Highest good

Summum bonum is a Latin expression meaning "the highest good", which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero, to correspond to the Idea of the Good in ancient Greek philosophy. The summum bonum is generally thought of as being an end in itself, and at the same time containing all other goods.

The term was used in medieval philosophy. In the Thomist synthesis of Aristotelianism and Christianity, the highest good is usually defined as the life of the righteous and/or the life led in communion with God and according to God's precepts. In Kantianism, it was used to describe the ultimate importance, the singular and overriding end which human beings ought to pursue.

Plato's The Republic argued that, “In the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen...to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right”. Silent contemplation was the route to appreciation of the Idea of the Good.

Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics accepted that the target of human activity, “Must be the 'Good', that is, the supreme good.”, but challenged Plato's Idea of the Good with the pragmatic question: “Will one who has had a vision of the Idea itself become thereby a better doctor or general?”. However, arguably at least, Aristotle's concept of the unmoved mover owed much to Plato's Idea of the Good.

...
Wikipedia