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Full Idea
A question for Aristotle is, how can an action be good in itself if it is valued as a means to 'eudaimonia'?
Clarification
'Eudaimonia' is a state of fulfilment or flourishing in life
Gist of Idea
How can an action be intrinsically good if it is a means to 'eudaimonia'?
Source
comment on Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1101a15) by J.L. Ackrill - Aristotle on Action p.93
Book Ref
'Essays on Aristotle's Ethics', ed/tr. Rorty,Amélie Oksenberg [University of California 1980], p.93
A Reaction
A good question, but one which shouldn't trouble Aristotle. There is no short cut to eudaimonia (e.g. a pill); it is a state of accumulated good actions.
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| 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] |