Man does not act aimlessly .

When he acts, it is because he enjoys the action,

or because he wants to achieve something by that action.

What we call end is the purpose or goal of an act. It is that which complete or finishes an act. Distinction is made between end of the act and end of the doer or agent. The end of the act is the natural termination of an activity. The end of the eating is nourishment; that of reading is comprehension; that of basketball is scoring a goal and that of jogging is physical exercise.

The end of the doer is the personal purpose intended by the person performing the act. He who eats aims to satisfy his hunger; the reader to relax himself; the basketball player to win the game and the jogger to maintain the physical fitness.

The end of the doer is either:

Proximate or Remote end Immediate or Ultimate end

The proximate end is the purpose which a doer wishes to accomplish immediately by his action.
The remote end is the purpose which a doer wishes to accomplish in a series of acts.

The ultimate end is the purpose which is desired for its own sake and not because of something else.
The intermediate end is the purpose which is desired as a means for obtaining another thing. The attainment of an ultimate end completes an act and stops all further acts.

student may assign his graduation as an ultimate end. intermediate end, in this case, would consist in all those activities leading towards graduation, such as attending classes, taking exams, participating in recitation and so on.

The

 Every

agent that performs an action acts for the sake of an end or purpose to be attained.
agent acts towards an ultimate end.

Every Every

agent has the power to move himself towards an end which he finds suitable for him.

 Nothing

excites the human appetite or rational desire than that which is good. Because something is good, it becomes the object of desire and therefore, desirable. Actions are tendencies towards something good. Thus, what is good and desirable is also the end of the act. The concept of the end coincides with that of good.

 Man

has a natural aversion to evil. Evil is never desirable for its own sake. It is naturally repugnant to man. When someone desires evil as an end, it is only because he views it, subjectively as something good. Evil viewed as good is called apparent good. It is evil disguised as good. It is deceptively tempting and many fall for it.

1. Essential and Accidental. Those that fit the natural needs of man are essential good. Such good include food, shelter, health, knowledge, virtue and life. Those that fit the wants of an individual because of his circumstances are accidental good. Such include money, car, good name, academic degree, power and luxury and many more.

 Essential

good is also called perfective because they contribute to the integral perfections of man.
good, on the other hand are called non-perfective because they merely contribute to the external worth or appearance of a person.

Accidental

real good is something which has an intrinsic value. Thus, we call it: V alue. It possesses qualities rendering it fitting or desirable. Examples of real good are good acts and habits, parents, parenthood, pleasure and joy, work and leisure

 Perfective

good is that which contributes to the integral perfection of the person such as education, virtue, food, exercise, medicine. good is that which merely contributes to the external appearance and convenience of a person, such as clothes, wealth, etc.

Non-perfective

 Also

called unlimited or limited goods respectively or absolute and relative good. Perfect good has the fullness of qualities enabling it to fully satisfy human desire. Imperfect good possesses only certain qualities so that it does not fully satisfy human desire except in a relative or limited sense. All earthly good are imperfect . Only God, the absolute sense, is perfect.

 In

every activity, man seeks that which is good. The greatest good as a matter of fact.
is evident in our concern for the best in everything: best friends, best parents, best food, best performance, best job and so forth. the language of the philosophers, the greatest good is the SUMMUM BONUM.

This

In

 For

Aristotle, the greatest good is happiness.

Happiness

is what man aims to achieve in all his activities. ultimate purpose of life is the attainment of happiness.

The

 As

a psychological state, happiness is the feeling of contentment arising from the possession of a good.
a state of being, it is the perfection arising from the possession of the good.

As

Happiness

coming from the possession of the greatest good constitutes mans perfection.

 Now,

which is the greatest good? What wonderful thing is there the possession of which will fully and absolutely satisfy human desire so that nothing more remains to be desired?
the greatest good does not exist or if it does but is totally beyond mans grasp, then human life would be pointless.

If

Some people give the impression that money or wealth can buy happiness. This is tragic because money merely feeds the bottomless appetite for greed.
people equates health with happiness. Of course health is a prerequisite to a productive life. But there are sick who are at the same time happy..

Some

 Sensual

people vainly seeks happiness in earthly pleasure, but one may not indulge in all the pleasures of this world without ending with pain.
people cling to their public image as if God himself was made after their illusion. Yet fame and fortune are fragile as the mirror that reflects their vanity.

Certain

 Some

dedicate their lives to science and arts. Doubtlessly, sciences and arts are essential to mans development. They are however, simply means rather than the end in themselves. Some propose that the final purpose of man is the promotion of the State or Government. While man is sociable and needs of the state to regulate his social, political and economic relations, the good of the individual comes ahead of that of the State.

 Natural

happiness consists in the perfection that can be attained by man through the employment of his body and soul and the powers inherent in them: intellect, will, internal and external sensory powers, the sense of appetites, locomotion, nutrition and growth.

 For

Aristotle, it was obvious that natural happiness does not rest on one single good object.
Rather, it consists in the attainment of all those things that are essential to human growth and development..

 These

goods, however, must be ranked in a hierarchy: from the lowest level to the highest level. Complete happiness, the natural order consists in those goods pertaining to the soul. The highest good according to Aristotle, belongs to the intellect: the contemplation of truth. But this fullness of knowledge is attained through virtue.

 Aristotle

does not go beyond earthly life in his dissertation on the last or ultimate end.
philosophers, notably St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, teach that man in every deliberate action acts toward an end, and ultimately to an absolutely ultimate end: happiness.

Christian

 Since

mans desire and tendency towards happiness is unlimited, nothing short of the
perfect good can satisfy it

Absolutely

perfectly.
Therefore

God, the Infinite Good is the greatest good to attained as the ultimate end.

 Man

cannot attain perfect happiness in this life, because God can never be known perfectly by mans natural powers. man can approximate perfect happiness in this life by knowledge and love of God and by the exercise of virtue.

But