We have now the canvas stretched on which our picture of _good_ may be delineated. Let us proceed to sketch in the first faint lines of the picture. In the New Oxford Dictionary it is stated that _good_ is the “most general adjective of _commendation_, implying the existence in a high, or at least satisfactory degree of _characteristic_ qualities, which are either admirable in themselves [sic!] or _useful for some purpose_.” This definition succeeds far better in combining the theory of the Epicureans (good is what you like), of the Platonists (the good is the typical), and of the Benthamites (the good is the useful), than it succeeds in throwing a clear light upon the question we are here attempting to answer, namely, what sort of responses does the human organism make toward those objects and persons which it calls “good”? From Palmer’s definition of _good_ as “good _for_” (“The Nature of Goodness,” p. 13), we are able to derive even less assistance, especially since it avoids the main issue in containing the very word to be defined. Let us now attack this problem by a new method. A survey of all the things which this word _good_ indicates reveals not only that it _denotes_ (or simply points out) a host of distinguishable objects and properties, but that it also _connotes_ (or implies) an exceedingly numerous array of human activities. And while the sum total of all these denotations and connotations appears at first to be an unwieldy mass, it can, I think, be suitably dealt with under the following five classes:— A. That which is useful, fit, serviceable, and the like, for any purpose whatsoever. With such primitive use of the term, the purpose involved is neither praised nor blamed. The burglar’s jimmy is as “good” for his purpose as is an overcoat to keep out the cold. Some ethical writers refer to this as _immediate_, as opposed to _remote_ or _mediate_ good, or as non-moral as opposed to moral good. It is “good _for_,” without any limitations as to what the “_for_” implies. William James might have called it “decerebrate good.” B. That which is useful, fit, or serviceable in the sense of being _continuously_ or _continually_ so. An extended time being here introduced, _good_ now becomes almost synonymous with dependable. Our concept here may refer to anything that sustains life, or brings peace and contentment in society, and hence at one moment it emphasizes intelligence and skill, while at another it points directly to benevolent, spiritual, and esthetic agencies. Moreover, it not only denotes property (Ex. 28, “goods”), but also frequently connotes an emotional enthusiasm in the possessor of it.