Book 2 / Chapter 7
Paragraph 1 - The Particulars of Conduct and Moral Virtues
Explanation - Part By Part
"We must, however, not only make this general statement, but also apply it to the individual facts. For among statements about conduct those which are general apply more widely, but those which are particular are more genuine, since conduct has to do with individual cases, and our statements must harmonize with the facts in these cases."
Aristotle is emphasizing that while general principles are useful for understanding human behavior, they aren't enough on their own. Real ethical evaluation must take into account specific, individual situations because human conduct is inherently tied to particular, real-life cases. In other words, ethics isn't just about broad, abstract rules—it’s about how those principles align with and guide actions in real-world scenarios.
"We may take these cases from our table. With regard to feelings of fear and confidence courage is the mean; of the people who exceed, he who exceeds in fearlessness has no name (many of the states have no name), while the man who exceeds in confidence is rash, and he who exceeds in fear and falls short in confidence is a coward."
Aristotle dives into specific emotions and behaviors to illustrate his idea of the "mean," or balance, in virtues. Using fear and confidence as examples, he explains that courage is the balanced middle ground. If someone has too much confidence and lacks sufficient fear, they are reckless or rash—they take unnecessary risks. On the other hand, if someone is overly fearful and lacks confidence, they are a coward—they avoid challenges or dangers excessively. Interestingly, Aristotle points out that there isn't always a term for every imbalance; for example, someone who has too little fearlessness doesn't have a specific label. This reflects how language and society sometimes fail to capture all these extremes.
"With regard to pleasures and pains- not all of them, and not so much with regard to the pains- the mean is temperance, the excess self-indulgence. Persons deficient with regard to the pleasures are not often found; hence such persons also have received no name. But let us call them 'insensible'."
Aristotle focuses here on how we should handle pleasures and pains, specifically pointing out that balance is key. He identifies temperance as the "mean" (the virtuous middle ground) when it comes to pleasures. What does this mean? It’s the ability to enjoy pleasures without overindulging or letting them control you.
On the flip side, there’s excess, which he calls self-indulgence. This applies to people who give in too much to pleasures—they let their desires and cravings rule their actions, often to their own detriment.
Interestingly, Aristotle also talks about the opposite extreme: a deficiency in pleasure. This refers to people who reject or avoid pleasures completely, to the point where they can't even enjoy life's natural joys (like good food or companionship). Since this is rare, there wasn’t even a name for it in his time, but he proposes to call such people "insensible".
In other words, the message here is to avoid both extremes. Being overly indulgent or completely devoid of enjoyment in life is unhealthy, but finding a balanced and thoughtful relationship with pleasures is a mark of virtue.