Aristotle’s Strategy for Giving an Account of the Good

Aristotle’s Strategy for Giving an Account of the Good

Everything in life has a purpose and having a purpose is the end for which the means exists. When one realizes this concept, it will enable him or her to make their life better and more fulfilling. Both Aristotle’s term “eudiamonia” and The Function Argument, embody his belief that humans should aim to fulfill their life’s ultimate purpose or function in order to achieve happiness. Eudiamonia is defined as the human good that is characterized by happiness, living well, and being successful. He considers happiness to be an activity of the soul that can only be successfully achieved if we as humans fulfill our basic function of life. Something is considered to be good if it correctly executes its proper function while reaching its’ fullest potential. In Aristotle’s Niomachean Ethics, Aristotle presents a teleological conception of the good and its function in which he considers the highest good of humanity to be happiness.

Aristotle poses the question “what is the good?” “Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim” (Aristotole, Nicomachean Ethics I.1 1094a1-3). One may ask exactly what is Aristotle referring to when he uses the term “the good”? The good of something measures the standard of success. Good is a subjective term used to denote a particular goal. For example, the good of a refrigerator is to prevent food from spoiling. So a good or successful refrigerator is one that keeps food at a certain temperature and reduces the likelihood of it spoiling. He attempts to get a better understanding of what is good by evaluating adjective terms such as good, better, best, worse, and bad. The general nature of humans causes us to aim at accomplishment whether the good involve an action, a goal, or a pursuit. Nevertheless,...