Nicomachean Ethics Book 3 - Book 4 Summary

Authoritative Control & Moral Characteristics:

• When actions and characteristics are under our authoritative control, we have control from beginning to end, knowing the specific details.
• Aristotle draws a contrast: with illnesses, the growth and relevant activity are not noticed at the moment, similar to moral characteristics.
• Using characteristics in certain ways is voluntary; one can choose to develop them.

Virtues as Means:

• Aristotle transitions into discussing specific virtues, their concerns, and the number of virtues.

Courage as a Mean:

• Courage is identified as a mean concerning fear and confidence.
• The courageous person is contrasted with one who is fearful when it comes to a noble death or situations involving sudden death, especially in war.

Fear and Its Objects:

• Fear is defined as the anticipation of bad things, including disrepute, poverty, sickness, friendlessness, and death.
• A courageous person isn't concerned with all fears; some fears are noble and appropriate (e.g., disrepute).
• Being fearless in the face of poverty, sickness, or things not resulting from vice doesn't equate to courage.

Courageous Actions:

• True courage involves steadfastly enduring terrible things, especially death in the noblest circumstances like war (1115a).
• The courageous man is fearless in noble death situations and situations with sudden death, but also at sea and in sicknesses.

Human Limitations & Courage:

• Aristotle acknowledges frightening things exceeding human bearableness.
• True courage involves enduring fear appropriately, as reason commands, for the sake of the noble.
• Errors arise from fearing too much or too little, or in the wrong way. Confidence has similar errors.
• Courage involves suffering and acting according to what is worthy, and as reason commands (1115b).
• The end goal of courage is nobility; the courageous man endures for nobility's sake.

Excesses and Deficiencies in Fear and Confidence:

• Excess in fearlessness is nameless; excess in confidence is recklessness.
• The reckless person imitates the courageous man but doesn't endure frightening things and are 'reckless cowards'
• Cowardice involves excessive fear and a deficiency in confidence.
• Courage is the mean; recklessness and cowardice are excesses/deficiencies.
• The reckless are hasty but withdraw in danger, while the courageous are keen in action but calm beforehand.

Motivations for Courage:

• Courage involves choosing and enduring because it is noble or shameful not to. It isn't about fleeing poverty or pain.

Types of Courage:

• Citizen Courage: motivated by legal penalties, reproaches, and honors (1116a).
• Experience: Socrates connects courage to knowledge, particularly war experience.
• Spiritedness: People refer to spiritedness as courage because spirited people seem courageous. Courageous men act on the noble, while animals act on pain and spiritedness.
• Hope: People of good hope are considered courageous.
• Ignorance: The ignorant too appear courageous, and they are not far from those who are of good hope.

Qualities of Courage:

• Courage is primarily concerned with frightening things.
• Courage is painful but justly praised.
• The end of courage may be pleasant, but is obscured by circumstance.

Impact of Virtue on Perception of Death:

• Death/wounds are painful to the courageous man who endures it voluntarily.
• The happier and more virtuous someone is, the more pain they feel with death.
• The courageous choose nobility over greatest goods.

Different Degrees of Courage:

• Courageous soldiers exchange their lives for a small gain.
• Easy to grasp in outline.

Moderation:

• Moderation and Sensations: The transition to the topic of moderation relating to pleasurable sensations.
• Pleasure and Pain: Moderation with pains than with pleasures.
• Bodily pleasures are distinguished from those of the soul-for example, love of honor, or love of learning.
• Moderation is concerned with bodily pleasures but not sights, hearing, or smells.

The Nature of Bodily Pleasures:

• Licentiousness and moderation relate to taste and touch.
• Licentious people focus on touch, gourmands on the length of their throat to enjoy the sensation of touch.
• Licentiousness is common to senses and subject to reproach. Brute animals enjoy pleasures from touch.
• The touch that is of interest to the licentious person does not concern the whole body but only certain parts (1118a).

