The Wisdom of Aristotle's Golden Mean

Life in all aspects is irrefutably designed as a scale of polarities -- where the extremes are on the left and right. This might help expound Mr Carlo Petrini’s point.

In Aristotle’s Rule of the Golden Mean, he discussed that for every polarity, there is a mean which when practiced are good benchmarks for a life of moderation. For example, if on one side of the polarity of food consumption there is gluttony and the other is food deprivation, the golden mean is a balanced diet. If on one side of the polarity of sexuality is consummation of sex and the other side is celibacy, we can deduce that the golden mean is intimacy.

Experience tells us that anything done in excessive doses creates an imbalance – whether it’s consumption or abstinence. In the polarity of consumption and abstinence, the golden mean is moderation. How it is done or practiced is a balance of science and art. If science is the methodical and logical approach and art is the creative and intuitive approach, the golden mean is a balanced, happy and productive life. If we do things in moderation, it is not mathematically computed as zero or the absence of anything all the time but the mean of all the values present or needed to create the desired whole.

Using the principles of the scales, the weight of one side equal to the other side not necessarily in the same volume creates balance. A rock on one side can be balanced by one vale of hay on the other. Good food and sex as an expression of love among other factors contribute to a wholistic meaning to life not harming other beings. When sheer joy is lost in these aspects, life loses its basic harmony. Where there is harmony, there is love in agape -- where people do what they love and love what they do that does not violate human life. Then, people are motivated to do in scientific and creative expression of human faculties balancing the use of natural resources.

And there is sustainable progress balancing commerce and environmental preservation; where the mean is human wellness. Where there is rashness in the midst of adversity in one side and cowardice in the other, the golden mean is courage. In materialism versus spirituality, the golden mean is social responsibility.

The more we see the golden mean in each polarity, the better we find the true benchmarks of a life of wellness.