Dhananjay Jagannathan was trained in classics and philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin; Balliol College, Oxford; St John's College, Cambridge; and the University of Chicago, where he received his PhD in 2017. He previously taught at Dartmouth College and has been on the faculty of Columbia University since 2017. His articles have appeared in Philosophy & Literature, Apeiron, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, and Ergo. [He is currently Assistant Professor of Philosophy, and Director of Graduate Studies of the Classical Studies Program, at Columbia University.]
In this clearly written book, Jagannathan (Columbia Univ.) places himself in the center of that discussion. He argues that phronesis is clearly knowledge, but it is not scientific knowledge. It is not deductive, and its conclusions are not necessary truths (as, for instance, the laws of physics). It is different kind of knowledge-a knowledge that can motivate people to act wisely and whose conclusions are what would be the goals of a wise person. Jagannathan's book, though not the last word, has made a real contribution to the historic discussion of what makes wisdom practical. * J. F. Richeimer, Choice *