According to Aristotle, we can possess Intellectual and Moral Virtues. The Moral Virtues are reflections of our emotional characteristics and are reflections of our character when our emotions are properly calibrated so that we feel the right way towards the right situations. Every emotional state can either be taken too far or not far enough and so each Moral Virtue lies somewhere between these two extremes – that is, each Moral Virtue lies between two Vices and to be virtuous we must find that balance.
In this discussion we will look at the Moral Virtue of Temperance as well as the right mindset that relates to money.
Temperance relates to our desires towards sensual pleasure. Our desire for things like food, drink and sex can be too strong and if they are, this means that we are intemperate – this is the first vice. There is also the possibility of our desires for such things to be too low – this is the second vice but it is so rare that there isn’t actually a term for it. Being Temperate is the Virtue of having just the right amount of desire or the right amount of self-control that stops us from over indulgence.
Aristotle argues that we should only have a little amount of desire for things like food, drink and sex and that these desires should be under the strict control of reason. If you have a massive craving for some cake but are trying to lose weight or otherwise know that it is bad for your health, your reason in the matter should be what prompts the self-control that constrains you from eating the cake.
In fact, the point about health is a good point to stay on because if we were to ask just how much desire we should have for sensual pleasures, Aristotle would respond that we should only desire those sources of sensual pleasure in so far as they are strictly necessary for our health. Indulging in the cake is only bad if you aren’t in need of food, but if you’re starving in a desert somewhere and happen upon a piece of cake, the desire to eat it is necessary and there is no vice in this. This also allows us to see why someone might not have enough desire for sensual pleasure, even if there is no word for it. If the same person in the desert has no desire for the taste of food or water at all, despite their starvation, they are more likely to die. The right amount of desire is needed because – if nothing else – it keeps us alive. As with with sex, it might be best to have just enough sexual desire to allow you to enjoy a healthy level of intimacy as well as being a motivator for making a family.
But Aristotle advises against the excess. The material did not make the reason for why excess needs to be advised against explicit, but from the other discussions from Aristotle it would follow that desire is another way for our emotions to gain the upper hand over our reason, instead of allowing reason to be the master. Excess is also un-healthy; too much food makes us unhealthy, as does too much drink and we might wonder – how could it be bad to have too much sex? Well, perhaps it could distract us from things that are more important. There is also another clue as to why Aristotle disdains excessive desire when he says that people who chase after too much pleasure may even be happy to die, if only dying felt good. Yet, chasing after death just for the good feeling would not make them courageous. This seems to summarise the problem with not having Temperance in a rather brutal fashion; all who indulge are in some way chasing death by damaging their health, even if they are chasing it slowly. They are not being courageous when they do this, but they are only shortening their life in a way that Aristotle would deem unnecessary.
By advocating the virtue of Temperance, Aristotle only argues against sensual, bodily pleasures – these are the kinds that we need to use self-control to not desire too much. However, Aristotle thinks that there are other kinds of pleasures that he thinks can be enjoyed without limit. For example, he argues that we can derive pleasure from carrying out virtuous activity – when we get a kind of satisfaction when we recognise that we are doing what we know to be right. Provided that we really are right, Aristotle does not think that this kind of pleasure needs any kind of Temperance to keep it in check.
Therefore, the call for Temperance is not an admonition of pleasure and enjoyment as-such but only our bodily pleasures that we can over-indulge in. The desires for sensual pleasure should be under strict control of our reason and if we cannot satisfy these desires, we should have enough self-control that we don’t mind. This is the virtue of Temperance.
Now onto what Aristotle says about money.
Money is listed under the virtues but it does not lie on a virtue-spectrum like the others do. Instead, there are points that Aristotle makes about better and worse ways to manage your finances and so, we could conclude that if you follow this advice, it would mean that you possess the virtue of being financially wise.
And so, what is this advice?
Well, to begin with, if you spend more money that you receive you will probably be in financial trouble. Nowadays we would say that if your outgoings were higher than your income, you’re going to have problems with money – whether that be by making you broke or by putting you in debt. However, what might be considered less in the modern world is that if you spend much less than you receive, it might show that you care too much for your wealth. That’s to say that, let’s say that you have lots of money coming into your bank account and you want to hoard it up as much as possible so that you enjoy the prestige of having a full bank account. The problem is that there are many other places that the money could be and ways it could be put to use; perhaps you could spend more on developing yourself and supporting your family; if you and your family have enough, perhaps that money could be put into developing some project or part of society or perhaps just be given to charity. In any case, if you have much more money coming in and filling your accounts than you are putting to use, perhaps that shows that you care too much for the money itself and not for all the other things that you could either be doing instead of earning all of this money that you don’t need, or for all of the other things that the money could be spent on improving.
Regarding money, Aristotle emphasises a point about income: if you are to have the right attitude towards money, you must first cultivate the right attitude towards income.
What does this mean? First of all, know what you can reasonably expect from your income – know what you are likely to earn, know what it can buy, and manage your expectations accordingly. Not doing so leaves you in danger of being greedy and of abandoning your principles in search of the kind of wealth you wrongly expect. This is where we see the connection to Virtue come into the picture with more vivacity because Aristotle implores us not to abandon our principles in pursuit of more money than we should expect and this is what he accuses gamblers, usurers, pimps and thieves of doing.
The bottom line when it comes to expectation seems to relate back to Temperance because Aristotle advises that we learn to discriminate between which expenses are necessary and which are not – what do you need? Figure that out and figure out how to make your income accommodate it. Don’t start spending too much on other needless things because you might end up spending too much on what you want instead of what you need. Prioritise what you need; manage your expectations, income and expenditure accordingly and you should have the right attitude towards money.