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Thomas Hurka, a neo-Aristotelean, in his aptly titled book, Perfectionism, provides an introductory answer to what is perfectionism:
“This moral theory starts from an account of the good life, or the intrinsically desirable life. And it characterizes this life in a distinctive way. Certain properties, it says, constitute human nature or are definitive of humanity—they make humans human. The good life, it then says, develops these properties to a high degree or realizes what is central to human nature. Different versions of the theory may disagree about what the relevant properties are and so disagree about the content of the good life. But they share the foundational idea that what is good, ultimately, is the development of human nature.” Human nature is the fundamental nature and substance of humans, as well as the range of human behavior that is believed to be invariant over long periods of time and across very different cultural contexts. ...
History of Perfectionism
Perfectionism, as a moral theory, has had a very long history and has been touched by some of the great and influential philosophers. Friedrich Nietzsche, with his view that individual human beings reach perfection when they exercise their will to power maximally, was a perfectionist. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
However, the most influential perfectionist philosopher of all has to be Aristotle, who, with his conception of the good life (eudaimonia), and that politics and political structures should promote the good life amongst individuals; because the polis can best promote the good life, it should be adopted over other forms of social organisation. Aristotle (Greek: Aristotélēs) (384 BCE – March 7, 322 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ...
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Perfectionism vs. Happiness Perfection, it is worthwhile noting, means more than happiness or pleasure, and is very distinct from utilitarianism in its most complex and simple forms. A society geared along perfectionist principles may not produce happy citizens, far from it. As Alfred Naquet remarked in L'Anarchie et le Collectivisme: Happiness is an emotional or affective state that feels good or pleasing. ...
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“The true rôle of collective existence...is to learn, to discover, to know. Eating, drinking, sleeping, living, in a word, is a mere accessory. In this respect, we are not distinguished from the brute. Knowledge is the goal. If I were condemned to choose between a humanity materially happy, glutted after the manner of a flock of sheep in a field, and a humanity existing in misery, but from which emanated, here and there, some eternal truth, it is on the latter my choice would fall.” Personification of knowledge (Greek Επιστημη, Episteme) in Celsus Library in Ephesos, Turkey. ...
Perfectionism & Transhumanism Dr. Mark Alan Walker argues that rational perfectionism is or should be the ethical imperative behind transhumanism in his essay Absolute Versus Human Perfectionism. Mark Alan Walker Ph. ...
Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ...
Posthuman Future, an illustration by Michael Gibbs for The Chronicle of Higher Educations look at how biotechnology will change the human experience. ...
References - Hurka, Thomas (1993). Perfectionism. Oxford University Press, pg. 3
- Naquet, Aflred (1904). L'Anarchie et le Collectivisme.
- Walker, Mark Alan (2001). Human Versus Absolute Perfectionism.
Mark Alan Walker Ph. ...
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