Aristotle's "Final Good"
Welcome to the first of a series of weekly logs of books I'm currently reading!
Today I'll be throwing together some thoughts on "Final Good" that struck me from The Morality of Happiness by Julia Annas.
Please go easy on me because I forgot my notes, so I'll be writing off the dome.
Should be a quick read for anyone interested!
"Final Good"
The idea of a Final Good can be loosely defined as:
the ultimate end or a person's purpose. The "end" in the saying "a means to an end".
It's not just the "finish line"; it's the ultimate reason for every action we take.
What struck me wasn't just what Final Good was; it was that it's different for everyone and extremely hard to define in personal life without relentless honest reflection. Happiness, which is an example of a Final Good, is deeply personal.
For those of us who haven't thought of our future seriously, or aren't in touch with our emotions in one unfortunate way or another, it could defer our Final Good to a future self with less genuine awareness and, more importantly, less time!
Final Good offers happiness, knowledge, and purpose in, what can feel like, a chaotic world.
Here are a couple things I do personally to define what is true for me each week :)
- Create recurring tasks for days of reflection (e.g. every Sunday morning over coffee).
- Monitor cognitive dissonance (e.g. that feeling that surfaces in quiet moments, and displays itself in ugly ways when the world is loud).
- Question the reasons I do things often. Note: It's my job to decide what stays and what doesn't while understanding that there is no right answer. No "I should do this".
With Love,
Just a Man
