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Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

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The aim of Nicomachean Ethics is to determine what the good is which leads to the discussion of Eudaimonia and virtue. Aristotle’s opening sentence establishes that all actions aim at some good (1999, p. 3) so therefore good must be that which all people aim for. MacIntyre interprets that, “Good is defined at the outset in terms of the goal, purpose, or aim to which something or somebody moves. To call something good is to say that it is under certain conditions sought or aimed at. There are numerous activities, numerous aims, and hence numerous goods.” (1998, p. 53). It is evident that there are numerous goods as each different activity aims at different goods, for example, medicine aims at health and economics aims at wealth (Aristotle, 1999, p. 3). Although we aim at numerous goods through our actions, we do not aim for wealth or health for their own sake, but for the sake of a final good: …show more content…

This means that the good for humans is the something which we desire for its own sake and it is the thing which all of our activities ultimately aim at. Aristotle claims that this final aim is

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