Today during our discussion of The Birthmark, a lot of you were questioning how we could ever determine what perfection means in terms of human beings. Someone very intuitively brought up the idea that until we can adequately define what perfect means, then we can't really argue about how to get there. It just turns into an opinion question. Turns out this is an idea man has pondered for thousands of years:
Since Aristotle agrees that there exist a plurality of ends and goods, this leads us to the notion of priority and the need for planning. This sets man apart from animals because they are able to plan for a final good. By deciding between various ends based on our own nature, we determine our path in life towards a final end.
After one understands that there is a final good, inevitably one will ask what is the end for which to aim? What is the highest of all goods achievable by man? Aristotle claims that it is happiness. "The good for man turns out to be activity of soul in accordance with virtue, and if there is more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete; but we must add 'in a complete life". This is how Aristotle describes the final good for man, or happiness. Virtue is required for the realization of happiness, and men differ in their conditions of the realization because of our unique individual natures. They must simply find the "paramount end" and plan life to achieve this final good.
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