5.SST (Aristotle)
OK. Another ancient Greek philosopher we need to discuss is Aristotle — Aristotle’s ethical theory. What Aristotle’s ethical theory is all about is this: he’s trying to show you how to be happy — what true happiness is. Now, why is he interested in human happiness? It’s not just because it’s something that all people want to aim for. It’s more than that. But to get there we need to first make a very important distinction. Let me introduce a couple of technical terms: extrinsic value and intrinsic value. To understand Aristotle’s interest in happiness, you need to understand this distinction. Some things we aim for and value, not for themselves but for what they bring about in addition to themselves. If I value something as means to something else, then it has what we will call “extrinsic value”, other things we desire and hold to be valuable for themselves alone. If we value something not as means to something else, but for its own sake, let us say that it has “intrinsic value”, exercise. There may be some people who value exercise for itself, but I don’t. I value exercise because if I exercise, I tend to stay healthier than I would if I didn’t. So I desire to engage in exercise and I value exercise extrinsically … not for its own sake, but as a means to something beyond it. It brings me good health.