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The Modern Day "Proud Man" // Jessef Leslie

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle speaks of the proud man, a person who finds a balance between being “vain” and “unduly humble” through temperance. This person does so not by how much he achieves, but by finding in his actions the “mean in respect of the rightness of them; for he claims what is accordance with his merits, while the others go to excess or fall short.” (Aristotle 38). So, this person does not undermine his abilities nor exaggerate them; He seeks not rewards of endless wealth nor denies all accommodations and merit due to a belief that he is not valuable enough for them. The humble man can seem “disdainful” at times because he “cares not to be praised nor for others to be blamed; nor is he given to praise.” (Aristotle 39). The humble man also takes his time, he has a “slow step” and “a level of utterance” as he tries to understand things and keep his excitement from dying while not letting it control him.

            On the other hand, in modern day society, most people seem to be unduly humble. This also seems to be the most virtuous of the three for us. The issue with being so humble is that it leads to a negative outlook on one’s self. These perspectives of an individual lead them to failure, self-harm, depression, and much more. We constantly joke about ourselves yet will not joke in such a way about kind stranger or a good friend. It is ironic how much we love the people around us yet do not share the same love for the body and mind we are living inside of. While an arrogant attitude on the opposite end is annoying, at least it influences the person to pursuit his/ her goals and potentially learn how to cool off later down the line. 

        I believe that as a community we should speak of our achievements an accomplishments a bit more. If we boost each other’s achievements and have a more positive outlook on ourselves, it will lead to a more positive community. There’s no issue with laughing at ourselves, but the key is to find the balance between that and boasting to reach a point where we understand our value and can gladly say what we are capable of.

Commented on Ian Blair's and Hailey Morgan's Posts.


Comments

  1. IsabelleOctober 27, 2020 at 8:17 AM

    I like your post! It seems like the proud man states the facts rather than the opinions. There is a fine line between being humble and being self-deprecating. The person you described in your second paragraph seemed to lean towards to latter. You're correct in that we need to reach the healthy balance of knowing who we are but not being arrogant about our abilities.

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