Prudence and Courage

Just as Aristotle spoke of phronesis, or prudence, as a virtue, Josef Pieper discusses prudence and claims that it is the most essential and most necessary of all the virtues. He calls it “the mother of all virtues.” In fact, he supposes that without prudence, other virtues cannot exist. Furthermore, he claims that from prudence comes unity of the virtues – the idea that if you have one virtue, you have them all. Prudence can be described as the ability to make good choices. It is concerned directly with choosing appropriate means to some end. Furthermore, it is closely related to conscience and “right reason”.

Depending on the definition of courage, I once thought that one can be courageous but lack prudence. For example, if courage means fearlessly putting yourself in danger for the good of others, then one can imagine a situation where one could make a foolish, yet courageous act. For instance, if president Obama put his life on the line for some individual citizen, however courageous, it would surely not be prudent. For, if he were to put himself in danger, our country could find itself in a state of leaderless disorder. Surely his national contributions are more objectively vital than assisting a single individual.

However, according to Pieper, courage is only virtuous if it is done in accordance with prudence. He would suggest that a non-prudent courageous act does not exemplify courage at all. As Aristotle might put it, it would be rashness – the excess of courage. To Pieper, courage means making oneself vulnerable to a recognized danger with the prudent knowledge that they are doing it for some deeper, greater good. Thus, courage depends on prudence.