Aristotle Highest Good Essay Example

The idea of 'highest good' has been a topic of discussion among philosophers of olden days as well as contemporary ones. Each one who contributes to this topic defines what they consider to be the highest good. For that reason, it is not possible to provide a single definition of what the highest good is. The essay below entails a discussion of what different philosophers proposed to be the highest good and a critical assessment of each argument to come up with a conclusion of who seems to be right.

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According to Aristotle, several things may be considered as good, but most of them seek to accomplish a single good that is central to all. The first good is ultimate, and it the primary way to reach it is by doing or achieving all other forms of decent deeds (Grech, 2010). From Aristotle's teaching, the highest good is happiness. He also defined it as Eudaimonia which means living well when translated into English. Aristotle did not just conclude that joy has to be the highest form of good; he used criteria that he had defined. The measures consisted of three features which a good thing must have to pass as the highest good. The first feature was that the right thing should invoke a desire for itself as it is. Secondly, it must not be attractive because it is a means to the achievement of another good and finally, all other things which are considered good should be able to produce the highest good. Based on these criteria Aristotle decided that happiness was the only thing that met the standard of being called the most senior right. He saw happiness as a nucleus that exists alone, and for which everything else that is good is done (Grech, 2010).

Aristotle made comparisons between happiness and other good things to exemplify his ideology. Other forms of good that people frequently pursued in his time included riches, wisdom, and honor. In accomplishing these, one would be able to lead a good life. However, these forms of good only enhance one's capacity to live well whereas happiness is what living well actually entails.

Aristotle also elaborated through his work that happiness as the highest form of good must receive work input from one who seeks to achieve it. In that regard, happiness is a process that involves growth, and it happens throughout life. He highlighted that people must apply reason in all activities and contexts to get an understanding of how other forms of good like friendship, honor, virtue, wealth and pleasure come together as one and how they all lead to the achievement of happiness. The application of reason in all activities would also require excellence so that one would be able to achieve the highest level of good.

Friedrich Nietzsche did not agree with Aristotle's view. According to Nietzsche happiness is only a feeling that fleets and therefore one should not create a life based on striving for it (Nietzsche, 1886). In his work, Nietzsche acknowledges that most good things result in a beaming feeling of accomplishment which is pleasurable and constitutes happiness. However, when the moment of pride passes, the emotion passes with it and is therefore unsustainable. Instead of seeking out pleasure, one should try to keep the motivation to change things because that is what will lead to accomplishment which accompanies the happiness that they seek. In essence, he proposed that for one to be able to achieve repeated happiness, they should start on a journey that earns them some bitterness so that they have reasons to change things and get accomplished (Nietzsche, 1886).

Plato also had a theory on the subject of what he considered as the highest good. He proposed that the only way that people will be able to understand goodness is by gaining all knowledge through the study of mathematics, science, and philosophy (Piyong, 2013). Plato presented his idea in his 'Theory of forms' stating that knowledge is the highest acquisition a human can acquire. Therefore according to him, education is the highest good. Aristotle disagreed with this view since he believed that all could achieve the highest good including the uneducated.

According to Hobbes, good and evil are relative to the individual of concern. Therefore there may not be a good thing that supersedes all others because good things are different for various people (Lenetti, 2010). Although Hobbes did not acknowledge it anywhere in his work, the ultimate message he passed about good is that people do all good things for one to achieve happiness. Hence according to Aristotle's definition, he is teaching the same thing as Aristotle. Although Hobbes viewed good things as relative, he mentioned that there are free goods. The ability to reason was one of those unalienable goods, and so the work of Hobbes closely mirrors that of Aristotle.

John Stuart Mill also presented an argument that was quite similar to Aristotle's. In Mill's account, the highest good is not only the happiness that an event causes one individual, but it also encompasses the collective positive impact that one event creates as compared to the cumulative adverse effect (Organ, 2018). This ideology was known as Utilitarianism. Ultimately, the highest good is that which provides the most significant benefit and least harm to most beings that encounter it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Aristotle's theory of what the highest good is has been supported by most of the other philosophers albeit indirectly in some cases. Happiness is an ultimately good thing for which people do all good things, and which results from all good actions. It is desirable as a singular entity, not because it is a means to an end and it is the final event associated with everything good. It fully satisfies all of Aristotle's criteria and is thus the highest good.

References

Grech, G. (2010). Aristotle's Eudaimonia and Two Conceptions of Happiness. The University of St. Andrews. Pp 55-64. Retrieved from https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/994/GeorgeGrechMPhilThesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Lenetti. (2010). Hobbes, Aristotle, and Human Happiness. Pp. 7-10. Retrieved from https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/15343/20_32_Lemetti.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Ogan, T. V. (2018). John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism: A Critique. International Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies (IJPCS), Vol. 5, No 1, June/July 2018. Pp 65-69. Available online at http://www.rcmss.com/index.php/ijpcs ; www.academix.ng

Piyong, L. (2013). On Plato's Theory of Forms. Pp. 2-3. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.819.5894&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Nietzsche, F. (1886). Beyond good and evil. Pp. 23-27. Retrieved from https://resources.saylor.org/wwwresources/archived/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/PHIL101-5.3.3.pdf