That is why practical wisdom, prudentia, is a virtue indivisibly moral and intellectual at the same time, and why, like the judgment of the conscience itself, it cannot be replaced by any sort of theoretical knowledge or science.”
[21] Socrates’ criticism of the speech of Lysias (263 d ff.) is that the latter defended a position without having submitted it to the discipline of dialectic.
[22] Mortimer J. Adler, Dialectic (New York, 1927), p. 75.
[23] Cf. Adler, op. cit., pp. 243-44: Dialectic “is a kind of thinking which satisfies these two values: in the essential inconclusiveness of its process, it avoids ever resting in belief, or in the assertion of truth; through its utter restriction to the universe of discourse and its disregard for whatever reference discourse may have toward actuality, it is barren of any practical issue. It can make no difference in the way of conduct.”
[24] Adler, op. cit., p. 224.
[25] All quotations are given verbatim from The World’s Most Famous Court Trial (National Book Company, Cincinnati, 1925), a complete transcript.
[26] Hosea 12:10 “I have also spoken unto the prophets, and have multiplied visions, and by the ministry of the prophets I have used similitudes.”
[27] Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke (London, 1855-64), VI, 18-19. Hereafter referred to as Works.
[28] Loc. cit.
[29] Works, II, 155.