books of normative philosophy concern themselvesprimarily with the goals all men ought to seek-goals such asleading a good life or instituting a good society-and, unlikecookbooks and driving manuals, they go no further than prescribing in the most universal terms the means that ought tobe employed in order to achieve these goals.

This book is practical, not theoretical. Any guidebook isa practical book. Any book that tells you either what youshould do or how to do it is practical. Thus you see that theclass of practical books includes all expositions of arts to belearned, all manuals of practice in any field, such as engineering or medicine or cooking, and all treatises that are conveniently classified as moral, such as books on economic,ethical, or political problems. We will later explain why thislast group of books, properly called "normative," constitutes avery special category of practical books.