summum bonumn.
/ˌsʌməm ˈbəʊnəm/, /ˌsʊmᵿm ˈbɒnᵿm/, U.S. /ˌsʊmᵿm ˈbɑnᵿm/, /ˌsəməm ˈboʊnəm/ 1. Philosophy. The highest or supreme good, as the ultimate goal according to which values and priorities are established in an ethical system.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > [noun] > highest good
goodeOE
highest goodeOE
sovereigna1340
summum bonum1563
supreme good1601
chief good1663
kalon1749
1563 T. Gale Certaine Wks. Chirurg. i. f. 11 As one myght thynke hymselfe ryght happye, though he neuer dyd attayne to Aristoteles summum bonum, or Plato his Idæa.
1591 R. Greene Farewell to Folly sig. G The Cyriniake Philosophers..founded their summum bonum in pleasure.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xxi. 125 The Philosophers of old did in vain enquire, whether Summum bonum consisted in Riches, or bodily Delights, or Virtue, or Contemplation.
1710 J. Norris Treat. Christian Prudence iii. 114 Some last End or Summum Bonum as 'tis called, some good or other which he looks upon as desirable for itself.
1811 S. T. Coleridge Ess. Own Times (1850) III. 929 Hobbes..considered absolute tranquillity and implicit obedience as the summum bonum of a State.
1955 Sci. Amer. Feb. 108/2 Bentham, the founder of Utilitarianism, who held as the summum bonum the greatest happiness of the greater number.
2006 Philos. Now Feb. 31/2 We desire not to die. While there is no summum bonum, or greatest good, there is a summum malum, or greatest evil, which is death.
2. In weakened or extended use. That which is most desirable or pleasurable.
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1565 L. Evans Brieue Admon. sig. B They labour so hardelie to gett theym a huswife, as be she good or bad, vertous or a varlat: they passe not, this is the ende of theyr studie, this is it which they seeke, and this is theyr summum bonum, theyr chiefe felicitie.
?1650 J. Godschalck Elegy Honoured Friend James Herrewyn (single sheet) Others pursue variety of Pleasures, As onely summa Bona, chiefest Treasures: Yet could the proudest Ep'cure ne're finde, To satiate in these, his rest-lesse minde.
1700 G. Farquhar Constant Couple ii. 22 Losing their Wits in searching after Sense; Their Summum Bonum they must toil to gain, And seeking Pleasure, spend their Life in Pain.
1861 H. C. Pennell Puck on Pegasus 152 When..pap was the summum bonum of life, To a mouth in perpetual pucker.
1936 Stage June 30/1 To some of us those few midsummer weeks of music are the summum bonum of existence.
2018 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 6 Dec. Stealing the mascot is the summum bonum.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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