VIRTUOUS LIVING - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

is noted that emotions such as anger or pity can render the practical insight or nousdefensible. To this end, considerable exposure and experience of different situationshelps in habituation and developing one’s emotional capacities, so that one is able torespond prudentially.This does not mean that practical wisdom inferences established from previousexperiences become rules. Aristotle argued ethical theory will have certain ruleswhich hold for the most part. These summarise previous experiences and inferenceswhich might have been of great help in that situation. A moral virtue agent might referto these “rules” in making a practical choice. However,they remain underdetermined with respect to future circumstances, and evenwhen highly specific, guide only to the extent that an agent can recogniseappropriate occasions for application. Yet recognising the instances cannotitself be a part of formulating a rule. To know a rule no matter how specific,and know how to apply it, are two different things (Sherman 1992:1001).Practical wisdom forms the essential practice of a “reflective self-understanding”.This is to say, a wise person should be able to affirm his/her sense of virtuosity andthe claim that living prudentially “is the most meaningful life” (Sherman 1992:1001).Such testimony is in itself a necessary defence of virtue in general.Is there an excellence of practical wisdom peculiar to the virtuous person,differentiating the practice of reason applied by the vicious (non-virtuous) inpromotion of their ends? A possible difference given by Sherman is that the viciousperson uses practical wisdom as in cleverness that has instrumental value only. Herethe goodness of the virtue has been “hijacked” by its evil on the negative end of the“mean” scale. Vicious practical wisdom falls short of the judgment of other virtues,and it cannot be defended in terms of the moral end. However, prudence possessesand values both the intrinsic goodness consistent with other virtues and instrumentalqualities of practical wisdom. Sherman, in reference to the difference between viciousand virtuous wisdom, concludes:For the vicious, it is merely instrumental value - a way of promoting power,gain, deceit and avoidance of risk or fear. For the virtuous, it is of intrinsic aswell as instrumental value. The courageous reason about how to promotevictory, but equally value the reasoning and choice of courageous actioneven when victory fails (Sherman 1992:1001).195