Book 10 / Chapter 4
Paragraph 2 - The Nature of Pleasure as a Whole
Explanation - Part By Part
"From these considerations it is clear, too, that these thinkers are not right in saying there is a movement or a coming into being of pleasure."
Aristotle is arguing against the idea that pleasure is something that develops or unfolds over time, like a process or a "movement." He says that pleasure is not something that slowly "comes into being" or progresses toward completion. Instead, it is immediate and whole—it exists fully at the moment it happens. Unlike a process, such as building a house (which has stages and only reaches completion at the end), pleasure doesn't require future moments to become complete. It’s already complete as soon as it is experienced.
"For these cannot be ascribed to all things, but only to those that are divisible and not wholes; there is no coming into being of seeing nor of a point nor of a unit,"
Aristotle is emphasizing that certain things in life cannot be divided or broken down into smaller, incomplete stages. They exist as complete, indivisible "wholes" from the very moment they occur. As examples, he mentions "seeing," a "point," and a "unit." These things don’t “come into being” gradually or in parts—they just are. For instance, when you see something, the act of seeing happens entirely in that moment; there’s no half-seeing or progressing toward seeing.
The same logic is applied to other indivisible entities, like a point in geometry (a point is just there without becoming a "half-point") or a unit in math (a single 1 doesn't develop—it simply exists as a whole). Aristotle uses these examples to suggest that pleasure, too, is a complete thing by nature. It doesn’t unfold as a process or step-by-step creation but rather exists fully as soon as it is experienced.
"nor is any of these a movement or coming into being; therefore there is no movement or coming into being of pleasure either; for it is a whole."
Aristotle is emphasizing that pleasure is not something that gradually "comes into being" like a process or movement does. For example, if you're building something—a house, for instance—that process "moves" toward completion and is only finished when all the pieces are put together. But pleasure is not like that. Pleasure is considered a whole, meaning it's complete in itself and does not require additional parts or time to be fully realized. In other words, when you're experiencing pleasure, you're experiencing it fully in that moment. It's not something you "build up to"; it doesn't grow bit by bit like constructing a building or walking a racecourse. It just is, in its entirety.