Aristotle says that, by nature, we desire to know.

That is true but our desire to know serves another, more fundamental desire:  we desire good. Knowledge serves our pursuit of the good.

Socrates says that we never knowingly choose anything that is not good; that we always choose what we believe will lead to good; that we often are mistaken in what we believe will lead to good and so, mistakenly, choose things that lead to evil; that if we could perfectly learn what leads to good we would always and only choose good.

Unfortunately, that is not true.  Each of us has vivid personal experience of ourselves and of those around us knowing that something is or would lead to evil and choosing it anyway.  Beyond our personal experiences, our history on this earth provides so many examples large and small of people choosing what they know is or would lead to evil that we cannot believe people - ourselves and others - choose evil solely through ignorance. 

Calvin says that we are totally corrupted
and cannot choose but to do evil.

This is true in the sense that, beyond a certain point (and we are all beyond that point), we become subject to God’s judgement and we cannot do anything to move ourselves back across the line and escape judgement.  Because we can’t do it for ourselves God accomplished that in Christ for us.             We can and do choose good for its own sake.  We all have experience of ourselves and those around us doing so from time to time.  We just are not capable of choosing good in a way that merits suspension of God’s judgement.

Some say that we are not even capable of choosing (either at all or reliably) to allow God’s work of grace in our lives.  Since God’s grace obviously is at work in some people’s lives, then either

a) God chooses to work with some and not with others, or

b) God has chosen everyone whether individually we understand this yet or not and whether or not we choose to allow and cooperate with God’s grace in our lives.  Eventually (perhaps after death) we will all understand and cooperate with God’s grace.

A third possibility is
c) that we can - and some do - choose to accept God’s work in Christ, which choice results both in suspension of judgement and in every good thing coming into our lives.  Our actions don’t merit suspension of judgement or continuing grace but we can choose to accept these or not from God’s actions in Christ.)

Both a) and b) above are philosophically pure accounts that “save appearances” -  they allow us neatly to accept that God is in control and the mess that we create with our choices is part of God’s overall plan and will be made right.

They are philosophically pure and logically correct and we can comfort ourselves in our confusing and painful messes that at least we have perfect knowledge at the top level of what God is doing that accommodates and accounts for our experiences.

To expand on Aristotle’s belief, we do desire that our thoughts and words can account for and explain our experiences  in life, in the world, in a way that satisfies us?  How can we gain an understanding that allows us to predict what actions will lead to good and not evil?

We can believe that we have such knowledge in beliefs a) or b) - but neither of these perfect (and mutually exclusive) beliefs gives us much comfort or aid in the daily struggle.

The daily struggle is:

We do desire good.
We know that we ourselves and those around us do not reliably, always and only choose good.
Our bad choices make a mess.
Now what?

In the moment,
in this little bubble of now that everyone on the planet is sharing as you read these words, in this little bubble of Now that is moving down the timeline,
we make choices that we want and hope will bring good to ourselves and others.

We don’t have irrefutable proof whether a) or b) or c) offers the ultimate explanation of our reality.
Whatever we choose to believe at that upper level here is how we will act in our moment: to seek and allow God’s continuing creation to build up hearts of love in ourselves and shalom in the world.

We do have unity in that.
That unity will lead to the good we all desire.