Ethics, Wisdom and Action in Paul Ricoeur

Paul Ricoeur rehabilitated the Aristotelian concept of "phronesis", translating it into practical wisdom, and dialectically conjugated it with the central concepts of the philosophy of Kant and Hegel. Practical wisdom corresponds to the later branch of ethics, participating in the dynamics of praxis, itself a tributary of an earlier ethics, anchored in life and desire. More than a system, a great hermeneutic bridge is built between a moral of teleological character and another, of deontological matrix. Practical wisdom participates in the tragic of human action, where it is often necessary to choose the lesser evil, and realizes the potential presupposed in the anthropological category of capable man. Rooted in the sense of justice and equity, as in Aristotle, practical wisdom is not understood as a case-by-case judgment, but takes into account experience, combining a teleological and deontological perspective.