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Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean gives us a rough guideline of how to act. A virtue or vice is a disposition to think and act in a certain way. A virtue is when that disposition falls between two extremes of excess and deficiency. Aristotle identifies particular virtues and argues that the corresponding vices are using those qualities too much or too little. For instance, pride is a virtue according to Aristotle because it falls between two extremes. The extreme deficiency of pride is humility and the extreme excess of pride is vanity.72 Humility and vanity would both be vices. Another virtue that Aristotle defines is courage.

How does Link use the Triforce of Courage? Does he use it like a coward and therefore exhibit the extreme deficiency of courage? Anybody that can face creatures such as Gohma and Volvagia and live to tell the tale is certainly no coward! Does he use it in excess? I don’t think that we ever saw Link run straight to Ganon’s castle as soon as Zelda is captured to rescue her. This would be rash. Instead, Link gains the weapons and skills he needs before rescuing Zelda. In fact, when Link first walks into a dungeon, he doesn’t run to the boss room. He gets the necessary map, compass, and weapon before tackling the boss. This is the truest example of courage for Aristotle. Link isn’t a coward and he isn’t rash. He acts between the extremes and, as such, always triumphs over evil.

What about Zelda though? What would Aristotle say about this case? Isn’t wisdom inherently good? Surely we wouldn’t want to conclude that too much wisdom would be a bad thing. Actually, let us try a thought experiment. Imagine that Ganondorf has Zelda trapped and he is asking for the location of the Ocarina of Time to open the Sacred Realm and obtain the Triforce itself. Would it be better for Zelda to have the knowledge of the two possible outcomes and choose not to tell Ganondorf, or to be so wise and virtuous that the thought never even occurs to her to tell him where the Ocarina is?

Aristotle would argue that the truly virtuous person is one who will act because the virtuous act is purely internalized, not one who debates between right and wrong. He tells us that people are creatures of habit. People will be what they constantly do. In other words, if we are constantly virtuous to the point where committing immoral actions would never occur to us, then this is a case of a much better character than somebody who still has to debate between right and wrong. However, this advanced character development comes at the price of wisdom in regard to this particular virtue. If one were to be truly virtuous with her wisdom, then the evil act would never occur to her.73

Lastly, we have Ganondorf and his abuse of the Triforce of Power. The goddesses would have wanted this piece of the Triforce to be used in very much the same way as the other two pieces because they are equal. We should use it in moderation between two extremes. The deficient side of power would be complete inaction and on the excess side is an insatiable lust for power. Who does that sound like? Ganondorf uses the Triforce of Power in excess and he uses it often. A vice would be watching injustice take place without doing anything about it. If Midna were to allow the Twilight Realm to merge with Hyrule and turn both into a dark place, she would commit the vice of power, inaction. On the other hand, if we did nothing but lust after power above and beyond anything else, then we would have the excess.

Courage, wisdom, and power could all be used for good or bad actions. One may think at first that something is intrinsically good about courage and wisdom and if we listen to Glaucon, intrinsically bad about power. However, we must reject these claims after closer examination. Someone could be courageous in stealing, for instance. In much the same way, somebody could be wise in knowing how not to be caught when stealing; but, we wouldn’t want to say that these two qualities are good here would we?

The Lesson and Legacy of Din, Nayru, and Farore

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