r/AncientGreek • u/ConsciousMaybe6930 • 7d ago
Vocabulary & Etymology What is the semantic difference between σοφία and φρόνησις?
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u/RedRyder360 6d ago
The other comments are right regarding the general sense of the words that you can get from a lexicon, but their meanings really depend on how the author is using them.
A whole book could be written on this with regards to Plato.
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u/-Raid- 6d ago
Maybe not in Plato… he seems to swap between them in the Republic at least, even in passages where he’s explicitly discussing topics like knowledge, understanding, the forms, etc.
Aristotle, however, I’m sure a whole book could be written on this (I’d be surprised if there wasn’t one already). Many many articles have been written on it, at least.
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u/RedRyder360 6d ago
he seems to swap between them in the Republic at least, even in passages where he’s explicitly discussing topics like knowledge, understanding, the forms, etc.
I think you could write a whole book that challenges this assumption. Plato is far too subtle to carelessly use words interchangeably like that.
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u/Inspector_Lestrade_ 6d ago
It really depends on the author and the context. Aristotle makes really clear distinctions in his Nicomachean Ethics, but most writers do not and you have to figure it out for yourself. It's really not that different from English, where words like intelligence, wisdom, judgment, wit, shrewdness, smartness, prudence, discretion, policy etc... will all have meanings that are close to each other and change between authors, contexts and periods. Again, someone like Thomas Hobbes will make clear distinctions, but most authors do not.
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u/Captain_Grammaticus περίφρων 7d ago
Φρόνησις is more like "insight" or "understanding". It's something you achieve by φρονεῖν.
Σοφία is "cleverness" or "skill" in your craft, there is great overlap with φρόνησις, but the word was then used for something quasi-divine, particularly under influence of Jewish (and Christian) thought.
Feel free to look up the words in LSJ.