ARISTOTLE’S NICOMACHEAN ETHICS BOOK 2 CHAPTER 7-8
This is a popular rendition of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics for contemporary readers. Brief, understandable pieces with a short practice to integrate the wisdom into your life. No philosophical background necessary.
In this piece we explore the labeling of virtue and vice, and how it can go wrong.
Language is tricky.
We call someone a courageous person when they relate perfectly to fearlessness and confidence. When a person is excessive in these traits we call them reckless, and when they are deficient we call them a coward.
But language is tricky.
Sometimes we can mistake the reckless person for being courageous. We think that they are acting correctly, when in truth they are overly fearless and confident. Maybe they are taking a large risk for a low payoff. Or perhaps they are unaware of reality, giving them unwarranted confidence. If we make this mistake we will also erroneously call the truly courageous person ‘cowardly’ because they are cowardly relative to the reckless. But in truth they are courageous, acting in virtue.
It’s this trickiness that we need to be aware of.
People will call someone cowardly or reckless to say that they have more or less confidence relative to somebody else. A coward will call a courageous person reckless and a reckless person will call a courageous person a coward. Or we might call a perfectly courageous person reckless, because we are comparing her to someone who is a coward.
Our goal isn't just to be called courageous; it's about actually being courageous. Language can trip us up and make us misjudge others and ourselves. Aim to be virtuous in our actions, rather than getting caught up in labels.
What is said here of courage stands true for all virtues.
It’s not enough to just read.
Manifest this wisdom in your life by doing this practice, or it will slip through your fingers.
It takes less than 5 minutes.
Choose well.
Think of a virtuous action
Identify the virtue of said action
Identify the two extremes that this virtue lies in the middle of.
Write down two ways of disparaging that action from the perspective of excess or deficiency in virtue.
Example:
Action: A person listening and giving advice to their friend in sorrow.
Virtue: Empathy
Excess: Over-sympathy
Deficiency: Callousness
Over-sympathy says that not being completely immersed in the friend’s sadness is callousness. The ability to disassociate enough to give advice is stone-hearted
Callousness says that getting involved in other people’s problems is a waste of time. Just because your friend is in sorrow doesn’t mean that you need to respond to it.
Now do it yourself