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[2]
But the things that give pleasure are of two
kinds: some are necessary,1
others are desirable in themselves but admit of excess. The necessary sources of pleasures
are those connected with the body: I mean such as the functions of nutrition and sex, in
fact those bodily functions which we have indicated2 as the sphere of Profligacy and Temperance. The other sources of
pleasure are not necessary, but are desirable in themselves: I mean for example victory,
honor, wealth, and the other good and pleasant things of the same sort. Now those who
against the right principle within them exceed in regard to the latter class of pleasant
things, we do not call unrestrained simply, but with a
qualification—unrestrained as to money, gain, honor or anger3 —not merely
‘unrestrained’ ; because we regard them as distinct from the
unrestrained in the strict sense, and only so called by analogy, like our familiar
example4 of Man the Olympic winner, whose special definition is not
very different5 from the general
definition of ‘man,’ though nevertheless he is really quite distinct
from men in general.6 （That such persons are only
called unrestrained by analogy is proved by our blaming unrestraint, whether unqualified
or with reference to some particular bodily pleasure, as a vice and not merely an error,
whereas we do not regard those unrestrained in regard to money, etc. as guilty of
vice.）
1 See 4.5, first note.
2 See Bk. 3.10
3 Cf. 1.7: θυμός, ‘spirit,’ aims at victory, and so is brought into this discussion of ‘pleasures and desires’ （ 4.5）; but in chap. 6 it is contrasted with desire, and its indulgence in the form of anger is seen to be painful rather than pleasant （6.4）.
4 This seems to be the meaning of the imperfect tenses. An inscription records that a boxer named Ἄνθρωπος won at Olympia in 456 B.C. and the Greek commentators say that he is referred to here. His name would appear to have been used in the Peripatetic school as an example of the analogical use of words.
5 i.e., it requires the addition of three words. Strictly speaking, however, it is impossible to define an individual; moreover, the Olympic victor （a） was a man not merely by analogy but as a member of the species, and （b） was named Man not even by analogy but only homonymously. But a humorous illustration need not be precise.
6 Perhaps Man had some personal peculiarity which somewhat belied his name.
Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 19, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1934.
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