis, for Aristotle, is not merely the intellectual side of full moral virtue, which makes fully virtuous moral agents excellent at (solo) deliberation.  Rather, starting from a long-puzzling claim at the end of Politics 3.4 that "phronesis is the only virtue unique to rulers," I'll argue that phronesis is a specifically (and objectionably) political virtue, aimed not at solo but at joint deliberation.  In the last part of the talk, I consider what it will cost neo-Aristotelians to depoliticize phronesis.

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