This is what Aristotle finds in the development of man's intellectual capacities. But that which is a means must always be a means for something and somewhere along the line there must be a final end or goal which has value in itself. Courage which always involves a risk is a necessary means for the further development of one's capacities and powers. Temperance thus becomes a means toward the acquisition of good health. This must be done as a means toward the achievement of some larger and more inclusive end. In the moral virtues the emphasis is placed on the proper control of one's appetites and desires.

The distinction is primarily that of means and ends. There is a sound basis for this distinction although it does not mean that the two types of virtues are entirely separate or that either one functions independently of the other. In view of the fact that reason is the guiding element in all of the virtues it may seem strange that an entire book of the Ethics should be devoted to the intellectual virtues thus implying a distinction between the intellectual virtues and the moral virtues. To be sure he recognizes that desires are an important element in the good life but unless these desires are given guidance and direction by the reason they may hinder rather than promote the realization of the good life. This is an important point in Aristotle's ethics for quite in contrast with what some moralists of the present day are advocating, he does not believe that the nature of goodness is purely a matter of satisfying one's desires. The determination of this point will vary with individuals and their respective circumstances for it is not the mathematical mean but the organic mean as determined by 'reason' that prescribes what each individual ought to do. It is an essential element in the doctrine of the golden mean which tells us that a virtue is the point which is midway between the extremes of excess and deficiency. In the Aristotelian conception of the good life reason is an important factor in the achievement of all the virtues. Aristotle's Method and Place in Intellectual History.

Nichomachean ethics book 6