1. Essential and Accidental

2. Real and Apparent

3. Perfective and Non-perfective

4. Perfect and Imperfect

Essential good-Those that fit the natural needs of man

as man such good include food, shelter, health, knowledge, virtue, and life.

-It is also called perfective because they contribute to the integral perfections of man.

Accidental-Those that fit the wants of an

individual because of his circumstance.

-It is also called non-perfective because they merely contribute to the external worth or appearance of a person.

Real good-Is something which has an intrinsic

value. Thus, we call it: Value. It possesses qualities rendering it “fitting” or desirable.

-The real good includes both essential and accidental goods.

Apparent good-Is actually an evil thing but is

viewed as “good” under certain aspects.

-Examples are diseases, sadness, death, worry, crimes, etc.

Perfective good-Is that which contributes to the integral

perfection of a person, such as: education, virtue, food, exercise, medicine.

Non-Perfective good-Is that which merely contributes to the

external appearance or convenience of a person, such as: clothes, wealth, social status, political power, etc.

-Also called unlimited or limited goods, respectively, or absolute and relative goods.

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” goods are imperfect. Only God, in the absolute sense, is perfect good.

This is evident in our concern for the best in everything: best friends, best parents, best food, best performance, best job and etc.

In the Philosophers, the greatest goo is the Summum Bonum.

For Aristotle, the greatest good is happiness. Happiness is what man aims to achieve in all his activities. The ultimate purpose of life is the attainment of happiness.

As a psychological state,

Happiness is the feeling of contentment arising from the possession of a good.

As a state of being,

It is the perfection arising from the possession of the good.

1. Some people give the impression that money or wealth can buy happiness. If the Bible is to be believe, the avarice of the rich makes it very difficult for him to enter heaven. The camel may pass easily through the eye of a needle, but not the rich who grown much bigger because of pride.

2. Some people equates health with happiness. The present day preoccupation with physical fitness may not be wrong. But he who invests happiness in the beauty and agility if the human anatomy might not have much to look forward to when age catches up with him. It is wonderful to be strong and healthy, but happiness is somewhere else.

3. Sensual people vainly seeks happiness in earthly pleasures. But one may not indulge in all the pleasures of this world without ending up with pain. Certainly, an animal who has a rational soul deserves a better fate then AIDS or cancer.

4. Certain people cling to their public image as if God Himself was made after their illusion. Surrounded by an adoring crowd, these personal personages exhibit the exuberance of being “super”:putting themselves above the ordinary folk. And yet, fame and fortune are fragile as the mirror that reflects their vanity.

5. Some dedicates their lives to science and arts. Doubtlessly, the sciences and the arts are essential to man’s development. They are however the means rather than the end in themselves. They are precisely instrument leading to the promotion of human well-being. The same can be said of virtue.

6. Some propose that the final purpose of man is the promotion of the State or Government. While man is sociable and needs the State to regulate his social, political and economic relations, the good of the individual comes ahead of that of the State. Thus, the ideal State does not sacrifice the well-being of its members. Precisely, it is the function of government to make possible the happiness of its members or citizens.

Natural happiness-is that which is attainable by man through the use of his natural powers.

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 appetites, locomotion, nutrition and growth”

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.

The highest good belongs to the intellect: the contemplation of truth. But this fullness of knowledge is attained through virtue..

Christian philosophers: 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.

GOD- summum bonum

-infinite good

-the greatest good

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