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Three kinds of Good in Plato's Republic

Zhou Yi / 2022-06-27


The three kinds of good mentioned in Chapter Two of Plato’s Republic:

  1. Good for its own sake

Tell me, is there in your opinion a kind of good that we would choose to have not because we desire its consequences, but because we delight in it for its own sake–such as enjoyment and all the pleasures which are harmless and leave no after effects other than the enjoyment in having them?(357b)

  1. Good for its own sake and for its consequences

Is there a kind we like both for its own sake and for what comes out of it, such as thinking and seeing and being healthy? Surely we delight in such things on both accounts (357c).

  1. Good for its consequences

And do you see a third form of good, which includes gymnastic exercise, medical treatment when sick as well as the practice of medicine, and the rest of the activities from which money is made? We would say that they are drudgery but beneficial to us; and we would not choose to have them for themselves but for the sake of the wages and whatever else comes out of them. (357c-d)