Nicomachean Ethics
Magnificence

Magnificence is similar to generosity but concerns larger amounts. Aristotle says that while "the magnificent man is liberal, the liberal man is not necessarily magnificent".

The immoderate vices in this case concern "making a great display on the wrong occasions and in the wrong way". The extremes to be avoided in order to achieve this virtue are paltriness or chintziness on the one hand and vulgarity on the other.

Aristotle notes that moral dispositions (hexeis) are caused by activities (energeia), meaning that a magnificent person's virtue can be seen from the way he chooses to do magnificent acts at the right times.

Aristotle emphasizes the public nature of the giving—receiving foreign dignitaries, making religious offerings, erecting public buildings, funding festivals and entertainments, throwing weddings, lavishly decorating a home ("for even a house is a sort of public ornament").

Because he seeks spectacle, a person with this virtue does not focus on doing things cheaply, which would be petty, and may well overspend. As with liberality, Aristotle sees a potential conflict between some virtues and skill with money. He says that magnificence requires spending according to means, at least in the sense that poor men cannot be magnificent. The vices of paltriness and vulgar chintziness "do not bring serious discredit, since they are not injurious to others, nor are they excessively unseemly".
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