A great society is one where the individuals consider acquiring good character for themselves a greater achievement than wealth or any cause. To cultivate a cooperative society it is necessary to focus on character traits rather than physical traits or associations. Unfortunately people lose sight of this along a path of compromises and forgetfulness. Staying faithful to ourselves takes constant work and we are always learning. We make laws to deal with those who stray too far from good character. The worse a society becomes the more laws and enforcement are needed. Those who are considerate and have good character need very few laws. With all this talk about good character it would behoove us to look at what good really means and this is where we will continue.
After looking at the three areas of good; honor, advantage and pleasure, with their opposites; shame, loss and misery, a question remains: Why would anyone do things that cause shame, loss, or make themselves miserable? This question has been asked through the centuries. The political answer would concern injustices; the religious answer would address sin or a dark force; the psychological answer would have to do with past experiences. Aristotle simplified it into a question of how one manages pleasure and pain.

We can’t say that pain is always bad. As a matter of fact, the things that are worthwhile are the things that are the hardest to acquire. We see this in the arts; the things that are the most complex and hardest to make are the most admired. In the same way, a person who has been through a struggle and continues to work and improve their character is someone to be admired. Those who become cynical and blame others might get pleasure out of it, but aren’t improving their situation. If we always took pleasure in doing what is right, there wouldn’t be many problems. But all of us have areas that give us pleasure yet can hinder our lives. To be temperate or disciplined is the term used for the times when a person is controlling those areas. The goal of having good character is to go after the things that are pleasurable yet avoid excesses that can take away from the quality of life overall.

With a product of art it is usually easy to recognize excellence in quality since it is standing in front of you. Genuine character is a bit harder since motives cannot be observed. Someone might act a certain way because they are under restraints and yet their heart isn’t in it. We wonder if politicians or bosses really mean what they say. To say someone is genuine means that their heart lines up with their actions. Sometimes out of necessity, we all have to act a certain way to be honorable with the hope that our motives will eventually line up. Those who not only lose the enjoyment but also lose self discipline are what we call “burned out”. Genuine enjoyment can happen over time in most things and it is always refreshing when duty is no longer a matter of self discipline but a matter of the heart. We see this in sports and music. The practices can be a matter of pain but after skill is acquired over time it can become a pleasure.

What does it mean to be good? In a commercial sense good is used to sell products, in a political sense it is an ideology, and in a religious sense, it will be things that appease a higher authority. While studying ethics we look at good in a way that is applicable to everything we do in life, things that everyone recognizes, things that are common sense. People have a tendency to use comparisons. Rather than using a social comparison approach that depends on the clique a person belongs to, we will focus on the actions alone.

There are three aspects to goodness. The first is honor; things that are trustworthy, courageous and just. The second aspect of good is that which is advantageous; the things help accomplish our ambitions in life. The third aspect of good is that which is pleasurable; things that give us enjoyment and fulfill our desires.

These aspects of good don’t always coincide. That which is pleasurable might not be honorable. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. That which is honorable might not be advantageous. People seek ways to reconcile them in their day to day lives to find overall happiness. To say we got away with something means that the action could have affected one aspect of good negatively but didn’t. Regrets can be about choices between different aspects of good where a person might wish they wouldn’t have sacrificed a certain good as much. Sometimes a person wonders if the right choices were made. Those who want to change the past will wish to put more of one of the goods back in. But it is best to focus on the future where choices still remain.

The three goods have three opposites. Instead of honor, actions might produce spite. Instead of advantage, actions can produce loss. Instead of pleasure, actions can produce misery. We want to fit all the good that is possible into this life while avoiding the opposites as much as possible. Having the ability to recognize the good and the greater goods is the beginning of making the right choices with our actions.

Everyone wants to be held in high regard. This is what honor addresses. In the same way, it is best not to be spiteful toward others. Honor seems to have more bearing than the other goods. When we talk about rights, it is implied that every citizen is due a minimum amount of honor no matter what their character. It is easier to see actions that are due honor toward those who are nearest to us. Sometimes we give more honor than is due to celebrities and leaders when we have no idea what their actual character contains. A person can demand respect but to be held in high regard is much better since people will treat them with honor when no one is watching. The things done out of spite usually end up hurting us rather than the subject. The best way to be treated with high regard is to treat people with the honor you wish to have.

We are in a constant pursuit of making good memories. What is a memory? The original and natural way to preserve them is by recording them in our minds. An experience passes while our mind picks up the sensory information such as sight and sound as they pass. Our feelings at that time are also recorded. We use words as markers for our feelings as a way to produce a river of expression flowing from our minds into the present moments.