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Such, then, is the man who observes the mean, whether he be called tactful
or ready-witted. The buffoon, on the other hand, is the slave of his sense of
humour, and spares neither himself nor others if he can raise a laugh, and says
things none of which a man of refinement would say, and to some of which he
would not even listen. The boor, again, is useless for such social intercourse;
for he contributes nothing and finds fault with everything. But relaxation and
amusement are thought to be a necessary element in life.
The means in life that have been described, then, are three in number, and
are all concerned with an interchange of words and deeds of some kind. They
differ, however, in that one is concerned with truth; and the other two with
pleasantness. Of those concerned with pleasure, one is displayed in jests, the
other in the general social intercourse of life.
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9
Shame should not be described as a virtue; for it is more like a feeling than
a state of character. It is defined, at any rate, as a kind of fear of dishonour,
and produces an effect similar to that produced by fear of danger; for people
who feel disgraced blush, and those who fear death turn pale. Both, therefore,
seem to be in a sense bodily conditions, which is thought to be characteristic
of feeling rather than of a state of character.
The feeling is not becoming to every age, but only to youth. For we think
young people should be prone to the feeling of shame because they live by
feeling and therefore commit many errors, but are restrained by shame; and
we praise young people who are prone to this feeling, but an older person no
one would praise for being prone to the sense of disgrace, since we think he
should not do anything that need cause this sense. For the sense of disgrace is
not even characteristic of a good man, since it is consequent on bad actions
(for such actions should not be done; and if some actions are disgraceful in
very truth and others only according to common opinion, this makes no
difference; for neither class of actions should be done, so that no disgrace
should be felt); and it is a mark of a bad man even to be such as to do any
disgraceful action. To be so constituted as to feel disgraced if one does such
an action, and for this reason to think oneself good, is absurd; for it is for
voluntary actions that shame is felt, and the good man will never voluntarily
do bad actions. But shame may be said to be conditionally a good thing; if a
good man does such actions, he will feel disgraced; but the virtues are not
subject to such a qualification. And if shamelessness-not to be ashamed of
1815
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156