[
15]
Again, Righteous Indignation is the observance of a mean between Envy and Malice,
1 and these qualities are concerned with
pain and pleasure felt at the fortunes of one's neighbors. The righteously indignant man
is pained by undeserved good fortune; the jealous man exceeds him and is pained by all the
good fortune of others;
2 while the
malicious man so far falls short of being pained that he actually feels
pleasure.
[
16]
These qualities however it will be time to discuss in another place. After them we will
treat Justice,
3 distinguishing its two
kinds—for it has more than one sense—and showing in what way each is a
mode of observing the mean. [And we will deal similarly with the logical
virtues.
4]
8.
There are then three dispositions—two vices, one of excess and one of defect,
and one virtue which is the observance of the mean; and each of them is in a certain way
opposed to both the others. For the extreme states are the opposite both of the middle
state and of each other, and the middle state is the opposite of both extremes;
[
2]
since just as the equal is greater in comparison with the less and
less in comparison with the greater, so the middle states of character are in excess as
compared with the defective states and defective as compared with the excessive states,
whether in the case of feelings or of actions. For instance, a brave man appears rash in
contrast with a coward and cowardly in contrast
with a rash man; similarly a temperate man appears profligate in contrast with a man
insensible to pleasure and pain, but insensible in contrast with a profligate; and a
liberal man seems prodigal in contrast with a mean man, mean in contrast with one who is
prodigal.
[
3]
Hence either extreme character tries to push
the middle character towards the other extreme; a coward calls a brave man rash and a rash
man calls him a coward, and correspondingly in other cases.
[
4]
But while all three dispositions are thus opposed to one another, the greatest degree of
contrariety exists between the two extremes. For the extremes are farther apart from each
other than from the mean, just as great is farther from small and small from great than
either from equal.
[
5]
Again
5 some extremes show a certain likeness to the mean—for
instance, Rashness resembles Courage, Prodigality Liberality, whereas the extremes display
the greatest unlikeness to one another. But it is things farthest apart from each other
that logicians define as contraries, so that the farther apart things are the more
contrary they are.
[
6]
And in some cases