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    Leibniz's theory of the good cannot be characterized as m... — Carmelics
    Home/Virtue Ethics
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    Leibniz's theory of the good cannot be characterized as mere hedonism

    ConsequentialismVirtue Ethics
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    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for 1 of 2
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    • 1.For Leibniz, the highest good is the glory of God realized through the perfection of rational creatures, not the maximization of pleasure.
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    • 2.Leibniz explicitly subordinates pleasure to perfection: pleasure signals perfection but does not constitute it, making perfection the primary normative category.
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    • 3.This perfectionist framework aligns Leibniz with Aristotle's eudaimonism, where flourishing is grounded in the actualization of rational capacities, not hedonic states.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Leibniz holds that disinterested love—willing the good of another for their own sake—is a genuine moral motive irreducible to the agent's own pleasure.
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    • 2.If moral motivation can be genuinely other-directed in Leibniz's system, then his ethics exceeds any hedonism, which must ultimately reduce all motivation to self-regarding pleasure.
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    • 3.This structure anticipates Francis Hutcheson's distinction between self-love and benevolence, grounding moral worth in other-regarding affection rather than hedonic self-interest.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
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    • 1.Pleasure, for Leibniz, is a confused or distinct apprehension of harmony
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    • 2.Knowledge serves as the necessary means by which an individual cultivates the moral good (the charity of the wise)
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    • 3.A theory that requires knowledge as a necessary condition for the good is richer than simple hedonism
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    Topics

    Virtue EthicsConsequentialism

    Connections

    3 topics

    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedConsciousness & Mind1 linkedAesthetics1 linked

    Related

    A theory that requires knowledge as a necessary condition for the good is richer...For Leibniz, the highest good is the glory of God realized through the perfectio...If moral motivation can be genuinely other-directed in Leibniz's system, then hi...Knowledge serves as the necessary means by which an individual cultivates the mo...
    +5 moreShow less
    Leibniz explicitly subordinates pleasure to perfection: pleasure signals perfect...Leibniz holds that disinterested love—willing the good of another for their own ...

    Similar

    A purely hedonistic account of the good is inadequate.85%A theory that requires knowledge as a necessary condition for the good...84%Sidgwick holds evaluative hedonism but explicitly rejects psychologica...80%Bentham's hedonism can accommodate intuitions about higher and lower p...80%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: leibniz-ethics
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    Despite his identification of happiness with lasting pleasure, however, it is an oversimplification to characterize Leibniz's theory of the good as nothing more than a form of hedonism. Given that pleasure is a confused or distinct apprehension of harmony, knowledge serves as the necessary means by which an individual cultivates the moral good, the charity of the wise. Knowledge of the perfection of others, of the perfection of the universe, and of God, the perfect being, is inherently pleasurab
    Extraction notes

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    Details

    Pleasure, for Leibniz, is a confused or distinct apprehension of harmony
    This perfectionist framework aligns Leibniz with Aristotle's eudaimonism, where ...
    This structure anticipates Francis Hutcheson's distinction between self-love and...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (2 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit