Mt.

19: 16-22
Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?

What is the greatest good?

For Socrates, the greatest good is self-knowledge because without self-knowledge, we

can never have a good life. Self-knowledge is a pre-requisite for the good life. Thus, a
virtuous person is considered to be a knowledgeable person.

For Plato, the good also relies on knowledge. He argued that “to know the good is to do
the good.” Failure to do the good is a lack of knowledge. Ignorance is evil because it is
the main reason why an individual behaves wrongly.

For Epicurus, the greatest good is to seek pleasure and the absence of pain. Anything that
could give us pleasure where we don't feel pain, then that is good because it will make us
happy.

For Augustine, the highest object of desire, the highest good, is no other than God
Himself. God is the apex of being and the good in the universe. The more man
“possesses” God, the more man becomes godlike, and the more he possesses the good
that is eternal and immutable.

For St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest good is the Ultimate Good. The goodness or
evilness of such an act is judged according to this particular end. Perfect happiness can
only be found in union to this Ultimate Good. Reason then, for St. Thomas, to achieve its
full potential must ascertain its supernatural purpose which is happiness found in
communion with God as the Ultimate Good.

For Arthur Schopenhauer, there is no lasting happiness in life. What we consider good are
just temporary moments of happiness. Life’s ultimate outcome is misery because of
discontent and unsolved problems. Life is a chain of dissatisfactions leading to more
dissatisfactions. Life is basically composed of tragedies.

For John Stuart Mill, the greatest good is for the greatest number of people. An action is
right and good if it promotes the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of
people. Regardless of who is doing the action, of whether the agent’s intention and means
are wrong and even immoral, what is important is the end result out of which will benefit
the greatest number of people, then, the action would be considered good.

Philosophers say many things about the good but Jesus proposes another lifestyle
alternative: if we want to be good, follow the commandments, Jesus said. Sell what you
have and give them to the poor. The greatest good is that which is in accordance to
eternity and our salvation. The greatest good is supposed to be lasting and eternal not
temporal and superficial.
Work on earth as your lasting pathway to heaven.