Book 4 / Chapter 3
Paragraph 2 - The Nature of Honour and Desert
Explanation - Part By Part
"If, then, he deserves and claims great things, and above all the great things, he will be concerned with one thing in particular. Desert is relative to external goods; and the greatest of these, we should say, is that which we render to the gods, and which people of position most aim at, and which is the prize appointed for the noblest deeds; and this is honour; that is surely the greatest of external goods."
Aristotle here explains that if someone is truly deserving of great things and claims those things appropriately, there is one central "great thing" they will focus on: honour. By "desert," he means what someone is rightly owed or deserves. He ties this idea of worthiness to "external goods," which are things outside of ourselves that society values, like wealth, power, or recognition. Among all these external goods, Aristotle identifies honour as the greatest. Why? Because it is the ultimate acknowledgment of a person's worth, tied to virtue and noble actions, and even something that we metaphorically "give to the gods." Honour, in Aristotle's view, is seen as the highest reward or recognition for living a virtuous and commendable life. It's what people in high positions eagerly seek, and it's what society views as the proper reward for their great and noble deeds.
"Honours and dishonours, therefore, are the objects with respect to which the proud man is as he should be. And even apart from argument it is with honour that proud men appear to be concerned; for it is honour that they chiefly claim, but in accordance with their deserts."
Aristotle is explaining that the concept of honour is central to the "proud man" (or what might be better understood as the "great-souled man"). For someone truly proud, their pride or sense of self-worth is tied to receiving the honour they genuinely deserve based on their merits. In other words, the proud man values honour – but only honours that are justly earned through real achievements or virtuous actions. Pride, here, isn't just an arrogant self-appraisal; it's a rightful recognition of one's worth, matched by external acknowledgement from others in the form of honour.
"The unduly humble man falls short both in comparison with his own merits and in comparison with the proud man's claims. The vain man goes to excess in comparison with his own merits, but does not exceed the proud man's claims."
Here, Aristotle is explaining two character extremes that deviate from the ideal of true pride (or what might be understood as a proper sense of dignity and self-worth).
1. The Unduly Humble Man: This is someone who underestimates themselves, believing they are worth less or deserve less than they truly do. Such a person "falls short" not only of their actual merits but also when compared to the confident and rightful claims of a truly proud person. In modern terms, this is the person who downplays their accomplishments or value, perhaps out of insecurity or a misplaced sense of modesty.
2. The Vain Man: On the other hand, vanity involves overestimating oneself. This person claims to deserve more than they actually merit. However, even the vain person does not go beyond the claims of a truly proud person, whose sense of worth is rooted in genuine greatness. In other words, the vain person is inflated in their self-assessment, but they are not aiming for more than what someone of true excellence (the proud man) could justifiably claim—they're just not worthy of those high claims themselves.
So, the humble person undervalues themselves, and the vain person overvalues themselves. True pride, for Aristotle, strikes the perfect balance: a person recognizes their worth accurately and claims honors accordingly, neither exaggerating nor selling themselves short.