Aristotel on Moderation
... her way, they will not be making choices. They will be reacting mindlessly. A mindless pursuit of immediate pleasures will deny that person access to other opportunities. One will enjoy fewer pleasures and much less happiness over the long haul than one would have enjoyed had one acted rationally. Consider, for example, smoking. Although smoking has been proven to be extremely dangerous to one’s health, if one chooses to smoke moderately, it is not so bad. If one only smokes 1 cigarette a week, compared to another’s one pack a day, one is smoking in moderation while the other is not. If people lack the ability to choose wisely that the mere sight of a cigarette sticking out from the mouth of a person impels them to smoke, then a firm case might be made that a person has the inability to choose and act wisely. The Aristoteli...