Envy and Emulation - Aristotle's Rhetoric Book 2, Ch. 1-11

Aristotle discusses several emotions throughout chapters 2 through 11 of Book 2 and "how they may be produced or dissipated, and upon which depend the persuasive arguments connected with the emotions" (Aristotle 83).  The emotions he presents are all presented as opposites, as in Fear and Confidence.  For the most part, Aristotle's distinctions seem to make a lot of intuitive sense; for example, fear and confidence are two distinctively contrasting emotions that would be difficult to mix-up.  However, Aristotle's distinction between Envy and Emulation are less convincing.  Aristotle defines Envy as "a pain at the sight of such good fortune as consists of the good things already mentioned; we feel it towards our equals; not with the idea of getting something for ourselves, but because the other people have it" (Aristotle 81).  Emulation, on the other hand, is "pain caused by seeing the presence, in persons whose nature is like our own, of good things that are highly valued and are possible for ourselves to acquire; but it is felt not because others have these goods, but because we have not got them ourselves" (Aristotle 82).  Aristotle further distinguishes between Envy and Emulation in that "Emulation makes us take steps to secure the good things in question, envy makes us take steps to stop our neighbour having them" (Aristotle 83).

It seems to me that Aristotle's definitions of these two emotions aren't very good, at least considering a modern audience; when I am envious of someone, I feel it not only because other people have a good thing but also because I want it for myself.  While envy might make me try to prevent someone from having the thing I want, say by telling a friend a certain toy is sold out when I really want it for myself, it would also make me want to "secure the good things" as well.  I would also be hesitant to call Emulation as a painful emotion, since it seems to me that in feeling emulation I feel like I'm aspiring to better things, which in turn makes me feel happy.  I'm curious as to whether it might be better to consider Emulation as a type of Envy; that is, a person might be envious of a particular quality of a person but may not necessarily try to emulate him/her.  Maybe the two are too closely connected to separate cleanly like Aristotle does.  After all, don't most commercials simultaneously arouse envy and emulation in us by making us want their product so that we can be like the cool person using said product on TV?

The Race

Spectators in the stands buzz with anticipation and roar as their favorite sprinters, clad in the colors of their country, are announced for the 100 meter dash.  The vibration from the stands, the glare of the lights, the cool voice of the starter with his cap and gun, the clink of track spikes on the red track; all blissfully calming sounds for the veteran who has seen and felt all this throughout his storied career.  The veteran has raced and won against record holders but knows that no man outruns Father Time, knows that the aches and pains that run through his body even now are painful reminders of his pending retirement.  But as the starter commands the field to get ready, the hum in the stadium subsides into a perfect silence until the only sound is the veteran's heart, pounding as if it'll burst at any second.  The cool breeze, the softness of the track, and the beat of his heart; this is the time for pain, for prestige, for an old lion to roar gloriously one last time.

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