The aim of a knife is to chop. The aim of an eye fixed is to see. The aim of an architect is to construct. And judging whether or not every of those entities is any good at executing their given job appears easy sufficient. However, typically talking, what’s the aim of a human life? Aristotle believed that deducing a human’s highest perform (ergon), and with the ability to decipher whether or not a human met that perform with excellence (aretê), was essential if we had been to actually perceive how human beings can flourish. On this whiteboard explainer, Monte R Johnson, a professor of philosophy on the College of California, San Diego, particulars why Aristotle got here to the (maybe self-aggrandising) conclusion that participating our highest mental capabilities – and, above all else, philosophising – was the best objective of a human life.
