The Cairns Stoa

Prudence

Hosted by Angela

If you haven't had much exposure to Stoicism before, please peruse the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on Stoicism.

Questions:

1. Are temperance and prudence the same thing? Do they just mean moderation? Or does prudence relate more to wisdom and temperance more to moderation?

• Did the Stoics screw up? Should there have been only three virtues, with temperance and prudence and moderation being subsets of wisdom?

• To help you think about this, randomly consider some of the things you do (big or small) in terms of the virtues. Ask yourself: is this an example of wisdom, justice, courage or temperance/prudence/moderation? And if your answer is temperance or prudence or moderation, does it relate to wisdom?

2. Unity of virtue: can you have one without the others? i.e. can a cruel person be brave; can a wise person be unjust? Remembering: “Knowledge without justice out to be called cunning rather than wisdom” (Plato).

3. Orderliness can refer to self-discipline and moderation…where do you see orderliness sitting: prudence and/or temperance?

Diogenes Laertius said that the Stoics described the supreme good as “honorable” because it consists of these four factors required for the perfection of human nature: the virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and, as he writes, orderliness (self-discipline or moderation).

Below: Enda Harte

The Greek and Roman era Stoics in particular wrote at length about “appropriate acts” and “perfect acts” in relation to virtues. A person must have the correct understanding of the actions they have performed — more specifically, the person must construct a response with all the virtues in mind simultaneously. By using this definition of being virtuous, it could be argued that most people are not considered to be virtuous, as most people fail to constantly bear in mind ‘the laws of life as a whole’ in order to solve a specific problem.

“Virtue is its own reward “ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC-43 BC) was the greatest forensic orator Rome ever produced. But to Cicero, service to the res publica (literally, "the public affair") was a Roman citizen's highest duty. Even though Cicero the statesman wasn’t exclusively a “Stoic” in the traditional sense, nonetheless he’s a contemporary source for Stoic practice and writings.

Cicero held that the laws of nature were more important than the laws of men and governments. He believed that any leader who defied natural law was, by definition, a tyrant. In Cicero's own words, 'natural law is right reason, consonant with nature, common to every man, constant, eternal.

In Cicero’s De Inventione, he provides a fairly concise description of the virtues as a “habit of the mind”:
Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature, and moderation, and reason. … It has then four divisions — prudence*, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Prudence is the knowledge of things which are good, or bad, or neither good nor bad. … Justice is a habit of the mind which attributes its proper dignity to everything, preserving a due regard to the general welfare. … Fortitude [i.e., courage] is a deliberate encountering of danger and enduring of labour. … [And] temperance is the form and well-regulated dominion of reason over lust and other improper affections of the mind….

*Prudence=Wisdom

*phronêsis (prudence/practical wisdom): The knowledge of knowing what’s good and bad. Taking logical decisions on what we should and shouldn’t do based on our knowledge and experience.

dikaiosunê (justice/morality): The act of doing what is right and just — and maintaining this always, especially during difficult times. This idea of justice is about doing right by your community and how we act around others in accordance with the law. From a Stoic standpoint, justice is a duty to others around us and should guide decisions, especially through tumultuous times.

andreia (fortitude/courage): Courage is deciding how to act in trying times. Despite what many think, it is not the absence of anxieties and fears, but the way someone acts despite their anxiety and fear. The resilience in the face of adversity.

sôphrosunê** (temperance/moderation): Relates to moderation in every aspect of life. Not living a life of excess, having control over our impulses, emotions (good and bad), and favouring a goal of long term happiness and contentment over short term pleasures.

…end Harte…

Below: Donald J. Robertson

Stoics liked to have lists that could be easily committed to memory. Most obviously, there is their list of four cardinal virtues, which goes back at least as far as the portrayal of Socrates in the dialogues of Plato: Wisdom (sophia), Righteousness (dikaiosune), Fortitude (andreia), and Temperance**(sophrosune); or Wisdom, Justice, Courage, and Moderation, in more modern language. These virtues came to be represented by four corresponding animals in the traditional symbol known as the tetramorph: the man of wisdom, eagle of justice, lion of fortitude, and ox or bull of temperance.

**Temperance = Moderation
In Christian art, the tetramorph is the union of the symbols of the Four Evangelists, derived from the four living creatures in the Book of Ezekiel, into a single figure or, more commonly, a group of four figures. Each of the four Evangelists is associated with one of the living creatures, usually shown with wings. The most common association, but not the original or only, is: Mark the King, Lion; Luke the lowly Servant, Ox; Matthew the Angel; and John the Eagle

Something about the chivalric codes of the Middle Ages seems curiously akin to the ethical ideals of Stoicism. Ancient Stoic philosophy didn’t have an explicit code of honor, as far as we know. However, according to the doxographer Stobaeus, the Stoics maintained that the goal of their philosophy, “living in agreement with nature”, was synonymous with “living honorably”.

The doxographer Diogenes Laertius said that the Stoics described the supreme good as “honorable” because it consists of these four factors required for the perfection of human nature: the virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, and, as he writes, orderliness*** (self-discipline or moderation). The “honorable”, he says, denotes those qualities which make their possessor genuinely praiseworthy, by allowing him to fulfil his natural potential as a human being. The Stoics concluded therefore that the wise man alone is honorable and “that only the honorable is good”. The good and the honorable are synonymous, in other words.

*** Orderliness refers to self-discipline and moderation

We might briefly summarize the Stoic code of honor described below as follows:
Love the truth and seek wisdom
Act with justice, fairness, and kindness
Master your fears and be courageous
Master your desires and live with self-discipline

The Stoics regarded courage and moderation as two aspects of the discipline required to live consistently in accord with wisdom and justice, by mastering our fears and desires.

In addition to the four virtues, some of the Stoics also refer to a threefold rule of life, which Epictetus describes as the distinction between the Discipline of Assent, the Discipline of Action, and the Discipline of Desire and Aversion.

Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, defined the supreme goal as a “smoothly flowing life”, or “living in agreement with Nature”. For the Stoics this came to mean living consistently and in harmony with our own nature, as rational beings, with the rest of mankind, and with Nature as a whole, particularly the external events that befall us in life. For example, Marcus Aurelius uses this threefold model to express the basic Stoic code of conduct throughout The Meditations (Meditations, 8.7):

Every nature is contented when things go well for it; and things go well for a rational nature when it:

• never gives its assent to a false or doubtful impression
• directs its impulses only to actions that further the common good
• limits its desires and aversions only to things that are within its power
• welcomes all that is assigned to it by universal nature.

Moderation: Sacrifice in the Service of Wisdom and Justice
Through the virtue of moderation or temperance**, we limit our desires to what reason determines to be appropriate under the circumstances, renouncing excess and forbearing from over-indulgence.

As the famous maxim of the Delphic Oracle said: “nothing in excess” — all things in moderation.

…end Robertson