good

In philosophy, that property or characteristic of a thing giving rise to commendation. Intrinsic goods are those things that we value in themselves, for their own sakes or as ends. Extrinsic goods are those that owe their goodness to things outside themselves – for example, surgery is good in so far as it promotes health. Non‐moral good can originate in human action (for example, taking exercise), or it can originate independently of human action (for example, good weather). Moral good or goodness (morality) originates in human action. Ethics is, in part, the systematic study of theories about morality and goodness.

Many philosophers have identified a highest good. Others, such as Thomas Hobbes, have denied that there is any such thing. Plato held that our highest good was experience of the form of the Good – which is goodness itself and the transcendent source of goodness. Aristotle held that it was an integrated life of virtuous behaviour and intellectual contemplation. St Augustine of Hippo and St Thomas Aquinas, both Christian philosophers, held that the highest good is beatitude or a state of blessedness.