page_title: Prudence
section_title: Integral parts
hierarchical_section_title: Prudence / Integral parts
caption_attribution_description: Third window, south chapel, All Saints Church, Lindfield, West Sussex. Made in or after 1906 by Christopher Whall.
context_page_description: Prudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four Cardinal virtues. Prudentia is an allegorical female personification of the virtue, whose attributes are a mirror and snake, who is frequently depicted as a pair with Justitia, the Roman goddess of Justice.
  The word derives from the 14th-century Old French word prudence, which, in turn, derives from the Latin prudentia meaning "foresight, sagacity". It is often associated with wisdom, insight, and knowledge. In this case, the virtue is the ability to judge between virtuous and vicious actions, not only in a general sense, but with regard to appropriate actions at a given time and place. Although prudence itself does not perform any actions, and is concerned solely with knowledge, all virtues had to be regulated by it. Distinguishing when acts are courageous, as opposed to reckless or cowardly, is an act of prudence, and for this reason it is classified as a cardinal virtue.
  In modern English, the word has become increasingly synonymous with cautiousness.
context_section_description: Prudence is the application of universal principles to particular situations. "Integral parts" of virtues, in Scholastic philosophy, are the elements that must be present for any complete or perfect act of the virtue. The following are the integral parts of prudence:
  Memoria : accurate memory; that is, memory that is true to reality; an ability to learn from experience;
  Docilitas : an open-mindedness that recognizes variety and is able to seek and make use of the experience and authority of others;
  Intelligentia : the understanding of first principles;
  Sollertia : shrewdness or quick-wittedness, i.e. the ability to evaluate a situation quickly;
  Ratio : Discursive reasoning and the ability to research and compare alternatives;
  Providentia : foresight – i.e. the capacity to estimate whether particular actions can realize goals;
  Circumspection : the ability to take all relevant circumstances into account;
  Caution : the ability to mitigate risk.
caption: Justice and Prudence window, Lindfield. Third window, south chapel, All Saints Church, Lindfield, West Sussex. Made in or after 1906 by Christopher Whall.
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