The Highest Good

1914 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Wiener
Keyword(s):  
Highest Good

Plato’s Laws

2019 ◽  
pp. 358-378
Author(s):  
Susan Sauvé Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Highest Good ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
The Face

This chapter presents a an overview of the themes and topics of Plato’s Laws and then focusses on the grand hierarchy of divine and human goods identified in book I (631b-d) as the reference point of all proper legislation. The hierarchy rests on a conception of virtue distinct from what we find in other Platonic dialogues. It ranks courage last among the virtues and describes justice as a blend of moderation with wisdom and courage. This chapter argues that courage is ranked last because it is a natural or non-rational trait of fearlessness, analogous to the “ordinary” trait of moderation (self-restraint in the face of pleasure) that is presented as a trifling virtue in books III and IV. Justice, as conceived of in the Laws, requires combining these two traits and informing them with wisdom. The chapter concludes by noting that the leading role played by wisdom in Plato’s hierarchy of goods prefigures Aristotle’s conception of the highest good.

scholarly journals Guru Grantha Shahib: A Model for Interfaith Understanding in Today’s World

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Kazi Nurul Islam
Keyword(s):  
Moral Values ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Highest Good ◽  
World Today ◽  
The World ◽  
Religious Thinking

Though all the religions of the world teach love, preach sympathy for others and encourage man to exercise utmost self-restraint and have most profoundly been a source of inspiration for the highest good of mankind, the world today is torn by conflicts, enmity and religious hatred. In this predicament, a lasting and peaceful society is impossible unless different faiths are understood in their proper perspectives. Therefore, it is necessary that people belonging to different faiths understand each other well. This necessitates a constant dialogue and effort to generate moral and hearty religious thinking. The advocates of all the religions of the world emphasize the importance of certain virtues and moral values. Only these can foster unity and cohesion of mankind. But the moral and religious values cannot be invoked by force. This can be achieved through the exchange of words, kind words, sincere words and loving words that can reach the deepest fathoms of the heart. Philosophy and Progress, Vol#61-62-; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2017 P 1-14

scholarly journals Aristotle’s πόλις: The Political Community as a Common Project

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 343-358
Author(s):  
Leszek Skowroński
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Nicomachean Ethics ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Highest Good ◽  
Good For ◽  
And Function

At the beginning of Book I of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle says that “the good is the same for an individual as for a city”. The good in question is εὐδαιμονία – the highest good achievable for human beings. In Book X, we learn that contemplative activity (θεωρητική) meets best the requirements set for eudaimonia. Even if we agree that contemplative activity is the good for an individual, how should we understand the claim that contemplation is also the good for a city? I start by reminding readers that for Aristotle the Nicomachean Ethics is essentially a political enquiry and should be read together with his Politics. I focus on the teleological character of his political philosophy and the interlinking of the concepts of the good (τἀγαθόν), nature (φύσις), form (τὸ εἶδος, τὸ τί ἐστι, ἡ μορφή), end (τέλος, τὸ οὗ ἕνεκα) and function (ἔργον). Then, I look at Aristotle’s two closely-connected statements that polis exists by nature and that men are political animals. Having taken into account Aristotle’s opinion regarding the imperfection of this world, which is exemplified by the vulnerability of human lives to fortune, luck and accidents, I conclude that Alasdair MacIntyre’s concept of the political community as a common project explains well how contemplation could be the end of polis. Only very few individuals can achieve the highest good and they can do it only if they have the support of the political community. But all the inhabitants of a polis structured towards achieving the highest good benefit from living in a well-ordered community whose constitution reflects the objective hierarchy of goods.

Landino and Maximus of Tyre

1960 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 289-294
Author(s):  
Eugene M. Waith
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
The Other ◽  
Highest Good ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Allegorical Interpretation ◽  
Contemplative Life ◽  
Maximus Of Tyre

The Disputationes Camaldulenses of Cristoforo Landino constitute an important document. Composed in the manner of Ciceronian dialogues, they present us with a group of speakers famous in the history of Florentine thought: among others, Lorenzo de’ Medici, Alberti, and Ficino of the ‘Platonic Academy’ at Careggi to which Landino belonged; Alamanno Rinuccini, the Acciaiuoli, and Marco Parenti of the other ‘academy', presided over by Argyropoulos. The first dialogue deals with the relative merits of the active and contemplative life, the second with the problem of the highest good—two topics dear to the Renaissance. The third and fourth give an allegorical interpretation of the Aeneid. It would be hard to find personages or themes more central to quattrocento intellectual history. Inevitably one looks to the Disputationes for the light they throw on these Florentine scholars and on their interests.

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