Righteous Indignation (nemesis) – is moderation in one’s tendency to feel pain at the good fortune of others or pleasure at their bad fortune. Shyness or bashfulness is the excess, and the deficiency is shamelessness. Modesty or a sense of shame – is moderation in one’s susceptibility to shame or embarrassment. The excess is obsequiousness, and the deficiency is quarrelsomeness. Excess desire is buffoonery, and deficient desire is boorishness.įriendliness – is moderation in the desire to please others generally. Wittiness – is moderation in the desire to amuse others. Truthfulness – is what Aristotle called moderation in one’s presentation of oneself, with boastfulness as the excess and self-deprecation as the deficiency. The vice of excess is irascibility or irritableness, of deficiency is spiritlessness or passivity (there’s not a good word for it). Good temper – is moderation in one’s proneness to anger. The deficiency we just call “lack of ambition.” There was no name for this virtue in Greek, and in English we use the same word both for the virtue and for the vice of excess (maybe we have trouble distinguishing them). Desiring less than one deserves is excessive humility.Īmbition – is similar to pride but pertains to smaller honors. Desiring more than one deserves is vanity. The mean here is defined by what one deserves. Pride or High-Mindedness – is moderation in one’s desire for or tendency to demand great honors. Magnificence or Munificence – has the same nature as generosity but applies to large public expenditures. The tendency to accept too much and give too little is stinginess. The tendency to give in excess and accept too little is spendthriftiness or prodigality. Generosity or Liberality – is moderation in the size of the gifts one is prone to give or accept. Deficiency has no common name, but may be labeled “insensitivity.” Temperance – is moderation in the desire for physical pleasures. Deficiency of fear and excess of confidence produce rashness or foolhardiness.
Excess in the propensity to fear combined with deficiency in the propensity to be confident constitutes cowardice. Consequently, I begin with narrative descriptions of each virtue.Ĭourage – is moderation in the tendencies to feel fear and boldness or confidence. While it is helpful to see Aristotle’s list of virtues and vices laid out schematically, some of these are complicated enough that the abbreviated descriptions that fit on a chart are misleading.