The "highest good". Literature & Language Assignment

The Highest Good Analysis
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May 27, 2020
Different philosophers have different perspectives when it comes to what is considered as the highest good. These ideas could very differently from every philosopher based on their own theoretical paradigms. In this article, I would first discuss some of the concepts of each philosopher. Subsequently, I would argue why I believe that Kant is the person who has the best definition of what we can consider as the ‘highest good’.
Plato believed that the “good” is an absolute cause, it is a cause without itself being caused. The “good” unravel the explanation not only on why there are things as they are- or what occurred that brought them to be, it explains more, instead, on why do all things exist, why is their exists at all (Etzioni, 2014). He believes that nature exists because existence is good. Plato, in The Republic, thought that what lies beyond the realm of reality in the field of the essence, wherein the two somehow appears to be somewhat similar, if not identical. Plato also believed that the “good” is essential to the being, even more, so he thought that the “good” is what causes the being. It provides the answer to why of things, the criteria of being, such as self-sufficiency, abundance, beauty, etc.
For Socrates, the highest “good” is happiness, it is also where everything we do is directed to. All the things we are doing are headed to an inevitable end, though most of these ends are just means to such other ends (Long, 2012). The best example we can derive from this is, planting your own vegetables in your little garden, planting vegetables is itself a means towards eating cheaper yet healthier food, and eating cheaper and healthier food means towards allocating your finances to other essential needs for you might also well have fewer visits to your medical practitioner. These having better financial management and only becoming healthier is also a means to some other ends, and so on. Socrates believed that the final direction our actions are meant to move on towards to is happiness, so then it must be the highest form of good. Aristotle interprets the supreme good as an activity of the rational soul in line with the virtue, and for the Greeks, virtue is identical to excellence. For example, for them, a man has virtue as a musician if he plays his instrument well, or if he sings, then he has virtue if he sings well. To the Greeks, a virtuous person is someone who carries out specific activity very well. To be rational is our distinctive activity, as a human being, this very activity is what separates us from beasts and plants. Socrates said that all things that are living have a nutritive soul, which has control over growth and nutrition, and that humans and animals are different from plants in a sense that humans and animals have a sensitive soul, the very soul that governs instincts and movement. Humans, is even different than his fellow animals, for we also have a rational soul, a soul that governs thoughts. And since our ability to reason is our distinctive ability, and the implementation of such is the supreme “good”.
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