Is a Contemporary Conservative Political Philosophy Based on the Aristotelian Concept of Phronesis Possible?

Hörcher, Ferenc (2013) Is a Contemporary Conservative Political Philosophy Based on the Aristotelian Concept of Phronesis Possible? HUNGARIAN PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW, 57 (4). pp. 109-120. ISSN 0025-0090

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Abstract

This essay – although aware of the contradiction in terms of the concept of conservative theory – tries to pick out some key notions within the conservative political mindset, and offers an analysis of them by relating them to one another. Beside Aristotelian phronesis or practical wisdom, it focuses on kairos, or the right moment for action. It points out that due to the time constraint inherent in the realm of political action, agents need to acquire a kind of tacit, practical knowledge of how to deal with pressing issues, and phronesis is a term which covers this sort of practical ability. The paper then tries to show that individual action is closely connected to communal interests, differentiates between formal and informal forms of communal knowledge and ends up by referring to Oakeshott’s, MacIntyre’s and Tocqueville’s ideas of communal wisdom and practice.

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