Kitap 3
5
Nor yet does Temperance apply to enjoyment of the sense of smell, unless accidentallyi.e., by association.; we do not call those who are fond of the scent of fruit or robes or incense profligate, though we may be inclined so to style those who love perfumes and the smell of savory dishes, for the profligate take pleasure in these odors because they remind them of the objects of their desires.
6
One may notice that other persons too like the smell of food when they are hungry; but to delight in things of this kind is a mark of the profligate, since they are the things on which the profligate’s desires are set.The text here is doubtful, and possibly the whole of 10.6 is an interpolation.
7
Nor do the lower animals derive any pleasure from these senses, except accidentally.i.e., by association. Hounds do not take pleasure in scenting hares, but in eating them; the scent merely made them aware of the hare. The lion does not care about the lowing of the ox, but about devouring it, though the lowing tells him that the ox is near, and consequently he appears to take pleasure in the sound. Similarly he is not pleased by the sight of or stag or mountain goat, Hom. Il. 3.24 but by the prospect of a meal.
8
Temperance and Profligacy are therefore concerned with those pleasures which man shares with the lower animals, and which consequently appear slavish and bestial. These are the pleasures of touch and taste.
