The Ethics of Aristotle - Penn State Hazleton

The Ethics of Aristotlethe mean between him and the man of Imperfect Self-Control:that is to say, the latter fails to abide by them because ofsomewhat too much, the former because of somewhat toolittle; while the man of Self-Control abides by them, and neverchanges by reason of anything else than such conclusions.Now of course since Self-Control is good both the contraryStates must be bad, as indeed they plainly are: but becausethe one of them is seen in few persons, and but rarelyin them, Self-Control comes to be viewed as if opposed onlyto the Imperfection of it, just as Perfected Self-Mastery isthought to be opposed only to utter want of Self-Control.[Sidenote: 1152a] Again, as many terms are used in theway of similitude, so people have come to talk of the Self-Control of the man of Perfected Self-Mastery in the way ofsimilitude: for the man of Self-Control and the man of PerfectedSelf-Mastery have this in common, that they do nothingagainst Right Reason on the impulse of bodily pleasures,but then the former has bad desires, the latter not; and thelatter is so constituted as not even to feel pleasure contraryto his Reason, the former feels but does not yield to it. Likeagain are the man of Imperfect Self-Control and he who isutterly destitute of it, though in reality distinct: both followbodily pleasures, but the latter under a notion that it is theproper line for him to take, his former without any suchnotion.XAnd it is not possible for the same man to be at once a manof Practical Wisdom and of Imperfect Self-Control: becausethe character of Practical Wisdom includes, as we showedbefore, goodness of moral character. And again, it is notknowledge merely, but aptitude for action, which constitutesPractical Wisdom: and of this aptitude the man of ImperfectSelf-Control is destitute. But there is no reason why the Cleverman should not be of Imperfect Self-Control: and the reasonwhy some men are occasionally thought to be men ofPractical Wisdom, and yet of Imperfect Self-Control, is this,that Cleverness differs from Practical Wisdom in the way Istated in a former book, and is very near it so far as the intellectualelement is concerned but differs in respect of the moralchoice.166