Chapter VIII
Concerning the Natural Disposition of Man[1]
It is impossible for man to be born endowed by nature from his very birth with either virtue or vice, just as it is impossible that he should be born skilled by nature in any particular art. It is possible, however, that through natural causes he may from birth be so constituted as to have a predilection for a particular virtue or vice, so that he will more readily practise it than any other.[2] For instance, a man whose natural constitution inclines towards dryness, whose brain matter is clear and not overloaded with fluids, finds it much easier to learn, remember, and understand things than the phlegmatic man whose brain is encumbered with a great deal of humidity. But, if one who inclines constitutionally towards a certain excellence is left entirely without instruction, and if his faculties are not stimulated, he will undoubtedly remain ignorant. On the other hand, if one by nature dull and phlegmatic, possessing an abundance of humidity, is instructed and enlightened, he will, though with difficulty, it is true, gradually succeed in acquiring knowledge and understanding. In exactly the same way, he whose blood is somewhat warmer than is necessary has the requisite
- ↑ The title applies only to the first part of the chapter which is mainly a discussion of human free will, and is be supplemented by parts of M.'s Commentary on Abot, by H. Teshubah, V and VI, and Moreh, III, 16 21. On the contents of this chapter, see Jaraczewski, ZPhKr, XL VI, pp. 15-15; and Rosin, Ethik, p. 62 ff.
- ↑ Cf. Eth. Nic., II, 1, "The virtues, then, come to be in us neither by nature nor in despite of nature, but we are furnished with a capacity for receiving them, and are perfected in them through custom". This applies to nations as well as to individuals; see Pirḳe Mosheh, c. XXV, fol. 53a.
