Summary Human beings feel affection for that which is lovable, and this can be defined as that which is good, pleasant, or useful. These three feelings are the basis of any friendship, but friendship only exists where such feelings are reciprocal. When both parties do not have the same feelings […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VIII: Chapter II – The Three Objects of Affection, Definition of FriendshipSummary and Analysis Book VIII: Chapter I – Reasons for Studying Friendship
Summary Friendship is a form of virtue, or at the very least implies the existence of virtue, and in addition is indispensable for human life since man is a social being. Friendship in the fullest sense of the word includes justice, concord, benevolent love, and nobility. It is an important […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VIII: Chapter I – Reasons for Studying FriendshipSummary and Analysis Book VII: Analysis for Book VII
Two topics are discussed in this book. They are incontinence and pleasure. By incontinence is meant lack of proper self-control. It lies somewhere between the virtue of temperance and the vice of intemperance. It indicates a lesser amount of self-control than temperance but more than belongs to intemperance. Pleasure is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Analysis for Book VIISummary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XIV – Are Most Pleasures Bad? (3)
Summary No pleasure is absolutely bad, although it is possible for it to be bad in relation to a given thing or circumstance. Most people identify bodily pleasure with pleasure as a whole. Bodily pleasures are good in a sense since they are the opposites of pains which are unquestionably […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XIV – Are Most Pleasures Bad? (3)Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XIII – Is Pleasure the Highest Good? (2)
Summary Happiness, the end of human life, has been defined as the functioning of all one’s powers in conformity with their proper virtue. Since pleasure is a form of activity, this implies that the highest good must be some kind of pleasure. No activity is perfect if interrupted. Happiness is […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XIII – Is Pleasure the Highest Good? (2)Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XII – Is Pleasure a Good Thing? (1)
Summary After exploring various considerations pertaining to the first view, we can conclude that those pleasures generally considered disgraceful or harmful are not really pleasures at all, and that while pleasure may not itself be the highest good, it is certainly a contributing part of the highest good. The basis […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XII – Is Pleasure a Good Thing? (1)Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XI – Current Views on Pleasure
Summary Since pleasure and pain are in some way the causes of virtue and vice, it is necessary to determine the nature of pleasure. There are three popular views on the subject: That all pleasures are bad, either in themselves or incidentally, and that pleasure and the good by definition […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XI – Current Views on PleasureSummary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter X
Summary [Discussion of incontinence and practical wisdom and a few other fine points.]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter XSummary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter IX
Summary [Discussion of relationship between steadiness and continence or incontinence, and conditions under which flexibility or constancy are acceptable and unacceptable.]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter IXSummary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter VIII – Incontinence and Self-Indulgence
Summary A self-indulgent or intemperate man feels no compunction about his acts since he is abiding by a choice he has made. A morally weak person always regrets what he has done. Incontinence is intermittent while intemperance is chronic, therefore incontinence is more curable than intemperance and deliberate vice. Intemperance […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book VII: Chapter VIII – Incontinence and Self-Indulgence