Book 10 / Chapter 9
Paragraph 1 - The Limitations and Challenges of Moral Education
Explanation - Part By Part
"If these matters and the virtues, and also friendship and pleasure, have been dealt with sufficiently in outline, are we to suppose that our programme has reached its end? Surely, as the saying goes, where there are things to be done the end is not to survey and recognize the various things, but rather to do them; with regard to virtue, then, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it, or try any other way there may be of becoming good."
Aristotle is making a critical point here: understanding virtues, friendship, and pleasures conceptually is not the final goal. It’s one thing to discuss and analyze these concepts, but the real purpose is action. Simply knowing what virtue is and being aware of it is not enough; to live a good life, a person must actively practice virtue. Virtue is not just an intellectual exercise—it requires integration into daily life through habits, choices, and behaviors. Aristotle emphasizes that the ultimate aim isn't just theoretical knowledge but active application in becoming a good person.
"Now if arguments were in themselves enough to make men good, they would justly, as Theognis says, have won very great rewards, and such rewards should have been provided; but as things are, while they seem to have power to encourage and stimulate the generous-minded among our youth, and to make a character which is gently born, and a true lover of what is noble, ready to be possessed by virtue, they are not able to encourage the many to nobility and goodness."
Aristotle is saying that simply understanding and discussing ideas about virtue (moral goodness) isn't enough to actually make people virtuous or good in their actions. If arguments alone had the power to transform people into virtuous beings, they would deserve immense rewards, as Theognis (an ancient poet) suggests. However, in reality, arguments and discussions about virtue are most effective for those who are already open-minded, well-nurtured, and inclined towards appreciating what is noble and good. These types of people are encouraged and inspired by philosophical reasoning to pursue moral excellence. But for the majority, who may lack this disposition, arguments alone aren't enough to instill virtue or noble behavior.
"For these do not by nature obey the sense of shame, but only fear, and do not abstain from bad acts because of their baseness but through fear of punishment; living by passion they pursue their own pleasures and the means to them, and the opposite pains, and have not even a conception of what is noble and truly pleasant, since they have never tasted it."
Aristotle is saying here that some people lack an internal moral compass and are driven primarily by fear rather than a sense of shame or understanding of what is truly noble or good. These individuals don’t avoid bad actions because they recognize them as inherently wrong (their "baseness" as he puts it); instead, they refrain only because they’re afraid of punishment or consequences.
Further, Aristotle observes that these people live according to their passions—seeking immediate pleasures and avoiding pain—without a deeper grasp of what is authentically fulfilling or virtuous. Since they’ve never actually experienced the higher pleasures that come from noble actions or virtuous living, they have no way to understand or appreciate them. Essentially, their lives are ruled by surface-level desires and fears, rather than by deeper ethical reasoning or a striving toward something greater.
"What argument would remould such people? It is hard, if not impossible, to remove by argument the traits that have long since been incorporated in the character; and perhaps we must be content if, when all the influences by which we are thought to become good are present, we get some tincture of virtue."
Aristotle is making a sobering point here: some people's deeply ingrained habits and character traits are so set that it may be nearly impossible to change them just through reasoning or logical arguments. He emphasizes that transformation—especially moral or virtuous transformation—is not something that can typically be accomplished with words or instructions alone, particularly for those who are not naturally inclined to virtue.
In simple terms, he’s saying, “You can’t just talk someone into being a good person if they’ve spent their whole life shaped by opposing habits.” For those who lack a foundation for virtue—whether because of their upbringing, their ingrained desires, or their inability to see the nobility in virtuous actions—even the most well-reasoned arguments are unlikely to make them change their behavior.
At the same time, Aristotle suggests a more modest hope: even if profound change isn't achieved, perhaps exposure to the right influences (like good role models, laws, or education) can impart some small measure of virtue—a "tincture," as he puts it, which is like a faint trace or hint. He seems resigned to the idea that for certain individuals, this limited improvement might be the best we can realistically achieve.