Prudence is one of the four
cardinal virtues (the other are Temperance, Fortitude and Justice). Like the
other three, it is a virtue that can be practiced by anyone; the cardinal
virtues are not the gifts of God through grace but the outgrowth of habit. Many
Catholics think prudence simply refers to the practical application of moral
principles.
Prudence requires us to
distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Thus, as Father Hardon
writes, "It is the intellectual virtue whereby a human being recognizes in
any matter at hand what is good and what is evil." If we mistake the evil
for the good, we are not exercising prudence—in fact, we are showing our lack
of it.
It has been called the
“charioteer of the virtues” since it helps control and moderate all of the
other manly virtues we possess. Here’s how the Catechism defines it:
Prudence is the virtue that
disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to
choose the right means of achieving it; “the prudent man looks where he is
going.”
The majority of us today
sincerely believe that they have a fundamental right to choose any action,
regardless of its morality, without consequences.
But it is what we choose that
matters, and that’s where prudence comes in. Prudence helps us apply what we
know to be right and true, to situations in everyday life and make good choices
as a result. Put another way, prudence helps us to be “doers of the word, and
not hearers only,” as St. James says.
We all want to be happy, and we
want to act in a way that will make us happy. This means we have to learn how
to act well, which in turn involves an acquisition of virtue. Virtue is about
doing the right things, and if we do the right things, we will become happy.
But what is the first thing we need if we want to do the right thing? Well
obviously, we need to know what the right thing to do is. This is where
prudence comes into the picture.
Prudence is the art of taking
moral principles and applying them to concrete situations. Let's take some
examples. We all know the maxim: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
This is a general moral principle. But even after we learn this principle, the
question still remains, "How do I love this neighbor, here and now?"
We still have to take the general moral principle and make it concrete in
particular situations. To take a second case, the Church teaches that
drunkenness is a grave sin, which we should avoid. But how do I avoid
drunkenness, here and now? Prudence tells me when I should stop drinking; what
beer or glass of wine should be my last. Or what about the principle that
sexual activity must be reserved for marriage? Practically speaking, how do I
protect my sexuality from misuse? Prudence therefore demands two aspects:
Firstly, knowing the principles,
that is, knowing what the goods of human nature are, and that we must work
towards them and never against them. Consequently, it is never prudent,
regardless of the situation, to act against the moral principles. There is no
such thing as a prudent abortion, because it always violates the good of
innocent human life.
Secondly, knowing how to apply
the principles to the concrete situation. The first part is knowing the goals;
the second part is knowing how to choose the means for obtaining the goal. With
prudence, we look at every decision in light of the ultimate goal, that is,
goodness and happiness.
Prudence is a lot like going on a
vacation. The first thing you have to do before going on a vacation is figuring
out a destination. Where do you want to go? You have to figure out the best way
to reach the destination. How you pack and prepare for the trip depends on
where you're going. As we make all our individual decisions, we need to keep
our ultimate goal in mind. That's prudence: selecting the right means for
bringing us towards happiness.
There are several steps we must all take if we want to
practice prudence in our choices.
Step one: Deliberation. This is the
stage where we gather all the relevant information, starting with a
consideration of moral principles. This includes an awareness and acceptance of
the authoritative teaching of the Church's Magisterium; since the Church's
teaching gives us true principles, it's important to see if they teach anything
definitively about the issue at hand. For example, if the Church says that a
certain act is immoral, then you don't need to deliberate about that act any
more; you know not to do it. While deliberating, we must also give a careful
examination of the concrete situation, to be sure that we have understood it as
fully as possible. It is also sometimes advisable to take counsel with those
who are themselves experienced, prudent, and knowledgeable about the matter at
hand. With this step it is absolutely critical that we be completely honest.
Prudence is about truth, the
truth of what is and what must be done. It is the truth that sets us free;
remember, we have to know what is true before we are free to do what is good.
So we can't let our own feelings or preferences get in the way of a true
understanding of the facts.
Today, married couples,
government officials, and even moral theorists never seem to be able to agree
about the right thing to do in any situation. This is because they base their
decisions on feelings and preferences, not on truth. One of the major crises of the modern world
is that we go on feelings instead of truth. This is the error that we have to
overcome in our own lives; we must base our decisions on a careful and
conscious examination of the truth. So often we don't deliberate honestly, but
rather focus on the aspects of the situation that we want to see. Prudence
demands openness to the whole truth of the situation.
Failure to deliberate is called
rashness or thoughtlessness. This is when someone just rushes headlong into
everything, without ever taking a moment to think it over. It is very dangerous
to "act without thinking," to not consider carefully enough before
action. If you don't reflect on your decisions beforehand, you will make really
stupid decisions. Look at the options, seek advice, pray to God for His
guidance, reflect, and take a reasonable amount of time before you act.
