明智——一个道德的人必备的理智德性

在亚里士多德的伦理学中,明智作为实践的理性不同于知识等理论理性,它指导伦理德性的形成,是理性在道德活动中实践的能力。同前辈苏格拉底和柏拉图相比,亚里士多德的美德伦理思想不仅强调理性认知,而且强调了理性在道德实践过程中的重要作用。明智作为关键性的理智德性,充分体现了亚里士多德的这种既强调理性又注重实践的伦理思想的特质。

Practical Wisdom:An Intellectual Virtue That a Moral Person Must Possess

In Aristotles ethics,practical wisdom,as practical reason,is different from the theoretical reason such as knowledge.It is a practical ability of reason in moral action for its guidence to formation of moral virtue.Compared with Socrates and Plato,Aristotle stressed not only the reason of knowledge but the important function in the process of moral practice in his virtue theories.As a critical intellectual virtue,practical wisdom embodies the character of Aristotles virtue theories which focuses on both reason and moral practice.