Generally, there have been two approaches to the ethical question of, "What end ought we pursue in life?" Two additional questions emerge from this initial question are stand as proposed answers to the issue of where one can find the summum bonum of life.
First, "What are the elements of the good life?" and second "What type of things are good in and of themselves?"
Aristotle and The Human Well Being Approach
The first question, "What are the elements of the good life?" assumes that each individual is inclined to the pursuit of the "good life" or the summum bonum of life. This particular question concerning the good life contains a basic assumption about human nature. The question presupposes that within each human being there is an intrinsic desire or yearning, which will lead to meaning and significance in life whereas the intrinsic value approach discussed next makes no such assumption concerning human nature.
The human well-being approach to the question of meaning and purpose in life originated in ancient Greek ethics. The Greek term used in description of this life purpose was eudaimonia. The word has sometimes been translated "happiness" but on other occasions the term has been rendered as "flourishing" in order to communicate the idea of human fulfillment as a result of the discovering the source of the good life.
The diverse translations of the one term reflect two different understandings of the "good life" contained within this approach. The translation of the term as "happiness" emphasizes the idea of feeling good or pleasure as the essence of fulfillment in life. This fulfillment approach, which centers upon the meaning of the term eudaimonia, finds its expression in teleological ethics or an ethical approach focused upon goals, objective or outcome. The classical advocate of the teleological approach is Aristotle.
Plato and The Intrinsic Value Approach
The second question asks, "What types of things are good and of themselves?" This second approach to the primary question, "What end ought we pursue in life?" makes no assumption regarding human nature. Rather the emphasis of this approach concerning the ultimate goal of one's life is focused upon the supposed "goodness" which resides in a particular commitment, code, activity, or thing. This approach has sometimes been called the "theory of intrinsic value." (Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy 2nd Edition, "Ethics", 285)
The intrinsic value approach has its roots in the Platonic Idea of the World of Forms. The approach addresses the question of ethics from the perspective of those things, which are inherently good things to commit oneself to. This might include the idea things such a pleasure, knowledge, virtue, friendship, beauty, harmony and an endless possibility of other pursuits. The intrinsic value approach to the ethical question of what an individual should pursue in life finds its expression in deontological ethics or an ethics of duty. If certain things are intrinsically good, then the individual out of a sense of duty perhaps called for within the context of a particular moral code has an obligation to pursue those things. This stands in contradistinction to the previously discussed teleological approach. The classical advocate of the deontological approach is Plato.
The significance of the terms deontological and teleological will be addressed in subsequent material.
