I explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• The Good and Happiness

  Aristotle begins by asserting that every action and pursuit aims at some good, establishing the good as the universal end of human endeavor.

• Practical Wisdom and Reason

  The hierarchical structure of arts and ends implies a need for practical reasoning to subordinate lesser ends to the highest good.

Characters to notice

• Aristotle

  Author of the text; presents the foundational argument that all actions aim at some good.

Key passages

• “Every art and every kind of inquiry, and likewise every act and purpose, seems to aim at some good: and so it has been well said that the good is that at which everything aims.”

  All human activities, whether practical or intellectual, are directed toward some perceived benefit, which is why the good is defined as the universal target of all endeavors.

  Aristotle's opening statement establishes the teleological framework of the Ethics.

• “But when several of these are subordinated to some one art or science—as the making of bridles and other trappings to the art of horsemanship, and this in turn, along with all else that the soldier does, to the art of war, and so on—then the end of the master-art is always more desired than the ends of the subordinate arts, since these are pursued for its sake.”

  When multiple crafts are organized under a higher discipline, the ultimate goal of that higher discipline is more valuable than the intermediate goals, because the lower arts exist to serve it.

  Aristotle illustrates the hierarchical nature of ends, foreshadowing the argument for a single highest good.