Relative goodness

This is Aristotle's description of relative goodness, taken from his Rhetoric, Chapter 7. Knowledge of relative goodness - and good in general - is important because good is the end toward which men aim. When one is attempting to persuade someone of something, one must appeal to goodness to be effective.

This list was part of an assignment for my rhetoric class. Sometime I'll post Aristotle's list of goods.

1. A greater number of goods is a greater good than one or than a smaller number.

2. If the largest member of one class surpasses the largest member of the other, then the one class surpasses the other.

3. If one class surpasses another, then the largest member of the one class surpasses the largest member of the other.

4. If one good is always accompanied by another good, but does not always accompany it, the one good is greater.

• Accompanied simultaneously (as life accompanies health)
  

• Accompanied subsequently (as knowledge accompanies the act of learning)

• Accompanied potentially (as cheating accompanies sacrilege)

5. If one thing is productive of a greater good than is another, the one thing is itself greater.

6. That which has been produced by a greater good is itself a greater good.

7. That which is desirable in itself is a greater good than that which is not desirable in itself.

8. That which is an end is a greater good than that which is not an end (since it is chosen for its own sake rather than for the sake of something else).

9. That which needs fewer or easier things than does something else is the greater good (since it is self-sufficing).

• If one thing needs a second to come into existence, while the second can exist without the first, the second is greater.

• If one thing does not need anything else is greater than that which does need something else.

10. That which is the beginning of other things is a greater good than that which is n

11. That which is a cause is a greater good than that which is not.

12. That which arises from something important is greater than that which arises from something less important.

13. That which is rare is a greater good than that which is plentiful.

14. That which is plentiful is a greater good than that which is rare (since we can make more use of it).

15. The hard thing is better than the easy (because it is rarer).

16. The easy thing is better than the hard (because it is as we wish it to be).

17. Positive goodness and badness are more important than the mere absence of goodness and badness (their presence is an end, while its absence is not).

18. In proportion as the functions of things are noble or base, the things themselves are noble or base (because the nature of a thing corresponds with its results).

19. In proportion as things are good or bad, their functions are good or bad (because the results of a thing correspond with its nature).

20. If superiority in a thing is more desirable or honorable than superiority in another thing, the first thing is the greater good.

21. If a normal thing is greater than another, then an unusual degree of that thing is greater than an unusual degree of the other.

22. One thing is greater than another if it is better to desire it than the other.

23. If a science is greater than another, its activity is also greater than the other.

24. That which would be or has been judged a good thing or a better thing than something else by the majority, the wisest, or those with the most understand, is good or better. 2

25. A thing is better if it is associated with a better man.

26. A thing is greater if it would be chosen by a greater man.

27. The pleasanter of two things is better (since all things pursue pleasure, and it is an end in itself).

28. One pleasure is greater than another if it lasts longer or if it is less mixed with pain.

29. The nobler thing is better than the less noble (since the noble is either what is pleasant or what is desirable in itself).

30. Those things are greater goods which men desire more earnestly to bring about for themselves or for their friends.

31. Those things that are lasting are better than those which are fleeting, and the more secure than the less.

32. What is true of one word is also true of all related words.

33. That which is chosen by all is a greater good than that which is not.

34. That which is considered better by competitors or enemies or by authorized judges.

35. That which all share (because it is a dishonor not to share it).

36. That which none or few share (because it is rarer).

37. The more praiseworthy a thing is, the better it is.

38. That which looks better merely by dividing it into its parts.

39. That which is accomplished by a man beyond his natural powers is better than the natural.

40. That which is natural is better than that which is acquired.

41. The best part of a good thing is particularly good.

42. That which is of service when the need is pressing.

43. That which leads more directly to the end in view is better than that which leads less directly.

44. That which is better for people in general is better than that which is only good for an individual.

45. That which can be gotten is better than that which cannot.

46. That which is at the end of life is better than what is not.

47. That which aims at reality is better than that which aims at appearance.

48. That which is more useful than another thing is also better.

49. That which is accompanied with less pain and with actual pleasure is better than another thing.

50. Of two good things, the thing is better whose addition to a third thing makes a better whole than the parts.

51. That which we are seen to possess is greater than that which we are not seen to possess.

52. That which is dearly prized is better than that which is not.

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1 One may prove 1) that a thing is greater because it is a beginning or 2) that a thing is greater because it is an end and not a beginning. Compare 8).

2 Here Aristotle is relying on his definition of good in a previous chapter: "what beings that acquire understanding will choose in any given case." While this may or may not be a true definition of goodness, it is certainly an end toward which men aim. It should therefore be understood by the political speaker.