What is Digital Phronêsis?

What is Phronêsis? This concept is defined in the neo-Aristotelian sense as “an intellectual meta-virtue, adjudicating the courses of action recommended by various moral virtues through integrative, holistic, critical metacognition.” (Kristjánsson et al., 2021, p. 244). Digital phronêsis emphasizes the human aspect of the human-machine interface, which will be of greater importance to military leaders in future conflicts.

Organizations need knowledge and wisdom to make the right decisions in the digital era (Schiuma et al., 2021). Aristotle described different states of knowledge: episteme, techno, and phronêsis. Episteme was the scientific and objective knowledge that reflects the need to understand the world around us, while techne was the knowledge of ‘know-how’ in making products and services (Bratianu & Bejinaru, 2023). Phronêsis integrated wisdom and decision-making guided by internal and external values (Bratianu & Bejinaru, 2023). Schiuma et al. (2021) indicated that digital transformation required a leadership style that supported decision-making in complex environments and “fosters digital transformation and continuous digital innovation” (p.3) while at the same time propagating the organization’s transformed digital culture. Organizations need digital leaders as change agents who “are wise and able to make the right decisions in times of uncertainty and continuous changes, but who are also transformative and digital-oriented” (Nonaka &Takeuchi, 2019 in Schiuma et al., 2021).

Why would this matter for military leaders? Major-General (Retired) Mick Ryan (2023), former Commander of the Australian Defence College, published a science fiction novel, White Sun War: Campaign for Taiwan. This fictional account of the invasion of Taiwan, describing a direct confrontation between China and the United States of America, was set in 2028, and it presented a war that was filled with people fighting alongside autonomous war-fighting robots, cyber and information warfare, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled targeting with hypersonic missiles. Ryan (2023) illustrated how challenging tactical military problems, like an amphibious assault on a well-defended beach, could easily be tackled by digitally enabled machines and highlighted the difference in experiences between those soldiers comfortable with technology and those not. Through science fiction, Ryan (2023) illustrated how digitization changed militaries and provided a vision of the digital transformation of war. Science fiction has been commissioned as part of military foresight and used for military professional development (PD) to develop a professional understanding of future challenges (Klug & Leonard, 2021; Marshall et al., 2023; Minvielle & Wathelet, 2020; National Defence, 2005). Ryan’s depiction of this digitally sophisticated battlespace, with cyber and space operations supported by robotics and AI that challenged military leaders to make difficult decisions faster and with greater reliance on technology, was illustrative of the potential battlefields militaries will face in a digital era.

References

Bratianu, C., & Bejinaru, R. (2023). From Knowledge to Wisdom: Looking beyond the Knowledge Hierarchy. Knowledge, 3(2), 196–214. https://doi.org/10.3390/knowledge3020014

Klug, J., & Leonard (Eds.). (2021). To Boldly Go: Leadership, Strategy, and Conflict in the 21st Century and Beyond. Casemate Publishers.

Kristjánsson, K., Fowers, B., Darnell, C., & Pollard, D. (2021). Phronesis (Practical Wisdom) as a Type of Contextual Integrative Thinking. Review of General Psychology, 25(3), 239–257. https://doi.org/10.1177/10892680211023063

Marshall, H., Wilkins, K., & Bennett, L. (2023). Story thinking for technology foresight. Futures, 146, 103098. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2023.103098

Minvielle, N., & Wathelet, O. (2020). On the Use of Science Fiction for Conflict Foresight. European Union Institute for Security Studies.

National Defence, G. of Canada. (2005). Crisis in Zefra. Canadian Army Press.

Ryan, M. (2023). White Sun War: The Campaign For Taiwan. Casemate Publishers.

Schiuma, G., Schettini, E., & Santarsiero, F. (2021). How Wise Companies Drive Digital Transformation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(2), 122. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc7020122