Excellence (Arete)

The original meaning of arete: the quality or excellence for which a person or thing is 'made' or destined — not moral virtue in a narrow sense, but optimal functionality and perfection according to one's characteristic nature (physis).

Excellence (arete as excellence) does not refer to moral virtue in the narrow sense, but to the optimal functionality and perfection that accords with the characteristic nature (physis) of a person. A good knife cuts sharply; a good human being acts rationally, justly, courageously, and temperately. The Stoics regard this excellence as the highest fulfillment of human nature as a being of Logos.