Ethics of perfection or ethics of perfection - a direction of ethics , considering perfection as an ideal , and also describing ways to achieve a moral ideal , trying to answer the question of whether perfection is achievable [1] [2]
Content
Definition of Excellence
According to Aristotle , perfection is one of the characteristics of virtue:
| Perfect is a virtuous, and therefore active person who knows the proper measure of everything and in everything striving for a worthy, reasonably defined and perfectly good life [3] |
I. Kant suggested that the concept of perfection is connected with the concept of duty [4]
| It is not necessary to perfect what is given to man by nature or life circumstances. Moral excellence begins with an effort to transform this data into debt requirements. From a strictly ethical point of view, self-improvement in the performance of duty should be |
[5] :
In the ethical teachings of Stoicism , Christianity and Buddhism , perfection is inner freedom from passions, temporary circumstances, detachment from the physical world, which is achieved through austerities , various types of ascetic practices [1] :
Christian sources claim that the achievement of perfection is the realization of one’s destiny by the necessary submission to the will of God, mental union with Him, which will allow one to find the salvation of the soul [1] :
“Be as perfect as the father of heaven” (Matthew 5:48 ).
Buddhism conveys the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni (Gautama) on the eightfold way to end suffering : righteous faith , righteous intention, righteous speech , righteous acts - non - violence ( ahimsa ), righteous way of life, righteous effort, righteous thought , righteous concentration. Moreover, morality is identified with self-improvement, spiritual self-deepening of the individual [6] .
Thomas Aquinas believed that in order to achieve perfection, "ordering and control" of the mental and physical forces of man is required. Thus, the medieval tradition transformed the idea of perfection into the idea of self-improvement and into the idea that perfection is a consequence of the development of the soul [2] .
Improvement Path
The path to improving human nature begins from the moment when a person tries to comprehend himself and his system of values and realizes his own imperfection, that is, a discrepancy with these values . This is the problem of perfection, the realization of which occurs in the moral world of each individual person: “Perfection is a person’s knowledge of his own imperfection” [7] and a desire to change the situation for the better. As a result, the awareness of the causes of imperfection is accompanied by repentance , that is, recognition of one’s own mistakes in the past, regret for them and a strong desire not to commit them in the future.
From the moment of awareness of one’s own imperfection, a person begins to practice changing (improving) his nature, character , thoughts , feelings and actions , which involve sacrifice, humility , obedience, overcoming human nature [2] . Through humility, the person is also freed from his understanding of perfection and attempts to create his own ideal.
In addition to the awareness of imperfection, the fundamental condition for improvement is the desire and constancy of the individual’s efforts along this path, which should not stop its actions, despite the impossibility of gaining the highest perfection. The personality should be improved as far as its abilities are enough, because thanks to these actions the internal disconnection with the moral ideal is overcome, and the world around is transformed based on its achievements, which is an ethically significant fact and is revealed as a commandment to love the world [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Huseynov A.A., Apresyan R.G. Ethics textbook . - Moscow: Gardarika, 2000. - ISBN 5-8297-0012-3 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 Tatarkevich V. On the happiness and perfection of man. 368. Moscow: Progress (1981).
- ↑ Vasilchenko Sergey. Aristotle. Nikomakhov's ethics. - Moscow: Eksmo - Press, 1997.
- ↑ Sudakov A.K. Ethical thought . - Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2003. - 204 p.
- ↑ Kant I. Religion within the limits of only reason. Treatises and letters. - Moscow: Nauka, 1980 .-- 712 p.
- ↑ Huseynov A.A. Great moralists . - Moscow: Republic, 1995 .-- 352 p. - ISBN 5-250-02541-2 .
- ↑ V. Tatarkevich. St. Augustinus. Sermo CLXX, 8. Cit. by Tatarkevich V. The concept of perfection in ethics // On the happiness and perfection of man. - M. , 1981.P. 316.
Literature
- Ethical thought: modern research / O. Artemyeva. - Progress Tradition, 2009. - ISBN 978-5-89826-311-X .