The Quest for the Good
Is the Good something concrete to be obtained, or is it a way of life unique to individuals?
This question is asked most assuredly in a biased manner, directing us along a path to the answer. It raises many logical questions of how, exactly, the Good is framed, and what it means to live a good life. To do this, an understanding must be found of what exactly the Good is. The questions of how the Good is structured and what the Good is are intricately tied together, and as such both shall be explored. The most important step in terms of the Good is the quest, as shall be found, because it is only by actively seeking the Good that one can find any understanding of it. As such, the quest for the Good shall be explored in The Republic by Plato, Confessions by Saint Augustine, and Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. These works will help give a full understanding of what the quest for the Good is, and how it is difficult to define because it is so multiplicitous. Also, an outside framework will be explored, to be able to look at a world conception that includes many of the themes explored by the authors, and the opposites which tend to be left out. Overall we will find the Good and the quest.
To understand the breadth of the answer, the meanings of the question must be understood. The important questions are: can the Good be concrete? Can the Good be obtained? Is the Good a way of life? How is it unique?
A concrete Good would be an immutable, unchanging Good. This would be a Good that exists in an abstract realm, something of a Platonic Form of the Good. If there were a less abstract Good, one more easily attained, we would all know it explicitly. Therefore, if there is an exact idea of what the Good is, it is hard enough to find that philosophers exist. The corollary to this question is, can the Good not be concrete? In other words, can the Good change or evolve, or is there always the same Good, forever? St. Augustine saw the Good as God, and saw God as non-physical and unchanging (Augustine, 4, ii(2)). As such, the Christian lifestyle, the Good life, would be a single path, the same throughout the ages.
"Where the essence of God is, there too is the essence of good. What is the essence of
Nothing in the world – indeed even beyond the world – can possibly be conceived which could be called good with qualification except good will (Kant 61).
Society, individuals, and governments all have their own definition of good. They vary a little, but they are still followed. However, when the definition of good is manipulated to fit someone’s own character, it loses its meaning. In the narrative, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the narrator creates a new definition of good; however, so do the characters. Eventually, the antagonist’s definition of good, which is just her values, along with her egotistical and manipulative nature, results in her downfall; the author employs biblical allusion and a series of plot twists to emphasize these tragic flaws.
The definition of “good” is not as black-and-white as approval and disapproval according to Aquinas. He defines “good” as more “enticing” or “desirable”. The most universal type of goodness is the idea that everything is good as everything is being.
total good of the man. Plato holds that if the desire were truly for a good
These are things that we enjoy, but they do not lead to any result. Glaucon says that the feeling of joy falls under this category. The next classifications of goods are goods that are welcomed for their consequences. They are not directly good, but what happens because of these things is good. An example of this would be medical care and medicine. The medicine itself is not the good thing; it is the healing power of the medicine that comes from taking it properly that makes people happy. The final type of good, what Glaucon calls the highest type of goods are goods that are goods that bring satisfaction for their own sake and also the result of them. Glaucon gives the example of sight for this grouping. We use sight to be able to view things in life, but also to guide us. Socrates believes that justice should belong in this group of goods. Socrates believes that people want justice, and it also brings about good consequences. Glaucon, however, states that most people do not agree with Socrates thinking. He says, “This is not the opinion of the many, he said; they would put it in the wearisome class, to be pursued for the rewards and popularity which come from a
Good and evil can be summed up as a difference between rational and irrational thoughts, with the former being related to “good” and the ladder to “evil”. This is a view shared by Immanuel Kant and his Categorical Imperative. In the movie Schindler’s List, we are presented with two individuals, Oskar Schindler, who by the end of the movie displays characteristics of a man following rational thoughts, doing acts that he would want to become universal maxims. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Amon Goeth. Goeth follows his irrational thoughts, using the Jewish people as a means for his own ends.
For many, good is much easier to explain than evil. Good can be seen as the right or desirable quality, and evil is the opposite. If a person does something that is seen as good, or desirable, it must be the right action for either themselves or others. If it is the right action for themselves, then each person, according to Plato, is doing a good act. A person will do what is right for them, or else it was not the right action for them. For Plato, evil is the ignorance of the right action. By being ignorant, and not consciously doing harmfu...
...cend and rise above everything to see what the genuine character is of everything in this universe. When this truth is realized, how I understand it, we also see how the truth is bliss, even when it is manifested in evil, and that the truth of real existence can be manifested as life or death. Thus we realize that all these happenings are nothing but the reflections of one existence, your real self and the reality of everything else. Only when this truth is realized is when it is possible to do true good without evil because such a person who has realized the ultimate truth has known and gotten control of the material of which both good and evil are manufactured. When he can manifest one or the other, and chooses to manifest only good, is it is true goodness. Now if only everyone can attain this level of goodness, our world would be a pure and blissful place.
One of Aristotle’s conclusions in the first book of Nicomachean Ethics is that “human good turns out to be the soul’s activity that expresses virtue”(EN 1.7.1098a17). This conclusion can be explicated with Aristotle’s definitions and reasonings concerning good, activity of soul, and excellence through virtue; all with respect to happiness.
17, No. 3, p. 252-259. Urmson, J.O., (1988). Aristotle’s Ethics (Blackwell), ch.1. Wilkes, K.V., (1978). The Good Man and the Good for Man in Aristotle’s Ethics. Mind 87; repr.
There are many different interpretations of what the good life truly is. Individualists believe that the good life is pleasing oneself, while utilitarians believe that the good life is acting for the good of the rest of society. Philosophers, too, have their own interpretation. Plato alludes to the philosopher's good life when he uses the phrase "my greatest pleasure." The inherent subjectivity of the word "my" tells the reader that philosophical conversation may not necessarily be everyone's greatest pleasure.
shows that to be good is the right thing to do as evil only leads to
The Problems with the Meaning of Ethical Language Ethical language uses words, terms and phrases from normal language, but they normally do not have the same meaning. Words such as; ‘good’ have a variety of meanings in the normal everyday use, but also have several different meanings when used in moral philosophy. For example, the dictionary gives the following definitions of the word good; ‘having the right or desired qualities, satisfactory, adequate, efficient, competent, reliable, strong, kind, benevolent, morally excellent, virtuous, charitable, well-behaved, enjoyable, agreeable, thorough, considerable.’ Then ‘good’ can be used to mean the following in moral philosophy; an inherent quality which is widely beneficial, the opposite of bad or evil, something one or more persons approves of, useful in that the good action/concept/attitude enriches human life, or
Therefore, neither evil nor good can exist without the other being implicated (Yamamoto, 1998). Evil and good is often manifested in the social environment because they exist to compliment each other. In the student’s social environment, maximization of utility appears as an intrinsic