ἔργον (Ergon)

Even though older individuals agree that happiness is the highest end and good that humans
aspire for, there are various opinions on what specifically is the nature of the ultimate telos of a
person. One is that happiness is attached with having wealth and power. Others associate
happiness with feelings that are pleasurable. Some take nobler things like honor and other
ideals as constitutive of happiness. For Aristotle, arguing for or against every opinion proves to
be a futile attempt to arrive at the nature of happiness. Instead, Aristotle shows that one can
arrive at the ultimate good by doing one's function (or for the Greeks, ergon) well.

How does a person arrive at her highest good? According to Aristotle, if an individual's action
can achieve the highest good, then one must investigate how she functions which enables her
to achieve her ultimate purpose. If she performs her function well, then she is capable of arriving
at happiness. Aristotle then proceeds with discussing the function of human beings to
distinguish one person's activity from other beings. How does a human being function which
sets her apart from the rest?

For Aristotle, what defines human beings is her function or activity of reason. This function
makes her different from the rest of beings. Aristotle expresses this clearly:

...What then can this be? Life seems to be common even to plants, but we are seeking
what is peculiar to man. Let us exclude, therefore, the life of nutrition and growth. Next
there would be a life of perception, but it also seems to be common even to the horse,
the ox, and every animal. There remains, then, active life of the element that has a
rational principle; of this, one part has such a principle in the sense of being obedient to
one, the other in the tense of possessing one and exercising thought.[1]

If the function of a human being is simply to do the act of taking in food in order to sustain her
life and continue living, then what makes her different from plants? Also, if the function of a
human being is to do the act of perceiving things, then what makes her different from animals?

What defines a person therefore is her function or activity of reason. A person's action to be
considered as truly human must be an act that is always in accordance to reason. The function
of a human being is to act following the dictates of her reason. Any person for that matter
utilizes her reason but Aristotle further says that a person cannot only perform her function but
she can also perform it well. A dancer, for example, becomes different from a chef because of
her function to dance while the chef's is to cook. Any dancer can dance but what makes her
distinct from an excellent dancer is that the latter dances very well. The same principle applies
to human beings. What distinguishes a good person from other human beings is her rational
activity that is performed well or excellently. A good individual therefore stands closer to meeting
the conditions of happiness because her actions are of a higher purpose. 

Aristotle says:

...Now, if the function of man is an activity of the soul which follows or implies a rational
principle, and if we say "a so-and-so" and " a good so-and-so" have a function which is
the same in kind, for example, a lyre player and a good lyre player, and so without
qualification in all cases, eminence in respect of goodness being added to the name of
the function (for the function of a lyre player is to play the lyre, and that of a good lyre
player is to do so well): if this is the case, (and we state the function of man to be a
certain kind of life, and this to be an activity or actions of the soul implying a rational
principle, and the function of a good man to be the good and noble performance of
these, and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the
appropriate excellence: if this is the case) human good turns out to be activity of soul in
accordance to virtue, and if there is more than one virtue, in accordance with the best
and most complete.[2]

The local saying "Madaling maging tao, mahirap magpakatao" can be understood in the light of
Aristotle's thoughts on the function of a good person. Any human being can perform that activity
of reason; thus, being human is achievable. However, a good human being strives hard in doing
an activity in an excellent way. Therefore, the task of being human becomes more difficult
because doing such activity well takes more effort on the part of the person.