Study Guide

The Nicomachean Ethics Book 6, Chapter 7 (1141a9-1141b23)

Book 6, Chapter 7 (1141a9-1141b23)

Aristotle moves on to wisdom—which he calls a "most precise" kind of knowledge.
Wisdom is also universal and eternal, unchanged by any variables or opinions.
In this, it differs from prudence and the political art, since both deliberate about how to achieve the good (which can mean lots of different things in different situations).
Aristotle defines wisdom as "science and intellectual grasp of things most honorable by nature."
Wisdom, unlike prudence, is concerned with hard knowledge—of things that "do not admit to being otherwise."
Wise people aren't worried about things like practical thinking or action.
This often makes them seem useless, since a wise person doesn't know how to act even for his own good.
A prudent person is good at thrashing out what's best to do, according to his opinions or convictions. He's concerned with particular things rather than general, universal knowledge.
So you can actually be without wisdom or knowledge and still be a prudent person because of experience.

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