NICOMACHEANETHICS(BOOKVII) 213
appetites and pains. From all this it follows that a man is self-indulgent when he pursues
excesses of pleasant things, or when he [pursues necessary pleasures] to excess, by
choice, for their own sakes, and not for an ulterior result. A man of this kind inevitably
feels no regret, and is as a result incorrigible. For a person who feels no regret is incor-
rigible. A person deficient [in his pursuit of the necessary pleasures] is the opposite
[of self-indulgent], and the man who occupies the middle position is self-controlled. In
the same way, a man who avoids bodily pain [is self-indulgent], provided he does so by
choice and not because he is overcome by them.
A choice is not exercised either by a person who is driven by pleasure, or by a
person who is avoiding the pain of [unsatisfied] appetite. There is, accordingly, a differ-
ence between indulging by choice and not by choice. Everyone would think worse of a
man who would perform some disgraceful act actuated only slightly or not at all by
appetite, than of a person who was actuated by a strong appetite. And we would regard
as worse a man who feels no anger as he beats another man, than someone who does so
in anger. For what would he do, if he were in the grip of emotion when acting? Hence a
self-indulgent man is worse than one who is morally weak.
So we see that one of the characteristics described, [viz., the deliberate avoidance
of pain,] constitutes rather a kind of softness, while a person possessing the other, [viz.,
the deliberate pursuit of excessive pleasures,] is self-indulgent.
A morally strong is opposed to a morally weak man, and a tenacious to a soft
man. For being tenacious consists in offering resistance, while moral strength consists
in mastering. Resistance and mastery are two different things, just as not being defeated
differs from winning a victory. Hence, moral strength is more desirable than tenacity.
A man who is deficient [in his resistance to pains] which most people withstand suc-
cessfully is soft and effeminate. For effeminacy is a form of softness. A man of this kind
lets his cloak trail, in order to save himself the pain of lifting it up, and plays the invalid
without believing himself to be involved in the misery which a true invalid suffers.
The situation is similar in the case of moral strength and moral weakness. If a per-
son is overcome by powerful and excessive pleasures or pains, we are not surprised. In
fact, we find it pardonable if he is overcome while offering resistance, as, for example,
Theodectes’ Philoctetes does when bitten by the snake, or as Cercyon in Carcinus’
Alope, or as people who try to restrain their laughter burst out in one great guffaw,
as actually happened to Xenophantus. But we are surprised if a man is overcome by
and unable to withstand those [pleasures and pains] which most people resist success-
fully, unless his disposition is congenital or caused by disease, as among the kings of
Scythia, for example, in whom softness is congenital,†and as softness distinguishes the
female from the male.
202530351150 b51015Theodectes (ca. 375–334 B.C.) spent most of his life at Athens. He studied under Plato, Isocrates, and
Aristotle, and in addition to writing tragedies, won a considerable reputation as an orator. An ancient note on
this passage tells us that, in Theodectes’ tragedy, Philoctetes, after repressing his pain for a long time, finally
bursts out: “Cut off my hand!”
Carcinus was a fourth-century B.C. Athenian tragic poet. According to an ancient commentator,
“Cercyon had a daughter Alope. Upon learning that his daughter Alope had committed adultery, he asked her
who had perpetrated the deed, and said: ‘If you tell me, I will not be grieved at all.’ When Alope told him who
the adulterer was, Cercyon was so overcome with grief that he could no longer stand life and renounced living.”
The occasion is not known. Xenophantus is said to have been a musician at the court of Alexander
the Great (356–323 B.C.). Seneca tells us that when Xenophantus sang, Alexander was so stirred that he seized
his weapons in his hands.
†According to the Hippocratic treatise On Airs, Waters, and Places22, horseback riding caused
softness among the Scythian aristocracy.