Single Idea 5135

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 1. Goodness / b. Types of good]

Full Idea

Goods have been classified (by Plato) under three heads, as external, or of the soul, or of the body; of these we say that goods of the soul are good in the strictest and fullest sense, and we rank actions as goods of the soul.

Gist of Idea

Goods are external, of the soul, and of the body; those of the soul (such as action) come first

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1098b13)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.78


A Reaction

Aristotle is famous (or notorious) for allowing external goods in his theory, but it is important that he always makes them subordinate to the central goods. Wealth and glamour could never compensate for vice.