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The good of something is similar to its end; it is the result that something rationally aims for. Aristotle says that the best good is the end that we desire for its own sake, the ultimate end toward which all lesser goods are aiming. Knowledge of this “best good” is key to determining how best to live our lives.
Good Quotes in Nicomachean Ethics
The Nicomachean Ethics quotes below are all either spoken by Good or refer to Good. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 1
Quotes
Suppose, then, that the things achievable by action have some end that we wish for because of itself, and because of which we wish for the other things, and that we do not choose everything because of something else—for if we do, it will go on without limit, so that desire will prove to be empty and futile. Clearly, this end will be the good, that is to say, the best good.
Then does knowledge of this good carry great weight for [our] way of life, and would it make us better able, like archers who have a target to aim at, to hit the right mark? If so, we should try to grasp, in outline at any rate, what the good is, and which is its proper science or capacity.
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Presumably, though, we had better examine the universal good, and puzzle out what is meant in speaking of it. This sort of inquiry is, to be sure, unwelcome to us, because those who introduced the Forms were friends of ours; still, it presumably seems better, indeed only right, to destroy even what is close to us if that is the way to preserve truth. We must especially do this as philosophers, for though we love both the truth and our friends, reverence is due to the truth first.
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Good Term Timeline in Nicomachean Ethics
The timeline below shows where the term Good appears in Nicomachean Ethics. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1
...According to Aristotle, every craft, line of inquiry, action, and decision seeks some end, or “good,” but these goods differ. For example, health is the end of medicine, a boat the...
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...some end that we wish for because of itself.” This end will be the best good. The knowledge of this “best good” is important for determining the best way of life,...
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...its end includes the ends of the other sciences, too. This end is the human good, but the good of the city is “a greater and more complete good” than the...
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Book 1, Chapter 4. So what is this highest good that political science seeks? Most people would agree that it is happiness, but they disagree...
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Book 1, Chapter 5. People generally form their understanding of the good from the type of life they lead, and there are roughly three types of lives:...
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...though, Aristotle points out that it’s best to figure out what is meant by the good. Because it is spoken of in so many different ways, we can conclude that there...
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...unclear how, say, a weaver, a carpenter, or a doctor will benefit from knowing this “Good Itself” or “Idea.” A doctor, for instance, isn’t interested in some universal idea of health,...
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Book 1, Chapter 7. Aristotle explains that since the good appears to be something different in medicine, generalship, and so on, then the highest good...
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In order to better grasp what the best good is, Aristotle says that it’s necessary to understand the function of a human being. While...
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Book 2
Book 2, Chapter 2. Since the object of Aristotle’s inquiry is to become good, it’s necessary to consider the correct ways of acting, since these result in the states...
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...state it is. Every virtue causes the person who has it “to be in a good state and to perform their functions well.”
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Book 6
Book 6, Chapters 7-13. Good deliberation, Aristotle explains, isn’t just any sort of rational calculation; after all, a base person...
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Book 8
...is “complete” friendship, which occurs between people who are similar in virtue. Such people are good in their own right and wish good things for one another for each other’s own...
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Book 9
...however, whose actions are guided by reason, is above reproach. Thus, in this sense, a good person must be a self-lover, since his fine actions benefit both himself and others.
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...he is assumed to be self-sufficient. But if having friends is indeed the greatest external good, then it’s a necessity; moreover, a good person needs someone to benefit, hence he needs...
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Book 10
...he made earlier about pleasure, concluding that pleasure in and of itself isn’t the ultimate good, that not every pleasure is “choiceworthy,” and that some pleasures are choiceworthy in themselves. Pleasure...
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