Single Idea 23908

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 3. Virtues / b. Temperance]

Full Idea

If someone looks at a beautiful statue, or horse, or human being, or listens to someone singing …just to look at or listen to beautiful things, he would not be thought to be intemperate, any more than those beguiled by the Sirens would.

Gist of Idea

If someone just looks at or listens to beautiful things, they would not be thought intemperate

Source

Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics [c.333 BCE], 1230b31)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Eudemian Ethics', ed/tr. Reeve, C.D.C. [Hackett 2021], p.42


A Reaction

He says that intemperance mainly concerns taste and touch, rather than mere looking or listening. I think obsessive collectors of beautiful objects might drift into intemperance.