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[3]
And those on the other hand who say that what appears
good is wished for, are forced to admit that there is no such thing as that which is by
nature wished for, but that what each man thinks to be good is wished for in his case; yet
different, and it may be opposite, things appear good to different people.
[4]
If therefore neither of these views is satisfactory, perhaps we should say that what is
wished for in the true and unqualified sense is the good, but that what appears good to
each person is wished for by him; and accordingly that the good man wishes for what is
truly wished for, the bad man for anything as it may happen （just as in the case
of our bodies, a man of sound constitution finds really healthy food best for his health,
but some other diet may be healthy for one who is delicate; and so with things bitter1 and sweet, hot, heavy, etc.）. For
the good man judges everything correctly; what things truly are, that they seem to him to
be, in every department2
[5]
for the noble and the pleasant have a special form
corresponding to each of the faculties of our nature, and perhaps what chiefly
distinguishes the good man is that he sees the truth in each kind, being himself as it
were the standard and measure of the noble and pleasant. It appears to be pleasure that
misleads the mass of mankind; for it seems to them to be a good, though it is not,
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 19, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1934.
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