Book 7
4
Reformation is more possible with that type of Unrestraint which is displayed by persons of an excitable temperament than it is with those who deliberate as to what they ought to do, but do not keep to the resolution they form. And those who have become unrestrained through habit are more easily cured than those who are unrestrained by nature, since habit is easier to change than nature; for even habit is hard to change, precisely because it is a sort of nature, as Evenus says: Mark me, my friend, ’tisi.e., habit is : the subject of ἔμεναι seems to have been ἔθος in the preceding verse. long-continued training, And training in the end becomes men’s nature.
5
We have now discussed the nature of Self-restraint and Unrestraint, and of Endurance and Softness, and have shown how these dispositions are related to one another.
1
It is also the business of the political philosopher to examine the nature of Pleasure and Pain; for he is the master-craftsman, and lays down the end which is the standard whereby we pronounce things good or bad in the absolute sense.
2
Moreover this investigation is fundamental for our study, because we have established2.3.1. that Moral Virtue and Vice are concerned with pleasures and pains, and most people hold that pleasure is a necessary adjunct of Happiness, which is why the word denoting supreme bliss is derived from the verb meaning to enjoy.μακάριος from μάλα χαίρειν: cf. 5.4.9.
3
Now (1) some people think that no pleasure is a good thing, whether essentially or accidentally. They argue that Good and Pleasure are two distinct things.
3
(2) Others hold that though some pleasures are good, most are bad.
3
(3) There is also a third view, that even if all pleasures are good, nevertheless pleasure cannot be the Supreme Good.Of these three views, the first is that of Speusippus, Plato’s successor as head of the Academy; the second is that of Plato’s Philebus; the third, which appears at the end of the Philebus, is that of Aristotle in Book 10 below.
