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‘And therefore’, (because they are inappropriate as not assigning causes of human action,) ‘such distinctions as these may be dismissed for the present; but still we are bound to inquire into the connexion which subsists between particular qualities and particular persons or classes’; (the general subject deserves investigation;) ‘for though in respect of the qualities black and white or tall and short there is no fixed succession or accompaniment’ (between them and any particular persons or classes), ‘yet when we come to the connexion of young or old men with justice or injustice, then (by this time) there is a difference’. That is to say, that although in certain connexions of particular qualities with particular classes the establishment of such would be worthless or impossible, yet there are other cases, as in that of moral qualities, where it would be worth while to establish such a connexion, if it were possible. ‘And in general, any accidental circumstance that makes a real difference in the characters of men; as the opinion a man has of his own wealth or poverty, or good or bad fortune, will make such a difference’. So after all it seems that it is possible to trace some such connexions between qualities and classes; but as this is not the proper place for such an inquiry—the reason being already given—‘we will postpone it for the present’, and wait till we come to the πάθη, where it will be in its proper place: ‘And now let us proceed to what remains’ of the subject on which we are at present engaged. πλουτεῖν δοκῶν ἑαυτῷ is a reading of some MSS, followed by the old Latin Translation, and adopted by the recent Edd. The vulgate has πλουτεῖν δοκεῖ, which Buhle retains. δοκεῖ τῳ, a conjecture of Victorius, is also found in some MSS.
Commentary on the Rhetoric of Aristotle. Edward Meredith Cope. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1877.
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