Kitap 10
11
Solon also doubtless gave a good description of happiness,Solon in his conversation with Croesus (Hdt.1.30-32, see 1.10.1, note) says that Tellus the Athenian was the happiest man he ever knew. Tellus was well off, he lived to see his children’s children, and he died gloriously in battle. when he said that in his opinion those men were happy who, being moderately equipped with external goods, had performed noble exploits and had lived temperately; for it is possible for a man of but moderate possessions to do what is right. Anaxagoras again does not seem to have conceived the happy man as rich or powerful, since he says that he would not be surprised if he were to appear a strange sort of person in the eyes of the many; for most men judge by externals, which are all that they can perceive.
12
So our theories seem to be in agreement with the opinions of the wise.
12
Such arguments then carry some degree of conviction; but it is by the practical experience of life and conduct that the truth is really tested, since it is ther that the final decision lies. We must therefore examine the conclusions we have advanced by bringing them to the test of the facts of life. If they are in harmony with the facts, we may accept them; if found to disagree, we must deem them mere theories.This section concludes the subject and prepares for the transition to politics in the next chapter; 8.13 would come better after 8.7: it looks back to 1.9.1-3.
