As has already been observed, the term "good" is often applied to well-functioning entities. "Good" can also be used in a derivative sense to mean "providing pleasure," as in "good ice cream." Pleasure is indeed related to life-needs; the things that satisfy our objective needs also tend to bring us pleasure. Pleasure does not signal our needs in a reliable manner, however. Pleasure/pain sensations surviving from millions of years of evolution are often highly misleading for humans in a modern environment, drastically altered by civilization. Although ice cream tastes "good," it may be less beneficial than other nutrients to human physical health. The derivative pleasure-related meaning of "good" should be distinguished from its fundamental meaning, which pertains to the fulfillment of life-needs.

The concept of well-functioning, conveyed by many evaluative terms, is essential to our understanding of existence. An absence of well-functioning often has implications for the continued existence of the functional entity. A poorly functioning automobile may be destined to become scrap metal; a poorly functioning organism is likely to face premature death. Because organisms have an integrated nature, malfunction of a component, such as the lungs, is likely to lead to malfunction and/or destruction of the whole organism. Malfunction in a life-made entity, such as an automobile or (as we shall see in Section 5) a government, may lead to the destruction of the organism(s) that created it—or, at least, to severely impaired life. Let us now examine how malfunction arises in human values and action.