Book 3
16
For all people by nature enjoy these things, and conceive desires for them, without being or being called profligate, for they do not exceed by feeling more joy than they ought when they get them nor more pain than they ought when they do not get them; nor yet are they unfeeling,ἀνάλγητοι is thrown in as a possible synonym for ἀναίσθητοι, see 15. for they do not fall short in feeling joy or pain, but rather exceed.
17
And since there are excess and deficiency in regard to these things, it is clear that there is also a middle state, and that this state of character is the best one, and is the opposite of both the others. Hence if temperance is the best state of character in relation to the things with which the profligate is concerned, the middle state in regard to the pleasant objects of sense mentioned will be Temperance, being a middle state between profligacy and insensitiveness: the excess will be Profligacy, and the deficiency will either be nameless or will be denoted by the terms mentioned.Perhaps in a sentence lost at Aristot. Eud. Eth. 1230b 15.
18
We shall have to define the class of pleasures concerned more exactly in our discussion of Self-control and Lack of Control later on.
1
And also the nature of Gentleness and Harshness must be ascertained in the same way. For we see that the term gentle is concerned with the pain that arises from passion—a man is gentle by being disposed in a certain way towards that pain. And in our diagramSee Aristot. Eud. Eth. 1220b 38, Aristot. Eud. Eth. 1221b 12-15. we opposed to the irascible and harsh and fierce man (for all such traits belong to the same disposition) the slavish and spiritlessThe Mss. give slavish and senseless. man;
