8/9/2019 Nicomachean Ethics Book 2 Summary
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Summary of the Nichomachean Ethics , Book II
There are two kinds of virtue: intellectual and moral. We learn
intellectual virtues byinstruction, and we learn moral virtues by
habit and constant practice. We are all born withthe potential to
be morally virtuous, but it is only by behaving in the right way
that we trainourselves to be virtuous. As a musician learns to play
an instrument, we learn virtue bypracticing, not by thinking about
it. Because practical circumstances vary a great deal, thereare no
absolute rules of conduct to follow. Instead, we can only observe
that right conductconsists of some sort of mean between the
extremes of deficiency and excess. For instance,courage consists in
finding a mean between the extremes of cowardice and
rashness,though the appropriate amount of courage varies from one
situation to another. Anappropriate attitude toward pleasure and
pain is one of the most important habits todevelop for moral
virtue. While a glutton might feel inappropriate pleasure when
presentedwith food and inappropriate pain when deprived of food, a
temperate person will gainpleasure from abstaining from such
indulgence.
Aristotle proposes three criteria to distinguish virtuous people
from people whobehave in the right way by accident: first, virtuous
people know they are behaving in theright way; second, they choose
to behave in the right way for the sake of being virtuous;
andthird, their behavior manifests itself as part of a fixed,
virtuous disposition.
Virtue is a disposition, not a feeling or a faculty. Feelings
are not the subject of praiseor blame, as virtues and vices are,
and while feelings move us to act in a certain way,virtues dispose
us to act in a certain way. Our faculties determine our capacity
for feelings,and virtue is no more a capacity for feeling than it
is a feeling itself. Rather, it is a dispositionto behave in the
right way.
We can now define human virtue as a disposition to behave in the
right manner andas a mean between extremes of deficiency and
excess, which are vices. Of course, withsome actions, such as
murder or adultery, there is no virtuous mean, since these actions
arealways wrong. Aristotle lists some of the principle virtues
along with their corresponding
vices of excess and deficiency in a table of virtues and vices.
Some extremes seem closer tothe mean than others: for instance,
rashness seems closer to courage than to cowardice. This is partly
because courage is more like rashness than cowardice and partly
becausemost of us are more inclined to be cowardly than rash, so we
are more aware of beingdeficient in courage.
Aristotle suggests three practical rules of conduct: first,
avoid the extreme that isfarther from the mean; second, notice what
errors we are particularly susceptible to andavoid them diligently;
and third, be wary of pleasure, as it often impedes our
judgment.
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8/9/2019 Nicomachean Ethics Book 2 Summary
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Table:Aristotles principle virtues list along with their
corresponding vices. A virtuous personexhibits all of the virtues:
They do not properly exist as distinct qualities but rather
asdifferent aspects of a virtuous life.
S PHERE OF ACTION OR
FEELING
E XCESS ( VICE ) M EAN ( VIRTUE ) D EFICIENCY ( VICE )
Fear andconfidence Rashness Courage Cowardice
Pleasureand pain Licentiousness Temperance Insensibility
Getting andspending
(minor)
Prodigality Liberality Illiberality
Getting andspending(major)
Vulgarity Magnificence Pettiness
Honor anddishonor(major)
Vanity Magnanimity Pusillanimity
Honor anddishonor(minor)
Ambition Properambition Unambitiousness
Anger Irascibility Patience Lack of spiritSelf-
expression Boastfulness Truthfulness Understatement
Conversation Buffoonery Wittiness Boorishness
Socialconduct
Obsequiousness or flattery Friendliness
Cantankerousness
Shame Shyness Modesty Shamelessness
Indignation Envy RighteousindignationMalicious
enjoyment