Step two: Judgment. After
deliberating, we must weigh all the evidence fairly, and then figure out the
best course of action. Judgment separates the relevant information from the
irrelevant information, and then applies it to the problem at hand. You can't
just think about something forever; you have to come to some sort of
conclusion. Failure to make a judgment is called indecision. Thinking about some
issue without actually arriving at a practical result does no one any good.
Step three: Execution.
Once we judge the right thing to do, we have got to act! If you figure out the
proper action, but then fail to perform it, what's the benefit? You do not have
the virtue of prudence until you actually do what you have judged to be right.
Failure to carry out what you believe to be the proper decision is called
irresoluteness. Plenty of people make hoards of decisions, and never manage to
keep any of them. They can't be faithful to a resolution. One day they've
decided to do this major in college, then they change their minds and decide to
do that major. The same happens in the case of jobs, or vocations. Such people
suffer from the vice of inconstancy.
A helpful exercise might be to
analyze these three stages and see where it is that you most often fail in your
own life. Are you thoughtless? Indecisive? Inconstant and undependable? Once
you identify your weakness, you can make the conscious decision to work on that
area of prudence, and so hopefully improve in this fundamental virtue.
One very helpful technique for
strengthening prudence is the following rule:
Take your time in consideration,
but once you have reached a judgment, act quickly and decisively. It is unwise
to rethink an act when you're in the process of carrying it out. Think about it
before you begin it, and then just do it. Also, don't wait until you have
absolute certainty before making a practical decision. As Josef Pieper states, "The
prudent man... does not deceive himself with false certainties."1 Remember
that practical matters don't have the same logical exactness or clarity as
mathematical equations, so if you wait until you've perfectly proven the right
thing to do, you'll never do anything. All you can do is to try and understand
the situation as best you can, given the information and time available. Then
make a decision and carry it out faithfully.
We have to realize that every
practical decision entails risk; there is no security that our decision will
not result in difficult consequences. But we must be able to make decisions and
act with abandonment and trust to divine providence. After we go through the
necessary steps of prudence (deliberation, judgment, and execution), we've done
our part, and we leave the rest to God. At that point we need faith in Him,
faith that He'll use even our imperfect human choices in bringing about His
plan. Even if we don't see externally discernible results or successes coming
from our attempts at prudential decision-making, God may be doing great things
with our efforts. Many holy people died in apparent failure (Isaac Jogues,
Louis Marie DeMontfort, even Our Lord Himself), but God used their work to
bring about wonderful changes in the Church and the world.
We can also remember the
following:
Anger. A prudent person will,
whenever possible, avoid making a decision while he is angry. He will sleep on
it, postpone it or put it aside until he can weigh things calmly and coolly.
Lust. Lust can be a very powerful
feeling, with the potential to negatively influence our ability to think
clearly. In fact, there is nothing like desire to interfere with the proper
working of our reason. St. Thomas Aquinas goes so far as to say that imprudence
is caused chiefly by lust.2 The prudent person will step back and give himself
space and time before allowing himself to be ruled by lust.
Discouragement. When we are close
to despair, our view on reality will be skewed. We will be overly pessimistic,
and so the decisions we make will be based on error. Having suffered a failure,
or fallen in sin, or having made a stupid move; all these things discourage us,
and so we should avoid decisions at such times.
Remember, prudence is about allowing the
truth, not feelings, to determine our choices.
Since
prudence is not a choice, but rather something that governs our choices, it is
a more difficult virtue to acquire. Still, it isn’t impossible, and here are at
least three ways to become a more prudent person
1. Learn
from your mistakes: Many times in life, we make painful or humiliating choices.
When this happens, we can either feel sorry for ourselves, or we can learn from
our mistakes and gain wisdom. If we choose to learn from our mistakes, our
deposit of knowledge builds up over time, providing us with a reservoir of
experience that we can use to make prudent choices.
2. Learn
from others: If there’s one lesson the wisdom books of Scripture (Wisdom,
Sirach, Proverbs, etc.) seek to drive home, it is the importance of learning from
those who are older than wiser than we are. This takes humility, but if we can
borrow the experience of others to fill our prudential reservoir, it will save
us from many painful lessons.
3.
Consider carefully: Sometimes our impulsiveness can be a good thing, but most
of the time it is not. When faced with a choice, we need to control our desire
to leap into action, and instead carefully consider the ramifications of our
choices. As St. Augustine said, “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
In conclusion, prudence is about smart living. It's not just about being smart in school, or being a smart tennis player, or being smart in business. It's about being smart in life, and just like all the other virtues, this takes practice. Experience, too, is a great aid to prudence, not just your own, but also the experience of others. Seeking counsel of wise persons can be very valuable. Most importantly, you want to seek out the counsel of the wisest persons: The Blessed Trinity, Our Lady, the saints and angels. Go to them in prayer, and ask for their wisdom and guidance in making the right decisions in your life. Read the Scriptures, or the Lives of the Saints, for insights on how to make prudent choices.
