The Nicomachean ethics of Aristotle — Aristotle — John Shaqi
The Nicomachean ethics of Aristotle
Aristotle · en
Thirdly, since those things which range under one ἰδέα are also under
the cognisance of one science, there would have been, on their theory,
only one science taking cognisance of all goods collectively: but in
fact there are many even for those which range under one category: for
instance, of Opportunity or Seasonableness (which I have before
mentioned as being in the category of Time), the science is, in war,
generalship; in disease, medical science; and of the Mean (which I
quoted before as being in the category of Quantity), in food, the
medical science; and in labour or exercise, the gymnastic science. A
person might fairly doubt also what in the world they mean by very-this
that or the other, since, as they would themselves allow, the account
of the humanity is one and the same in the very-Man, and in any
individual Man: for so far as the individual and the very-Man are both
Man, they will not differ at all: and if so, then very-good and any
particular good will not differ, in so far as both are good. Nor will
it do to say, that the eternity of the very-good makes it to be more
good; for what has lasted white ever so long, is no whiter than what
lasts but for a day.
No. The Pythagoreans do seem to give a more credible account of the
matter, who place “One” among the goods in their double list of goods
and bads:[12] which philosophers, in fact, Speusippus[13] seems to have
followed.
But of these matters let us speak at some other time. Now there is
plainly a loophole to object to what has been advanced, on the plea
that the theory I have attacked is not by its advocates applied to all
good: but those goods only are spoken of as being under one ἰδέα, which
are pursued, and with which men rest content simply for their own
sakes: whereas those things which have a tendency to produce or
preserve them in any way, or to hinder their contraries, are called
good because of these other goods, and after another fashion. It is
manifest then that the goods may be so called in two senses, the one
class for their own sakes, the other because of these.
Very well then, let us separate the independent goods from the
instrumental, and see whether they are spoken of as under one ἰδέα.
But the question next arises, what kind of goods are we to call
independent? All such as are pursued even when separated from other
goods, as, for instance, being wise, seeing, and certain pleasures and
honours (for these, though we do pursue them with some further end in
view, one would still place among the independent goods)? or does it
come in fact to this, that we can call nothing independent good except
the ἰδέα, and so the concrete of it will be nought?