 Rounding out Wolff’s major philosophical works of this period, the German Ethics is composed of four parts, a theoretical part that treats the foundation of practical philosophy and three practical parts that present a doctrine of duties that human beings have towards themselves, God, and others. The central notion in Wolff’s ethics is the (metaphysical) notion of perfection which concerns the “agreement” of elements in a given manifold (cf. GM §152), and which is cognized through our intellectual powers. It is the cognition of the (apparent) perfection in an action that moves us to act, a fact that accounts for Wolff’s emphasis on the duty to cultivate our understanding among our duties to ourselves so that we can be moved to act in (what are in fact) the most perfect ways. Promoting the perfection of ourselves and others serves for Wolff as the universal rule in accordance with which we ought to choose between two (or more) possible actions (GE §12). That is to say, when making a free choice we ought to consider whether the action “promotes the perfection of our inner and outer state” (GE §2) and that means considering whether the state of the soul and the body accords with the prior state or contradicts it. The outcome has greater perfection to the extent that it contributes to the continued “natural human state and its harmonious preservation over time”(GE §2). The natural human state Wolff envisions is the state of the soul in its manifold efforts to find truth, and everything has to be done to maximize that state. It so happens, that this is where happiness lies as well, and as Wolff indicates at the end of the ethics, it is incumbent upon human beings to ensure not only their own perfection/happiness, but to “contribute as much as possible to the happiness of others” (GE §767).