Humanitext Reader

Aristotle · Great Ethics §1.8.1-1.8.3

Virtue as a Mean Concerning Pleasures and Inherently Evil Vices

Passage 10 of 71 · Greek

Summary

The author discusses how a good or bad state is determined by whether it is directed toward a mean, and concludes that since virtue is a mean of passions, it is concerned with pleasures and pains. He also mentions exceptional vices like adultery, which are inherently wrong and not measured by degrees of excess or deficiency.

§1.8.1ὁμοίως καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων.
The same holds also in the case of all the others.
τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τῆς ἕξεως, τὸ εὖ ἢ κακῶς πρὸς ταῦτα ἔχειν, τὸ δ᾿ εὖ ἔχειν πρὸς ταῦτ᾿ ἐστὶν τὸ μήτε πρὸς τὴν ὑπερβολἦν ἔχειν μήτε πρὸς τὴν ἔνδειαν·
For this is characteristic of a state, namely, to be well or badly disposed toward these; and to be well disposed toward these is to be disposed neither toward excess nor toward deficiency.
§1.8.2πρὸς μεσότητα ἄρα τῶν τοιούτων καθ᾿ ἃ ἐπαινετοὶ λεγόμεθα ἡ ἕξις ἐστὶ τοῦ εὖ ἔχειν, τοῦ δὲ κακῶς πρὸς ὑπερβολὴν καὶ ἔνδειαν.
A state of being well disposed, therefore, is one directed toward a mean of such things, in respect of which we are called praiseworthy, whereas a state of being badly disposed is directed toward excess and deficiency.
ἐπεὶ τοίνυν ἐστὶν ἡ ἀρετὴ τῶν παθῶν τούτων μεσότης, τὰ δὲ πάθη ἤτοι λῦπαί εἰσιν ἢ ἡδοναὶ ἢ οὐκ ἄνευ λύπης ἢ ἡδονῆς· ἡ ἄρα ἀρετή ἐστιν περὶ λύπας καὶ ἡδονάς, καὶ ἐντεῦθέν ἐστι δῆλον.
Since, then, virtue is a mean of these passions, and passions are either pains or pleasures, or not without pain or pleasure, it is therefore clear from this also that virtue is concerned with pains and pleasures.
§1.8.3ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλα πάθη, ὡς δόξειεν ἄν τινι, ἐφ' ὧν ἡ κακία οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ὑπερβολῇ καὶ ἐλλείψει τινί, οἷον μοιχεία καὶ ὁ μοιχός· οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος ὁ μᾶλλον τὰς ἐλευθέρας διαφθείρων.
But there are also other passions, as it might seem to someone, in the case of which vice does not consist in a certain excess and deficiency, such as adultery and the adulterer; for the latter is not someone who seduces free women more.
ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τοιοῦτόν ἐστίν, ὃ περιέχεται ἡδονῇ τῇ κατ᾿ ἀκολασίαν, ἢ καὶ ὃ ἐν ἐλλείψει καὶ ὃ ἐν ὑπερβολῇ τὸ ψεκτὸν ἔχει.
Rather, both this and whatever else of this kind exists are enveloped in the pleasure associated with self-indulgence, or rather, it is that which has its blameworthiness in deficiency or in excess.

Notes

  1. 1.8.1τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τῆς ἕξεως, τὸ εὖ ἢ κακῶς πρὸς ταῦτα ἔχειν — The genitive τῆς ἕξεως functions as a possessive/characteristic genitive, interpreted as 'this is characteristic of a state (ἕξις).' The subject is the appositive infinitive phrase τὸ εὖ ἢ κακῶς πρὸς ταῦτα ἔχειν (being well or badly disposed toward these).
  2. 1.8.2πρὸς μεσότητα ἄρα τῶν τοιούτων καθ᾿ ἃ ἐπαινετοὶ λεγόμεθα ἡ ἕξις ἐστὶ τοῦ εὖ ἔχειν, τοῦ δὲ κακῶς πρὸς ὑπερβολὴν καὶ ἔνδειαν. — A complex structure involving parallelism and ellipsis. The first part, ἡ ἕξις ἐστὶ τοῦ εὖ ἔχειν πρὸς μεσότητα (the state of being well disposed is toward the mean), is contrasted with the second part, where (ἡ ἕξις) τοῦ δὲ κακῶς (ἐστὶ) πρὸς ὑπερβολὴν καὶ ἔνδειαν must be supplied to show that the state of being badly disposed is toward excess and deficiency. The relative clause καθ᾿ ἃ... can refer either to τῶν τοιούτων (such things, i.e., passions) or to ἕξις, but following the previous discussion (1.7.2–3), it is most naturally understood as 'in respect of which (states) we are said to be praiseworthy.'
  3. 1.8.3οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος ὁ μᾶλλον τὰς ἐλευθέρας διαφθείρων. — The adverb μᾶλλον (more, or rather) is used here to deny the view that vice depends on the 'degree or frequency of an action' (excess and deficiency). The adulterer is not defined quantitatively as someone who 'seduces free women more than others,' but rather the act itself is inherently an excess (bad).
  4. 1.8.3ὃ ἐν ἐλλείψει καὶ ὃ ἐν ὑπερβολῇ τὸ ψεκτὸν ἔχει — This relative clause explains that actions like adultery do not become bad because of a 'excess or deficiency in degree,' but rather that such actions themselves inherently contain (ἔχει) a blameworthy nature as being already in the category of 'deficiency or excess.'

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Great Ethics §1.8.1-1.8.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg022.humanitext-grc1:1.8.1-1.8.3

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