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Moral Perfection and the Tragic Sense of Life University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1997 Moral perfection and the tragic sense of life Laura Alyssa Brooks The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Brooks, Laura Alyssa, "Moral perfection and the tragic sense of life" (1997). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5624. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5624 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Maureen and Mike MANSFIELD LIBRARY The University ofMONTANA Permission is granted by the author to reproduce this material in its entirety, provided that this material is used for scholarly purposes and is properly cited in published works and reports. ** Please check "Yes" or "No" and provide signature ** Yes, I grant permission A ___ No, I do not grant permission ______ r Author's Signature ______ D ate s j ^ s / ^ Y ________________________ Any copying for commercial purposes or financial gain may be undertaken only with the author's explicit consent. MORAL PERFECTION AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE by Laura Alyssa Brooks B.A. University of Montana, 1989 presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Interdisciplinary Studies The University of Montana 1997 Approved by: Chairperson Dean, Graduate School Date UMI Number: EP41088 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI EP41088 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQ uest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Brooks, Laura Alyssa, May 1997 Interdisciplinary Studies (Philosophy\Classics) Moral Perfection and the Tragic Sense of Life (pp. 155) Director: Richard E. Walto The ideal of moral perfection is rejected by most modem moral philosophers. This is because of a confused and superficial understanding of what perfection means, created largely as a result of influences from modem liberalism, which dis­ counts the importance of character in moral conduct. However, rejecting the ideal of moral perfection diminishes and devalues what it means to be a human being. To clarify our moral thinking, we should turn to a re-evaluation of Aristotle’s ethics, a sound and coherent morality that is grounded on the belief that the ideal of moral perfection is an attainable good in human life. Perfection etymologically means "completion." Aristotle’s ethics understands moral perfection as human completion, or happiness and human flourishing. Moral perfection is attained through the achievement of moral virtuosity, the habituation of virtuous actions that aims toward a mean in moral conduct, expressing the human best for any individual. Aristotle’s emphasis on character gives a valuable depth and meaning to moral goodness, while striving toward an ideal of perfection is what gives quality and worth to human activity and character, even more so perhaps than actually reaching the goal. Tragedy gives us clear examples of moral imperfection that can be explained in terms of Aristotle’s ethics, supplemented by moral concepts in his treatise on trag­ edy, the Poetics. Examination of scenes from two Greek tragedies, the Antigone and the Agamemnon, illustrates Aristotle’s ethical principles, revealing just how dif­ ficult moral choice is and the value of an ideal of moral perfection to human life and worth. Tragedy then becomes a useful tool for ethical reflection and insight; it forces us to re-examine what it means to be a human being and to focus on what is truly important in living well. Aristotle’s ethics and Greek tragedy are, therefore, complementary, both concerned with moral depth. A careful study of both may serve to aid in the development of moral depth in ourselves. Acknowledgments The writing of this thesis has been like trying to climb Mt. Everest, a long, arduous journey with many stops and starts that began in Autumn 1989. The sum­ mit always seemed far away and impossible to reach. Now, I have finally reached my goal, and I am eager to leave this mountain peak behind and make a new beginning on other journeys that lie ahead. Nevertheless, I am also sad at leaving something which has been with me for so long. I have many good memories of my time at the University of Montana, especially of the kindness my professors have shown me. I am very grateful for their care and consideration. Their encour­ agement has meant more to me than they can ever know. As I look back on my classes and this project, I value these memories most. I would like to thank John Hay, John Madden, and Jim Scott, my professors in Classics when I first enrolled in the program. They welcomed me into their classes and inspired me with their knowledge and enthusiasm. If they had not been here at this university, I know I would not have had the desire to complete my degrees. A special thank you is due to the professors of my graduate committee, Richard Walton, John Hay, and Hayden Ausland. Their patience, good humor, and support was deeply appreciated. I am honored to have had them serve on my committee. I am especially grateful to Professor Richard Walton, the director of my thesis project. His efforts on my behalf belong to a "supererogatory" category of effort. I can never repay him enough for his help and confidence in me and this project. His constant encouragement was most precious to me, his perseverence and faith kept me climbing up the mountain. Again, thank you to all. Table of Contents Introduction .......................... 1 Chapter 1 Perfectionism in Modem Moral Philosophy.................. 7 Chapter 2 Aristotle’S Concept of Moral Perfection ............................................26 Chapter 3 Aristotle and Tragedy................................................................................65 Chapter 4 Two Greek Tragedies .................................... 97 Chapter 5 Moral Depth..............................................................................................118 Notes ................................................................... 144 Bibliography............................................ 153 Moral Perfection and the Tragic Sense of Life Introduction In Homer’s Iliad Achilleus recounts a myth to king Priam of Troy, who has endured more sorrow and misfortune than any mortal alive and has now come to beg for the body of his son Hector from Achilleus, the man who has slain all of Priam’s sons.1 The myth describes how good and evil come to the human being as a chance gift from the gods. There are two urns, Achilleus says, that sit on the threshold of Zeus, one filled with good fortune, the other with evil. The one to whom Zeus gives a mixture from the two urns suffers both evil and good. But, to the one who receives from the second urn alone, evil only comes, driving him over the earth, reviled and without honor, a failure in the eyes of men and the gods. Socrates refers to this myth in Plato’s Republic , rejecting its theme.2 Only good comes from the gods, he says, evil comes from some other cause. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle states that chance can mar our complete happiness by bringing a lack of such things as beauty or wealth (NE 1.8 1099a31-1099b9). Nevertheless, Aristotle insists that everyone whose capacity for goodness has not been maimed can acquire happiness. Happiness, the ultimate human good, he says, although a truly divine and blessed thing, is best attained by human effort. Aristotle firmly maintains that since nature is ordered in the best way possible it would be too "discordant" (irXrjpsXsg) for human happiness, the best and greatest of all things, to be turned over to chance; it would be entirely contrary and out of tune with how nature is best ordered (NE 1.8 1099bl9-24). Thus, we have two views of good and evil, one that resigns our human good to 2 an unpredictable chance, beyond human control, and another that gives hope that happiness is possible through human effort. This thesis examines how good and evil comes to the human being, the ultimate value of striving to be good and the best we can be as human beings. I shall argue that we must take the ideal of moral perfection seriously, as did Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics. By aspiring toward such an ideal, it is indeed possible to attain happiness, enriching our lives with the meaning and purpose of what it truly is to be a human being. In Chapter 1 we find that perfection is commonly rejected as a standard for human goodness by modern moral philosophers. In a survey of a selection of views from a few of these philosophers, it becomes clear that their conception of the ideal of moral perfection is distorted and superficial. Moral perfection is described in terms of an unattractive, unhealthy moral sainthood, and as implying heroic action lying outside the realm of everyday morality. Human imperfection is hailed as admirable and even wonderful, while morality itself in its complexity and diversity is deemed too difficult to understand and define adequately; hence, it is dismissed as unfit to be used by the human being as a guide to a good life.
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