ἀγαθόν as τέλειον more precisely, after discussing the individual βίοι as ἀγαθὰ δι᾽ αὑτά and τέλη, and after explaining the characteristic moments of the ἀγαθόν. This consideration of the τέλος as τέλειον precedes the discussion with Plato, to which we will return later.78
What does this mean for the ἀνθρώπινον ἀγαθόν if one apprehends it as τέλος? It has to do with the ἀνθρώπινον ἀγαθόν, which relates to the being of human beings that we have come to know as being-with-one-another. This is determined by a manifoldness of πράξεις, which have a guiding connectedness among them, so that one finds an ἀκρότατον ἀγαθόν, “highest good,” implicit in them, an ἀγαθόν that is δι᾽ αὑτό. Aristotle indicated such ἀγαθὰ δι᾽ αὑτά in the βίοι. Two possibilities were indicated with the second βίος, the βίος πολιτικός: τιμή and ἀρετή, ἀρετή—to give a preliminary interpretation of what Aristotle himself sets forth.
With the discussion of the τέλειον, we acquire a foundation for the discussion of the fundamental concept of the Aristotelian doctrine of being, ἐντελέχεια. Τέλος is not “aim” but rather ἔσχατον, having the character of limit, “what is outermost.” Aim and purpose are definite modes in which τέλος is an “end,” but they are not primary determinations. Instead, purpose and aim are founded upon τέλος as “end,” which is the originary meaning.
γ. Revised Arrangement of the Chapter
Metaphysics Δ16 may be arranged according to eight points.
1. The character of τέλειον as that beyond which there is nothing else there.79
2. A beyond-which-nothing that, as a definite being-possibility of a being, determines it genuinely in its being; the beyond-which-nothing in the sense that, for a being, there is no further being-possibility beyond the τέλος, that a being has come to its end with respect to its being-possibilities.80
3. In this determination of the having-come-to-its-end of a being, there is the possibility of the carrying-over of the τέλειον. Insofar as we speak of a “good thief,” what becomes visible in this carrying-over is that which is genuinely meant by τέλειον when we speak of a “good doctor.” The predicate “good” has the additional meaning of exceptional, valuable. Τέλειον does not mean this when we are speaking of a “consummate thief,” and so the meaning of τέλειον constitutes a being-character that is not bound to a specific meaning of ἀγαθόν, such as usually is expressed in a determinate quality of a being.81
4. Furthermore, τέλειον relates to ἀρετή. Insofar as ἀρετή means having something at one’s disposal, having a definite being-possibility at one’s disposal,
78. See p. 305 ff.
79. Met. Δ 16, 1021 b 12–14.
80. Met. Δ 16, 1021 b 15–17.
81. Met. Δ 16, 1021 b 17–20.