- 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.