Single Idea 5870

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / B. Value / 2. Values / d. Health]

Full Idea

It is not true that everything that there is seeks some single good: each thing has an inclination for its own good, the eye for sight, the body for health, and so on.

Gist of Idea

Everything seeks, not a single good, but its own separate good

Source

Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics [c.333 BCE], 1218a30)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Eudemian Ethics I,II and VIII', ed/tr. Woods,Michael [OUP 1992], p.10


A Reaction

Aristotle's pluralism. Elsewhere this pluralism arises from his function argument - that the good of each thing is the successful fulfilment of its function, which is different for each thing. This is basic to virtue theory, and has my approval.