The Ultimate Aim, the Highest Good

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All life has purpose. It's part of the definition of life; a rock doesn't in itself have a purpose or goal that it's aiming for, grass does. The roots of grass aim toward water and soil, the blade bends toward the sun, it struggles to live against the harsh realities and difficulties of life, it reproduces. Humans too pursue purposes, some small and some large. An obvious question is, "What is the highest pursuit of human life?"


This question has been answered in many different ways by many different people throughout human history. The human cultures and traditions that have evolved over the millennia are hard-won knowledge. It's a history of trial and error written in human lives lived and lost.

A few weeks ago I was on a road trip and drove to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. It's quite the drive along a twisting and winding road next to the mountain cliffs. I was walking around the top taking pictures and looking at things. There was an old cement wall that must have been part of a building that has been torn down. I figured it would be a nice view from there and walked over to it.

While I'm standing there I notice a guy sitting on the wall a little way away from me just looking out over the vast landscape stretching off into the distance. I said, "How's it going?" He turned to me with red eyes and I realized I had stepped into something. He explained that he had hiked up the mountain with some friends.

At one point, one of his two friends had hurt his ankle. The other friend stopped to help. It didn't seem like too bad of a thing and this guy wanted to get to the top of the mountain, so he kept heading up the trail. His two friends made it about 50 minutes later.

At that point, his friend with the hurt ankle told him that they could no longer be friends and would need to cutoff contact once they went back down the mountain. He explained that his father had abandoned him when he was young and he couldn't have a friend that's like that. This guy crying on this cement wall at the top of the mountain said they had been very close friends for two years and he hadn't known this. He asked my advice.

I told him it's worth reaching out later, even possibly much later, and seeing if things could be mended in time. I also told him this is a powerful insight he has about himself. He is in his mid-20s and this will have an impact on the rest of his life. When he was climbing the mountain he thought his highest value at the time was getting to the top of the mountain. He was narrowly focused on achieving that goal, and he did. Then he found out that wasn't his highest value at the time. His highest value was maintaining a good friendship, which he had ignored in his pursuit of climbing the mountain. This is a powerful discovery, the discovery of what we ourselves value, which we often don't know until we have a strong enough experience.

The meaning of life is rather simple, it's value attainment. There are different ways to view value attainment. Albert Camus with his founding of absurdism says that humans have an inherent need for meaning in life, but there is no actual meaning inherent in life, but we can always achieve the value of being defiant against this absurdity. Others say that we invent our own meaning. Viktor Frankl with his founding of logotherapy says that there is inherent meaning in life waiting for us to discover it, meaning which is specific to each person in each situation. These can be creative, experiential, encounteral, and attitudinal values.

It's worth looking at what humans have proposed as the ultimate aim and the highest good throughout history.

Plato
Highest Good: The Good / Eudaimonia
Description: The ultimate Form. Knowledge of the Good leads to a just and harmonious soul.

Aristotle
Highest Good: Eudaimonia (Flourishing)
Description: Achieved through rational activity in accordance with virtue.

Epicureanism
Highest Good: Ataraxia (Tranquility)
Description: Freedom from pain and fear through moderate pleasure, friendship, and knowledge.

Stoicism (Zeno, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius)
Highest Good: Living according to Nature / Virtue
Description: Alignment with reason and acceptance of fate. Virtue is sufficient for happiness.

Cynicism (Diogenes)
Highest Good: Freedom from artificial desires
Description: Liberation through radical simplicity, shamelessness, and self-sufficiency.

Utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill)
Highest Good: Greatest happiness for the greatest number
Description: Morally right action is that which maximizes overall pleasure and minimizes suffering.

Kantianism
Highest Good: Good Will / Moral Duty
Description: Acting out of respect for the moral law (categorical imperative), regardless of consequences.

Nietzsche
Highest Good: Will to Power / Self-Overcoming
Description: The creation of personal values and becoming the Übermensch through strength, affirmation, and struggle.

Hegel
Highest Good: Absolute Spirit / Freedom through Recognition
Description: The dialectical unfolding of self-conscious freedom through history.

Heidegger
Highest Good: Authentic Being / Resoluteness
Description: Living with awareness of Being and accepting one's finitude (Being-toward-death).

Sartre
Highest Good: Authentic Freedom
Description: Self-definition through radical responsibility and choice, despite the absurd.

Leo Strauss
Highest Good: The Philosophic Life
Description: Lifelong pursuit of truth and contemplation of eternal questions through classical philosophy.

Confucianism
Highest Good: Ren (Humaneness) and Li (Ritual)
Description: Harmony in self and society through virtue, tradition, and right conduct.

Taoism (Daoism)
Highest Good: Living in accord with the Tao
Description: Spontaneity, simplicity, and non-action (wu wei) in harmony with the natural flow.

Existentialism (general)
Highest Good: Authentic Existence
Description: Living honestly and courageously in the face of absurdity and freedom.

Buddhism
Highest Good: Nirvana
Description: Liberation from suffering and rebirth through cessation of craving and realization of non-self.

Hinduism
Highest Good: Moksha
Description: Liberation from the cycle of samsara through realization that Atman is Brahman.

Christianity
Highest Good: Union with God / Eternal Life
Description: Salvation and communion with God through faith, grace, love, and obedience.

Islam
Highest Good: Submission to Allah and Paradise
Description: Living in accordance with God's will (Sharia) to attain eternal reward.

Judaism
Highest Good: Kiddush Hashem / Tikkun Olam
Description: Sanctifying God’s name and participating in the moral repair of the world.

Sikhism
Highest Good: Union with Waheguru (God)
Description: Liberation through devotion, equality, service, and remembrance of God.

Zoroastrianism
Highest Good: Asha (Truth/Order)
Description: Living in truth and righteousness to promote cosmic order against falsehood.

Shinto
Highest Good: Harmony with the Kami
Description: Purity, reverence, and traditional ritual to maintain balance with divine spirits.

Tibetan Bon
Highest Good: Liberation through Knowledge and Ritual
Description: Transcendence of samsara through esoteric practices and realization of spiritual truths.

Marxism
Highest Good: Classless Society / Human Freedom
Description: Ending alienation and oppression through collective ownership and historical development.

Transhumanism
Highest Good: Human Enhancement / Posthuman Flourishing
Description: Maximizing human potential, longevity, and intelligence through science and technology.

Effective Altruism
Highest Good: Maximized Moral Impact
Description: Doing the most good with the resources you have to reduce suffering or improve well-being.

Scientology
Highest Good: Clear / Operating Thetan
Description: Ascending spiritual levels through auditing and knowledge of engrams to reach spiritual freedom.

Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Highest Good: Rational Self-Interest / Human Flourishing
Description: Achieving one’s own happiness as the moral purpose of life through reason and productive work.

Positive Psychology
Highest Good: Well-being / Meaning and Flow
Description: Cultivating happiness, engagement, meaning, relationships, and accomplishment (PERMA model).

Environmentalism (Deep Ecology)
Highest Good: Ecological Harmony
Description: The flourishing of all life forms and ecosystems as intrinsically valuable.

Modern Stoicism
Highest Good: Resilient Rational Virtue
Description: Adapting ancient Stoic ethics for cultivating inner peace, rational response, and moral clarity in modern life.

There are themes and there are conflicts in this list of ultimate aims. Choices must be made in life to pursue some things and to reject others. We see this conflict and these decisions in individuals, groups, societies, and cultures. It's amazing to watch unfold, the unfolding of history.


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