GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

ARISTOTLE'S MOJLALS AND POLITICS 99
for example, is a mean between the extreme! of timidity
and recklessness; a generous action, between those of
meanness and extravagance, while a due modesty is a
mean between grovelling humility and overweening
arrogance. And, since a good character is one which
habitually expresses itself in right actions, Aristotle proceeds
to define goodness of character as "a settled con*
dition of the soul which wills or chooses the mean relatively
to ourselves, this mean being determined by a rule or
whatever we like to call that by which the wise man
determines it 4
'.
Support for the Doctrine of the Mean. Advocacy
of the doctrine of the mean as the path to virtue is by
no means confined to Aristotle. Of the truth embodied
in Aristotle's doctrines popular thinking has always been
keenly aware. By such maxims as "Nothing too much".,
"Enough is as good as a feast", "Wisdom consists in
knowing where to stop", it testifies its recognition of
the value of the mean. The following is a typical popular
statement of the doctrine from Lord Chesterfield's letters :
"The sure characteristic of a sound and strong mind, is
to find in everything those certain bounds, quos ultra
citron nequit consistent rectum. These boundaries are marked
out by a very fine line, which only good sense and attention
can discover; it is much too fine for vulgar eyes. In
manners, this line is good-breeding; beyond it, is troublesome
ceremony; short of it, is unbecoming negligence and
inattention. In morals, it divides ostentatious puritanism
from criminal relaxation; in religion, superstition from
virtue from its kindred vice
r weakness." Nor is it only the English and the Greeks
impiety; and in short, every
Irho have recommended adherence to the mean. The
noctrine constantly recurs in one form or another in the
writings of ethical philosophers of all ages and peoples.
The Chinese, for example, are a people to whom a prudent
moderation in all things appears to be particularly congenial.
It is, therefore, no accident that the doctrine of