On the other hand, certain philosophers [in allusion to Plato] set up an absolute good,--an Idea of the Good, apart from all the particulars, yet imparting to each its property of being good (IV.).
Referring to men's lives (as a clue to their notions of the good), we find three prominent varieties; the life of pleasure or sensuality,--the political life, aspiring to honour,--and the contemplative life.

The first is the life of the brutes, although countenanced by men high in power.

The second is too precarious, as depending on others, and is besides only a means to an end--namely, our consciousness of our own merits; for the ambitious man seeks to be honoured for his virtue and by good judges--thus showing that he too regards virtue as the superior good.

Yet neither will virtue satisfy all the conditions.

The virtuous man may slumber or pass his life in inactivity, or may experience the maximum of calamity; and such a man cannot be regarded as happy.