MARIE CRIS VIACRUCIS SUAREZ Activity 2 Page 1 of 2

1. What is the highest good which can be pursued by man?

Aristotle claims every action is aimed at some good yet these aims vary between
individual and context. For example, the end of the medical art is health, of
shipbuilding – the vessel, of strategy – the victory and so on. Furthermore, as seen
above, the concept of good can vary; the good in health is sustenance, in the vessel
– travel, and in victory – honor.

Yet, Aristotle is not looking for an in-exhaustive list of what the good could be,
instead he is looking for the highest good out of all these goods.

This highest good must also fit into three criteria: 1) it is desirable for itself, 2) it is not
desirable for the sake of some other good, and 3) all other goods are desirable for its
sake.

Every human activity aims at some end that we consider good. The highest ends are
ends in themselves, while subordinate ends may only be means to higher ends.
Those highest ends, which we pursue for their own sake, must be the supreme
Good.

For Aristotle this highest good is happiness or eudaimonia (which translates to

living well). He argues this by going through the list of what many may consider the
highest good of actions; for example pursuing wealth, honor, or wisdom. Yet, these
do not fit the criteria he is trying to fill. Instead, he examines all these aims and
realizes happiness is the highest good because it is what living well consists in and
the latter aims are sought because they promote living well, not because they are
what living well consists in.
MARIE CRIS VIACRUCIS SUAREZ Activity 2 Page 2 of 2

Happiness is the highest good because we choose happiness as an end sufficient in

itself. Even intelligence and virtue are not good only in themselves, but good also
because they make us happy.

2. What is Aristotle’s concept of good and theory of virtue? What do you think
about them? Are they still relevant?
Aristotle distinguishes two kinds of virtue: those that pertain to the part of the soul
that engages in reasoning (virtues of mind or intellect), and those that pertain to
the part of the soul that cannot itself reason but is nonetheless capable of following
reason (ethical virtues, virtues of character).

Intellectual virtues are in turn divided into two sorts: those that pertain to theoretical
reasoning, and those that pertain to practical thinking. He organizes his material
by first studying ethical virtue in general, then moving to a discussion of particular
ethical virtues (temperance, courage, and so on), and finally completing his survey
by considering the intellectual virtues (practical wisdom, theoretical wisdom, etc.).

3.

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