Lesson 2: Happiness and Ultimate Purpose: τέλος (Telos)

Lesson 2: Happiness and Ultimate Purpose
τέλος (Telos)
Aristotle begins his discussion of ethics by showing that every act that a person does is directed
toward a particular purpose, aim, or what the Greeks called telos. There is a purpose why one
does something, and for Aristotle, a person's action manifests a good that she aspires for. Every
pursuit of a person hopes to achieve a good. One eats for the purpose of the good that it gives
sustenance to the body. A person pursues a chosen career, aiming for a good, that is, to
provide a better future for her family. A person will not do anything which is not beneficial to her.
Even a drug user "thinks" that substance abuse will cause her good. This does not necessarily
mean that using drugs is good but a "drug addict" would want to believe that such act is good.
Therefore, for Aristotle, the good is considered to be the telos or purpose for which all acts seek
to achieve.
One must understand that an individual does actions and pursuits in life and correspondingly
each of these activities has different aims. Aristotle is aware that one does an act not only to
achieve a particular purpose but also believes such purpose can be utilized for a higher goal or
activity, which then can be used to achieve and even higher purpose and so on. In other words,
the different goods that one pursues form a hierarchy of teloi (plural for of telos). Aristotle says:
...But a certain difference is found among ends; some are activities, others are products
apart from the activities that produce them. Where there are ends apart from the actions,
it is the nature of the products to be better than the activities. Now, as there are many
actions, arts, and sciences, their ends also are many; the end of the medical art is health,
that of shipbuilding a vessel, that of strategy victory, that of economics wealth. But
where such arts fall under a single capacity--as bridle-making and the other arts
concerned with the equipment of horses fall under the art of riding, and this and every
military action under strategy, in the same way other arts fall under yet others--in all of
these, the ends of the master arts are to be preferred to all the subordinate ends; for it is
for the sake of the former that the latter is pursued. [1]
When one diligently writes down notes while listening to a lecture given by the teacher, she
does this for the purpose of being able to remember the lessons of the course. This purpose of
remembering, in turn, becomes an act to achieve a higher aim which is to pass the
examinations given by the teacher, which then becomes a product that can help the person
attain the goal of having a passing mark in the course. It is important for Aristotle that one
becomes clear of the hierarchy of goals that the different acts produce in order for a person to
distinguish which actions are higher than the other.
εὐδαιμονία (Eudaimonia)
With the condition that there is a hierarchy of telos, Aristotle then asks about the highest
purpose, which is the ultimate good of a human being. Aristotle discusses the general criteria in
order for one to recognize the highest good of man.
Final
First, the highest good of a person must be final. As a final end, it is no longer utilized for the
sake of arriving at a much higher end. In our example above, the purpose of remembering the
lessons in the course, that is why one writes down notes, is not the final end because it is clear
that such purpose is aimed at achieving a much higher goal.
Self-Sufficient
Second, the ultimate telos of a person must be self-sufficient. Satisfaction in life is arrived at

once this highest good is attained. Nothing else is sought after and desired, once this self-
sufficient goal is achieved, since this is already considered as the best possible good in life.
Again in the example give above, the goal of remembering the lessons in the course is not yet
the best possible good because a person can still seek for other more satisfying goals in her life.
So what is the highest goal for Aristotle? What goal is both final and self-sufficient? It is
interesting to note that for Aristotle, the question can only be adequately answered by older
individuals because they have gone through enormous and challenging life experiences which
helped them gain a wealth of knowledge on what the ultimate purpose of a person is. According
to Aristotle, older individuals would agree that the highest purpose and the ultimate good of man
is happiness, or for the Greeks, eudaimonia. Aristotle says:
Now, such a thing happiness, above all else, is held to be; for this we choose always for
itself and never for the sake of something else, but honor, pleasure, reason, and every
virtue we choose indeed for themselves (for if nothing resulted from them we should still
choose each of them), but we choose them also for the sake of happiness, judging that
by means of them we shall be happy. Happiness, on the other hand, no one chooses for
the sake of these, nor, in general, for anything other than itself.[2]
One can therefore say that happiness seems to fit the first criterion of being the final end of a
human being. For it is clear that conditions for having wealth, power, and pleasures are not
chosen for themselves but for the sake of being a means to achieve happiness. If one
accumulates wealth, for example, she would want to have not just richness but also power and
other desirable things as well, such as honor and pleasures. But all of these ends are ultimately
for the sake of the final end which is happiness. In itself, happiness seems to be the final end
and the highest good of a person since no other superior end is still being desired for.
Aristotle continues in saying that happiness is also the self-sufficient end. He says:
...Let us examine this question, however, on another occasion; the self-sufficient we now
define as that which when isolated makes life desirable and lacking in nothing; and such
we think happiness to be; and further we think it most desirable of all things, without
being counted as one good thing among others--if it were so counted, it would clearly be
made more desirable by the addition of even the least of goods, for that which is added
becomes an excess of goods, and of goods, the greater is always more desirable.[3]
Happiness for Aristotle is the only self-sufficient aim that one can aspire for. No amount of
wealth or power can be more fulfilling than having achieved the condition of happiness. One can
imagine a life of being wealthy, powerful, and experiencing pleasurable feelings and yet, such
life is still not satisfying without happiness. Once happiness is achieved, things such as wealth,
power, and pleasurable feelings just give value-added benefits in life. The true measure of well
being for Aristotle is not by means of richness or fame but by the condition of having attained a
happy life.

Lesson 2: Happiness and Ultimate Purpose: τέλος (Telos)

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Lesson 2: Happiness and Ultimate Purpose: τέλος (Telos)

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Lesson 2: Happiness and Ultimate Purpose

Second, the ultimate telos of a person must be self-sufficient. Satisfaction in life is arrived at

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