Aristotle's conception of goodness is set forth in the opening sentence of this book. "Every art and every kind of inquiry, and likewise every act and purpose, seems to aim at some good; and so it has been well said that the good is that at which all things aim." This view appears obvious when we stop to consider the meaning of the word "good" as it is used in our everyday experience. We call an act good if it satisfies a particular need. The satisfaction of this need is then considered good if it is a means for satisfying some further need, and this in turn is good if it will satisfy still another one. Eventually this process must reach some point that is no longer a means for some further end but is an end in itself. This final end or goal of life is what Aristotle means by the highest good. It is the purpose of the study of ethics to discover the nature of this highest good and to find the appropriate means for its realization.
Because happiness is generally regarded as an end in itself rather than a means for achieving something else it would seem quite proper to call happiness the highest good or the ultimate goal for human life. However, this will not be sufficient unless we specify the kind of happiness that is most desirable, for nothing is more obvious than the fact that the nature of happiness varies with the type of person who experiences it and the same is true with regard to the methods by which it is obtained. Some people find happiness in the pursuit of sensual pleasures. Others find it in the pursuit of wealth or honor, and there are still others who find it in the activities that are associated with the contemplative life. Surely the kinds of happiness obtained by these different activities do not have equal value and it is for this reason that the student of ethics must give careful attention to the implications that are involved in each of them. It should also be noted that any adequate consideration of the good life must take into account the activities of life as a whole and these will involve his relationships to other members of the community in which he lives as well as those which pertain only to his individual welfare. The subject of ethics is indeed a complicated one. To deal with it successfully one needs maturity of judgment and familiarity with a wide range of relevant facts. The results of ethical inquiry cannot be established with the same degree of certainty that is possible in the more exact sciences. Nevertheless, reliable results can be obtained and these can be most helpful in guiding one toward a more adequate understanding of what it means to live at one's best.
