“a person whose every action is as morally good as possible, a person, that is, who is as morally worthy as can be.”
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What are the two types of moral saint?
The Loving Saint and the Rational Saint
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What is a Loving Saint?
A saint who's well being consists of the well being of others - moral being to maximise happiness
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What is a Rational Saint?
Conform to moral law for the sake of morality, out of duty and nothing else.
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What is one general problem of rational sainthood?
pathological fear of damnation of self hatred bc all aspects of the personal self do not exist
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What is problem of moral sainthood that Wolfe outlines?
They lack important non-moral virtues (e.g. like pursuing a talent) and these are what make you a well rounded person
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Name two premises which one might reject Wolfe's problem?
1) In doing good, you might encounter non-moral goods like a happy accident. 2) Moral sainthood unattractive BUT is this a reason to reject it?
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What 3 reasons does Wolfe give to argue that moral saints are less attractive people than they could be?
Unable to enjoy life bc 1) Lives are "strangely barren" 2) They're so "very, very nice" they must be dull 3) No time to develop talents etc
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Is it good to be a moral saint...
...
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What is eudemonistic ethics?
Happiness = moral perfection e.g branch ethics such as utilitarianism/hedonism
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Give an example of eudemonistic ethics
Loving your neighbour because = more happiness = decrease in suffering
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But Wolf worries that moral saints would lack some qualities necessary to develop the kind of life we think is good for the person who leads it. What are they?
personal interests/projects and special relationships
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According to Wolfe, will you ever be truly happy if you sacrifice your happiness for others?
No
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Moral Theories..
...
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Would utilitairanism support moral sainthood?
Not on the whole because a world full of moral saints would be less good than it could be
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But utilitarians should in their everyday lives be..?
as morally good as possible
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Why does Wolfe disagree will a utilitarianism lifestyle?
Because it prioritises things for the wrong reasons
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Why does Wolfe believe that the Kantian moral saint will have 'one thought too many'?
because you have to up the ends of others as their own to be morally perfect, so they have no time to develop their own interests
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However, reading Kant minimalistically, there could be room for pursuing personal non moral virtues. Why is this?
Because the only emphasis is on not violating certain rules in our interactions with other
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According to Wolfe, what is the problem with putting an upper bound on morality like Kantian ethics does?
Moral saints tha are less attractive like mother theresa is nonetheless more morally admirable than another such as Katherine Hepburn. This is not captured
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Wolfes conc
1. moral perfection is goal in moral theory 2. moral perf valuable but so is non moral perf 3. dif views of morality bc dif moral theory 4. intuitionism needed to put moral theory in their place
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What are the two types of moral saint?
Back
The Loving Saint and the Rational Saint
Card 3
Front
What is a Loving Saint?
Back
Card 4
Front
What is a Rational Saint?
Back
Card 5
Front
What is one general problem of rational sainthood?
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