What is Easier?

When we are discussing the subject of self restraint, we see that it has to do with how one handles pleasures. A temperate person may lack passion or may have acquired good habits of thought because of upbringing and so he may or may not be using much restraint. We only see the actions. A lack of self restraint can be due to laziness, rashness, habits, or strong passions. It can be like someone who gets drunk easy on just a couple drinks. A lack of self restraint with remorse means there is hope for change but without it the behavior will continue. We see this in how sentencing is given to criminals and how effective  reform can be. If the object of their offense was pleasure from hurting others (malice) it is a problem with their nature and giving them a mere penalty is less likely to help. The principles don't change over the centuries. On a scale of who is easiest to cure, the rash and passionate person lead since there was little deliberation involved and they just need to use their head the next time. It is harder for those who have made it a habit and the more it becomes a part of the person's nature the more a complete change has to occur. An epiphany is needed more than a bit of self-discipline.

This means that it takes a certain amount of endurance that is unique to each person to have self-control. At the same time it takes a certain amount of apathy for one to lose self-control. This is according to what the individual is like. The appearance of temperance or indulgence can be deceiving so we can't say one person has more endurance or apathy than another. There are those who use these terms broadly to judge others. But those of us who know better shouldn't even judge ourselves that way. We use the knowledge and get to know ourselves better for improvement rather than getting stuck in the rut of self pity.

The area of one's soul that we make or break continence is that of pleasure. And it is my pleasure to go into the subject. We have to confine the study to what is pleasurable for humans and interestingly that is a part of political philosophy. Should we live according to "if it feels good do it"? If happiness involves pleasure, why isn't it that simple? Since some pleasures lead to more pain than they are worth, it is a good idea to look at the nature of pleasure and pain.