Different Philosophers' Perspective on the Concept of the Highest Good

The “Highest Good”
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The “Highest Good”
The highest good remains a highly contentious issue in regards to its definition not only in modern society, but also in ancient times when scholars could not settle on a specific interpretation. The primary reason is that people have different personalities and varying life experiences implying that a person’s highest good is much likely to be different from the other. Any individual interested in defining this concept will align with the values that uphold their convictions. It is a process of deep thinking where an individual endears to establish their core values. Personally, the highest good will be embodied by the most intricate personal values, which are then influenced by the social surrounding. These reasons make respect to remain my highest good.
Plato’s perspective on the highest good is a daunting task to discern considering that it is arrived from a metaphysical sense. Even in his book, The Republic, Plato’s efforts to illustrate on what makes things good are vague lacking the sharp precise answer that would help the audience differentiate his perspective from others. Nevertheless, he considers the highest good to be an individual’s consciousness of the Form of the Good (Ferrari & Griffith, 2000). It is this knowledge that permits the goodness to proliferate to all other things. However, there are shortcomings to this predisposition. In my opinion, the Form of the Good has an indistinct definition making it a difficult philosophical position to create any major influence to an individual. Also, chances are that those who understand it well may fail to share it with others. On the other hand, an individual could be in the process of becoming thereby becoming an inadequate tool, which cannot be relied upon in explaining this position.
Aristotle conceived this concept as closely linked to the virtuous soul, as an ultimate source of value, and further, as a thing that brought meaning to life. In essence, the highest good to him was that which elicited the virtuous activity of the soul and in the same wavelength, it was the source or principle of goodness. He claimed that the lack of it would bring emptiness and vain in the respective pursuit (Richardson, 1992). In my opinion, Aristotle is right and wrong. He is right because a person’s actions and thoughts ought to come from the soul. He is wrong for arguing that when one lacks the highest good, their pursuits are filled with emptiness and vain. People could act in meaningful ways; still, they would not be in vain if they have not established concrete thoughts on what the highest good is.
Another philosopher to provide an opinion on this matter was Kant. Kant had several writings to him that could prove contentious and contradicting at the same time. However, in a standard understanding, Kant’s “highest good” encapsulates “happiness distributed in exact proportion to morality” (Lin, 2009, p. 355). According to Kant, the highest good is solely predicated upon the “combina...