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as a man who merely knows that chicken is wholesome; and in other
matters men of experience are more successful than theorists. And Prudence is concerned
with action, so one requires both forms of it, or indeed knowledge of particular facts
even more than knowledge of general principles. Though here too there must be some supreme
directing faculty.1
8.
Prudence is indeed the same quality of mind as Political Science, though their essence is
different.2
[2]
Of Prudence as regards the state, one kind, as supreme
and directive, is called Legislative Science3; the other, as dealing with particular occurrences, has the name,
Political Science, that really belongs to both kinds. The latter is concerned with action
and deliberation （for a parliamentary enactment is a thing to be done, being the
last step4 in a deliberative
process）, and this is why it is only those persons who deal with particular facts
who are spoken of as ‘taking part in politics,’ because it is only
they who perform actions, like the workmen in an industry.5
[3]
Prudence also is commonly understood to mean especially
that kind of wisdom which is concerned with oneself, the individual; and this is given the
name, Prudence, which really belongs to all the kinds, while the others are distinguished
as Domestic Economy, Legislature, and Political Science, the latter being subdivided into
Deliberative Science and Judicial Science.
[4]
Now knowledge
of one's own interest will certainly be one kind of Prudence; though it is very different
from the other kinds,
1 i.e., πολιτική, Political Science or Statesmanship （cf. Bk. 1.1, 2）, the relation of which to Prudence is next considered.
2 Cf. 5.1.20. Political Wisdom is not a special sort of Prudence but a special application of it, for though the term ‘Prudence’ is in ordinary usage confined to practical wisdom in one's private affairs, it really extends to the affairs of one's family and of the community.
3 In the Greek city-state legislature was not regarded as the normal function of parliament, but of a founder or reformer of the constitution, or of a special legislative commission.
4 Cf. 3.3.12.
5 In contrast with the law-giver and the master-craftsman respectively.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 19, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1934.
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