NICOMACHEANETHICS(BOOKX) 225
A further indication that complete happiness consists in some kind of contempla-
tive activity is this. We assume that the gods are in the highest degree blessed and happy.
But what kind of actions are we to attribute to them? Acts of justice? Will they not look
ridiculous making contracts with one another, returning deposits, and so forth? Perhaps
acts of courage—withstanding terror and taking risks, because it is noble to do so? Or
generous actions? But to whom will they give? It would be strange to think that they
actually have currency or something of the sort. Acts of self-control? What would they
be? Surely, it would be in poor taste to praise them for not having bad appetites. If we
went through the whole list we would see that a concern with actions is petty and
unworthy of the gods. Nevertheless, we all assume that the gods exist and, conse-
quently, that they are active; for surely we do not assume them to be always asleep like
Endymion.* Now, if we take away action from a living being, to say nothing of produc-
tion, what is left except contemplation? Therefore, the activity of the divinity which
surpasses all others in bliss must be a contemplative activity, and the human activity
which is most closely akin to it is, therefore, most conducive to happiness.
This is further shown by the fact that no other living being has a share in happi-
ness, since they all are completely denied this kind of activity. The gods enjoy a life
blessed in its entirety; men enjoy it to the extent that they attain something resembling
the divine activity; but none of the other living beings can be happy, because they have
no share at all in contemplation or study. So happiness is coextensive with study, and
the greater the opportunity for studying, the greater the happiness, not as an incidental
effect but as inherent in study; for study is in itself worthy of honor. Consequently,
happiness is some kind of study or contemplation.
But we shall also need external well-being, since we are only human. Our nature is
not self-sufficient for engaging in study: our body must be healthy and we must have food
and generally be cared for. Nevertheless, if it is not possible for a man to be supremely
happy without external goods, we must not think that his needs will be great and many in
order to be happy; for self-sufficiency and moral action do not consist in an excess [of
possessions]. It is possible to perform noble actions even without being ruler of land and
sea; a man’s actions can be guided by virtue also if his means are moderate. That this is so
can be clearly seen in the fact that private individuals evidently do not act less honorably
but even more honorably than powerful rulers. It is enough to have moderate means at
one’s disposal, for the life of a man whose activity is guided by virtue will be happy.
Solon certainly gave a good description of a happy man, when he said that he is a
man moderately supplied with external goods, who had performed what he, Solon,
thought were the noblest actions, and who had lived with self-control. For it is possible
to do what one should even with moderate possessions. Also Anaxagoras, it seems, did
not assume that a happy man had to be rich and powerful. He said that he would not be
surprised if a happy man would strike the common run of people as strange, since they
judge by externals and perceive nothing but externals. So it seems that our account is in
harmony with the opinion of the wise.
Now, though such considerations carry some conviction, in the field of moral
action truth is judged by the actual facts of life, for it is in them that the decisive element
lies. So we must examine the conclusions we have reached so far by applying them to
the actual facts of life: if they are in harmony with the facts we must accept them, and if
they clash we must assume that they are mere words.
152025*Supposedly the most beautiful of men, Endymion was loved by the Moon, who cast him into a
perpetual sleep that she might descend and embrace him each night.
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