more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
We call final without qualification that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else.
Gist of Idea
We desire final things just for themselves, and not for the sake of something else
Source
Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1097a30), quoted by Christine M. Korsgaard - Aristotle and Kant on the Source of Value 8 'Finality'
Book Ref
Korsgaard,Christine M.: 'Creating the Kingdom of Ends' [CUP 1996], p.230
A Reaction
This is such a simple and neat test for dividing what you value into two groups. You end up with things like art, philosophy, gardening, sipping wine, looking at beautiful views, talking to friends.
Related Idea
Idea 18228 An end can't be an ultimate value just because it is useless! [Korsgaard]
| 419 | If one does not hope, one will not find the unhoped-for, since nothing leads to it [Heraclitus] |
| 18227 | We desire final things just for themselves, and not for the sake of something else [Aristotle] |
| 4381 | How can an action be intrinsically good if it is a means to 'eudaimonia'? [Ackrill on Aristotle] |
| 22494 | We must know the end, know that it is the end, and know how to attain it [Aquinas] |
| 7201 | Knowledge, wisdom and goodness only have value relative to a goal [Nietzsche] |
| 6674 | All moral judgements ultimately concern the value of ends [Rashdall] |
| 5922 | An instrumentally good thing might stay the same, but change its value because of circumstances [Ross] |
| 23882 | Ends, unlike means, cannot be defined, which is why people tend to pursue means [Weil] |