How to Obtain the Virtue of Ready Wit (Aristotle's Ethics)

One of the many wonderful things about reading Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is you have a surprise around every corner.

If you’re not already familiar with the commonly established virtues and vices, several of the virtues listed by Aristotle will surprise you.

Temperance and courage make sense.

And we expect generosity, good temper, and friendliness.

But virtues like magnificence?

Virtues like ready wit?

Yet as with every virtue Aristotle breaks it down, takes it apart, lets us see the mechanics and how it works alone and in conjunction with the other virtues, then puts it back together again.

Now it’s up to us to do the difficult part and integrate the virtue into our life.

Here is Aristotle’s justification for ready wit as a virtue:

Since life includes rest as well as activity, and in this is included leisure and amusement, there seems here also to be a kind of intercourse which is tasteful; there is such a thing as saying—and again listening to—what one should and as one should. The kind of people one is speaking or listening to will also make a difference.

In the virtue of ready wit, like in the other virtues, is contained the simple yet important premise and plea to take life seriously.

Even when we’re playing, even when we’re having fun, even when we’re joking with other people, we must act virtuously.

How you say something matters.

Whether you say it in a tasteful or vulgar way matters.

Who and what you listen to matters.

Examine your input.

Examine your output.

What are you allowing into your mind?
What are you allowing out of your mouth?
What are you watching and listening to?
Who are you surrounding yourself with?

Ready wit is the mean.

Vulgarity and buffoonery is a vice on one extreme. Being a boring dullard is a vice on the other extreme.

Those who carry humour to excess are thought to be vulgar buffoons, striving after humour at all costs, and aiming rather at raising a laugh than at saying what is becoming and at avoiding pain to the object of their fun; while those who can neither make a joke themselves nor put up with those who do are thought to be boorish and unpolished.

It is more important, and virtuous, to ensure that your words and deeds are becoming, appropriate, and suitable, and do not cause the object of your fun any pain.

Bantering with friends can still take place.

Aristotle’s definitely not saying that you can’t do that, especially because being completely devoid of humour is a vice too.

But you must ensure that you are not causing anybody harm with your joke-making.

We have all experienced those occasions when someone’s jokes at our expense (even if they’re friends) have upset us.

Often we’ll hide our upset or offence because it’s a joke, but the fact remains you are still wounded.

And there are occasions when you would have done the same and a joke, even innocently intended, may have upset your friends.

Sarcasm is bad on this account because, despite it being widely accepted as a common form of humour, after sarcasm there is still a lingering sense of negativity.

It’s funny only on the surface but actually causes harm.

those who joke in a tasteful way are called ready-witted, which implies a sort of readiness to turn this way and that; for such sallies are thought to be movements of the character, and as bodies are discriminated by their movements, so too are characters. The ridiculous side of things is not far to seek, however, and most people delight more than they should in amusement and in jesting, and so even buffoons are called ready-witted because they are found attractive; but that they differ from the ready-witted man, and to no small extent, is clear from what has been said.

Do you delight more than you should in amusement and in jesting?

Again, like with all of the virtues, the difficulty here is in ascertaining where the line is.

People who know little of the virtues think that it is a prescriptive way of living.

Do this, don’t do that, etc.

But there is so much freedom to move within the virtues because not only is every person and situation different, but what is appropriate changes depending on time and place not just in location but in your life.

The only guidelines you have are knowing that one thing is a mean and two other things are the vice.

Go within. Introspect. Don’t turn to advice from others.

Only you can answer the question of whether you’re going too far in your merry-making.

To the middle state belongs also tact; it is the mark of a tactful man to say and listen to such things as befit a good and well-bred man; for there are some things that it befits such a man to say and to hear by way of jest, and the well-bred man’s jesting differs from that of a vulgar man, and the joking of an educated man from that of an uneducated.

It’s great that Aristotle puts emphasis not only on what you say but also what you listen to.

What you choose to consume influences your output and your mindset.

It’s like with a diet – put in vegetables, healthy fats, and lean proteins and your body will show it with muscle and low body fat and low inflammation.

Eat a diet of junk food and you’ll look and feel like a slob.

To be tactful in what you say, make sure you surround yourself with things that influence you positively.

Listen to tactful and respectable people. Read the right books. Watch the right films.

There are, then, jokes he will not make; for the jest is a sort of abuse, and there are things that lawgivers forbid us to abuse; and they should, perhaps, have forbidden us even to make a jest of such. The refined and well-bred man, therefore, will be as we have described, being as it were a law to himself.

Be a law unto yourself.

Understand where the line is.

Understand what things should not be joked about.

Many comedians will say that no joke should be off limits. And I agree with the sentiment.

But even those comedians who believe that will have areas that they personally will not go because for them it is not virtuous to do so.

Even the comedians most preoccupied with garnering shock-laughs from the audience will restrain themselves in certain ways or handle certain subjects in ways that are ultimately tactful – at least the comedians that are widely respected do so.

Such, then, is the intermediate man, whether he be called tactful or ready-witted. The buffoon, on the other hand, is the slave of his sense of humour, and spares neither himself nor others if he can raise a laugh, and says things none of which a man of refinement would say, and to some of which he would not even listen. The boor, again, is useless for such social intercourse; for he contributes nothing and finds fault with everything. But relaxation and amusement are thought to be a necessary element in life.

The virtue of ready wit is the art of leisure.

It’s the art of relaxing like a virtuous human.

Let’s get into the virtue assignment for this week.

Virtue Assignment for Ready Wit:

THIS WEEK:

– You are going to monitor how you act when it comes to humour.

Are you delivering humour in a tactful and appropriate way that doesn’t harm, upset, or offend people?

We’re going to eliminate bad types of humour. So switch wrists when you catch yourself being sarcastic or mean or making vulgar jokes. Also switch wrists when you are overindulging in humour or letting your sense of humour get the better of you.

Again, as always, you need to go based off your own inner compass and instincts here. But we don’t want to be completely boring or unable to make any jokes.

Being too serious or unable to take pleasure in the correct kinds of humour is also a vice, so switch wrists whenever you realise you need to lighten up – you need to enjoy what’s appropriate humour.

-Take an inventory of the things you listen to and watch.

Practice not indulging in crude jokes, even by listening to those made by others.

Make a conscious effort to elevate yourself this week and rid yourself of bad consumerist habits.

That means cutting out trash tv, cutting out mean gossip magazines, and things of that nature and replacing them with better sources.

Again, you’ve got to use your discretion here and you designate what sources are good or not. Just don’t lie to yourself, but remember this is nuanced and there’s no hard rules – it’s whatever is aligned to your center and also does not hurt anybody.

– Charisma is connected to having a ready and tactful wit, so this week make efforts to improve your speaking and communication skills.

This might mean taking an online speaking course or it might mean reading books on communication, body language, and humour.

– As usual, journal about your difficulties and successes this week.