phronimos

Phronimos (Greek: φρόνιμος) is typically translated as "prudent" or "practical-minded" and is a central term in Aristotle's ethics. It designates a person who possesses phronesis, practical wisdom: the moral and deliberative capacity to reason well about what to do in concrete life situations. The term emphasizes action-oriented discernment guided by virtue, rather than mere theoretical knowledge.

In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, the phronimos is able to deliberate well about human goods and the means to achieve them. Such a person has both virtuous character and practical wisdom; without virtue, deliberation is unreliable. The phronimos recognizes the appropriate time, place, and motive for action and seeks the mean relative to us in particular circumstances.

The phronimos is distinct from other kinds of knowers. He is not simply a sage with theoretical wisdom (sophos) or a craftsman with technical skill (techne). While sophos knows universal principles, the phronimos must assess particulars and make judgments about actions where no exact rule governs the situation. For this reason, practical wisdom is often viewed as inseparable from virtuous character in Aristotle’s account.

In later philosophy, the concept has influenced discussions of practical reason and moral decision-making within virtue ethics. Phronimos remains a useful standard for evaluating moral agents: the being who can discern and act rightly in the complexities of everyday life, rather than knowing what is good in theory alone.