The rational can also be divided up by what a person knows is intrinsically reasonable, and the ability of a person to listen to or be convinced by someone else's reason. Two aspects of virtue, the intellectual and the moral, are divided very similarly to these different aspects of soul. Intellectual virtues include theoretical wisdom, understanding, and practical wisdom. Practical wisdom involves making choices only after careful deliberation. Moral virtues are praiseworthy characteristics that include generosity and self-control.
True virtue entails finding a mean or balance between the intellectual and moral aspects of virtue.
This mean is applicable to not only the intellectual and moral aspects of virtue, but also pain and pleasure and the irrational and rational aspects of the soul. Aristotle emphasizes that balance between each of these three different extremes is a vital part of being a virtuous person. Having too much of one characteristic becomes an excess or deficient vice and is very detrimental to a person. However, he also admits that it is impossible to be sure that every action is directly in balance and does not have more of one characteristic than another. For instance, a person cannot know the exact amount of pain or pleasure an action will bring, and it would be very difficult to only perform actions that would be in perfect balance between pain and pleasure.