Descartes as an Ethical Perfectionist
My main concern in this paper is to develop and defend an account of why we ought to devote our lives to virtue—of the ground or reason for why we ought to do so—according to René Descartes. On my account, the answer is that we thereby, and indeed only thereby, do everything in our power to promote...
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Aperio
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
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| Online Access: | https://jmphil.org/article/id/2111/ |
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| author | Frans Svensson |
| author_facet | Frans Svensson |
| author_sort | Frans Svensson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | My main concern in this paper is to develop and defend an account of why we ought to devote our lives to virtue—of the ground or reason for why we ought to do so—according to René Descartes. On my account, the answer is that we thereby, and indeed only thereby, do everything in our power to promote our own degree of intrinsic perfection or goodness (Descartes uses these terms interchangeably). Descartes’s moral philosophy, as I understand it, thus constitutes a form of ethical perfectionism. While I am not the first to interpret Descartes as an ethical perfectionist, there is as of yet no detailed account in the literature of what his particular form of ethical perfectionism would then entail. This is something that I hope to remedy here. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dbb3ac2205834994be9bc124549f1c40 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2644-0652 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | Aperio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Modern Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj-art-dbb3ac2205834994be9bc124549f1c402025-01-31T16:08:10ZengAperioJournal of Modern Philosophy2644-06522020-02-012010.25894/jmp.2111Descartes as an Ethical PerfectionistFrans Svensson0 My main concern in this paper is to develop and defend an account of why we ought to devote our lives to virtue—of the ground or reason for why we ought to do so—according to René Descartes. On my account, the answer is that we thereby, and indeed only thereby, do everything in our power to promote our own degree of intrinsic perfection or goodness (Descartes uses these terms interchangeably). Descartes’s moral philosophy, as I understand it, thus constitutes a form of ethical perfectionism. While I am not the first to interpret Descartes as an ethical perfectionist, there is as of yet no detailed account in the literature of what his particular form of ethical perfectionism would then entail. This is something that I hope to remedy here.https://jmphil.org/article/id/2111/Descartesethical perfectionismvirtueperfectionism about value |
| spellingShingle | Frans Svensson Descartes as an Ethical Perfectionist Journal of Modern Philosophy Descartes ethical perfectionism virtue perfectionism about value |
| title | Descartes as an Ethical Perfectionist |
| title_full | Descartes as an Ethical Perfectionist |
| title_fullStr | Descartes as an Ethical Perfectionist |
| title_full_unstemmed | Descartes as an Ethical Perfectionist |
| title_short | Descartes as an Ethical Perfectionist |
| title_sort | descartes as an ethical perfectionist |
| topic | Descartes ethical perfectionism virtue perfectionism about value |
| url | https://jmphil.org/article/id/2111/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT franssvensson descartesasanethicalperfectionist |