Phronesis and the Autonomy of the Will; a Comparative Study of the Moral Foundations of Aristotle and Kant Philosophies

Sarebannejad, M.

doi:10.58209/jpt.5.4.515

Phronesis and the Autonomy of the Will; a Comparative Study of the Moral Foundations of Aristotle and Kant Philosophies

Document Type : Original Research

Author

M. Sarebannejad

Department of Advanced Studies of Art, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.58209/jpt.5.4.515

Abstract

The concept of phronesis in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, as practical reason, functions as the connecting link between moral and intellectual virtues and represents wisdom oriented toward judgment in particular situations of human life. In contrast, Kant in the Critique of Practical Reason, through the principle of autonomy of the will, conceives reason as the source of moral law and the foundation of the subject’s self-sufficiency. This article, using a comparative approach, analyzes the conceptual relation between Aristotelian phronesis and Kantian autonomy, and, in light of Gadamer’s hermeneutical philosophy as a complementary theory, examines the possibility of a historical and situational interpretation of practical reason. It concludes that, across these three frameworks, practical reason evolves from lived wisdom to transcendental law and finally to historical understanding, establishing a dynamic link among Aristotle, Kant, and Gadamer.

Keywords

Phronesis

Autonomy of the Will

Practical Reason

Moral Philosophy

Aristotle

Kant

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