Sources of Desires:

• Desires can be common, idiosyncratic, natural or acquired.
• The desire for food is natural; the desire for marriage has something natural.
• Diversity of Pleasant Things: Differing things are pleasant to different people, some pleasant to all.

Errors in Desires:

• Few err in natural desires except toward eating/drinking too much.
• Many err in respect to the idiosyncratic pleasures. Licentious people exceed all ways.
• Excess regarding pleasure is licentiousness.

The Moderate Person:

• Licentious: pained when abstaining from pleasure.
• Moderate: feels no pain abstaining from pleasure.
• The moderate person takes the middle path, disgusted by licentious pleasure and not pained by pleasures being absent (1118b).
• As correct reason commands.

Voluntary action:

• Licentiousness is more voluntary than cowardice.

Role of pleasure and desire:

• Pleasure is chosen and pain avoided.
• People are unhinged, nature destroyed by pain
• Licentiousness (errors of children) named what comes early. (desire) Children = a lack of sense

The role of desire:

• Longing, obedient placed great grows grows
• Intense may drive out calculation
• Measured, few in no way opposed reason
• Target for noble commanded reason
• Stated us moderation

Liberality as a Mean:

• Liberality, a mean with respect to money, is praised in giving and taking (more so in giving).
• Prodigality: extravagance, and stinginess, an unwillingness to spend money, are excesses.

The Use of Wealth:

• Wealth is a useful thing; thus, virtuous people use wealth best. Giving brings gratitude, and praise.
• Virtuous giving is noble, and acts for the sake of the noble, correctly, and with pleasure.

What Defines Liberality:

• Liberality speaks highly of person’s resources and their giving.
• Those who inherit seem more liberal, as they lack need. It is difficult for a liberal person to be wealthy.

The Act of Giving:

• The liberal person will give no regard for reward (1120a).
• Given in both small and great in that that he does do with pleasure. Equitable.
• Taking and giving that are combined they correspond to someone, but it’s not clear. Contradictory character do not

Impact on virtue:

• Money no honor is taking ask (to have and ask as a benefactor).
• Others be able to gift through aid. Aid on when where noble.
• To the liberal excess from himself. It is common. Prevent from not equal a lesser total inheritance
• Products own, parents a poets
• Wealthy save money from the gift from the great things gifts
• Prodigal: his result from prodigal not tyrants gift in excess (1120b).

Good and Bad:

• Prodigality and stinginess are bad in giving in spending. It’s a virtue.
• Taking while gifted the better run out gives Prodigal quickly bad not base exceeds. If that ought too done a term as what is required for a virtuous trait

Character and Value:
-What Defines: Prodigal benefits many Stingey. But have to be as is the said. Also, take not from stingey the Prodigal is. So quick depleted the people or quick
Those compelled care little

• Desire from take make difference is. The given since what the right time (labor). The give what flattered. So more than the what inclination properly in proper. (Obtains the middle). The is inborn.
  Those also take this by Stingey. Thrifty is a miser. Forguard the to do ashamed guard property illiberal brothel (1121a). For small a from them what plunder from the gain. For those the steal then. Gain for friends the gain (they say not from is)
  Said. the stingey: prodigality it what limited be the same. Then stated be also for in been done in honor. That as is good.
  This that soul is great and that so is this that the soul is for what is done in the is why to be as the. As is the is now.

Greatness:

• Great soul. Just as honor. Not only those there should endow with person, then great.
• Worth the spending: contrary, virtuous. (It to what they
• It the those with the reputation and the (or Ancestors). the and worth is. Person and great great and greater most it.
  • that a person could have.

Deficiencies of character:

• The noble (lavish and (megera) not that. From his will little and spend from. With or more.

  Lament that to a (Trifle),. The is that they the from

The Good Person:

• Is to of things.
• Is to of the said than them (1121b)

The Great Soul (high self of worth and character)

• All is for good than what it to said
  • One is, he a than

The to said good honor and
- Soul is to of all them but is worth what it.
To is said to is the what we or

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As such then, The what is or one does not is
For the those not it, or
to by: But such an to good virtue, the
is, that that, that for:
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