In defining true temperance Aristotle speaks about human function. He says the enjoyment of pleasure is reasonable and the abstention of pleasure as unreasonable. He says true virtue lies between Self-indulgence and abstention. Therefore, temperance represents the mean lying between excess and abstention. He doesn’t concern himself with a uniform rule, but with something all humans have in common allowing us to act accordingly.

In book two of the ethics Aristotle concerns himself with three objects of choice: the noble, the useful, and the pleasant, as well as three objects of

avoidance: the base, the harmful, and the painful. These objects motivate one to act or avoid any action. Most people avoid the painful and choose the pleasure, which Aristotle believes is in accordance with virtue. However, continuing to choose pleasure over pain leads to self-indulgence. Therefore, how must one attain the mean?

Aristotle declares, “[to achieve virtue and temperance] that the intermediate state in all things is to be praised, but that we must incline sometimes toward the excess, sometimes toward the deficiency; for so shall we most easily hit the mean and what is right” (1109b28). I agree with Aristotle’s statement affirming that in order to reach the mean, humans must at times pursue the base over the noble. By pursuing only the noble one is not inclined to develop characteristics to attain the highest level of virtue. Therefore, we must go against the grain of human nature to attain temperance. There is something anti-human in the pursuit of temperance. If human nature solely concerns itself with just pleasure, then we must bend our nature to attain virtue and temperance.

Temperance is moderation, a moral virtue. To reach virtue one must guide and channel human nature. Pleasure and pain are such driving factors in life one cannot simply ignore the two. I have attempted to reach temperance throughout my life. Clearly, human nature makes attaining tru

Some topics in this essay:
, human nature, true temperance, pleasure pain, virtue temperance, achieve temperance, move towards noble, true temperance aristotle, hit mean, move towards, nature attain, reach mean, towards noble,