• rickyk95
    53
    So I was trying to understand the difference between Mill´s Perfectionism Status (or the idea that the good life is the one that is freely chosen because it leads to individuals perfecting themselves) and Kantian Contractualism, which according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states the following:

    According to Kantian contractualism, “society, being composed of a plurality of persons, each with his own aims, interests, and conceptions of the good, is best arranged when it is governed by principles that do not themselves presuppose any particular conception of the good…” (Sandel, 1982: 1). On this view, respect for the personhood of others demands that we refrain from imposing our view of the good life on them. Only principles that can be justified to all respect the personhood of each.

    Isnt that last sentence, referring to the demand that we refrain from imposing our view of the good life on others itself a view of the good life? Isn´t it a tacit endorsement of freedom, in that people should be free from having their views imposed on them?
  • tim wood
    9.2k
    I think the key phrase is, "that we refrain from imposing our view...". I don't think it's useful to twist these ideas too much; the simple meaning is at least at a first cut likely to be a fair approximation of the author's intended meaning. And then you can agree or disagree!

    And probably useful to keep in mind that Kant was a mid-18th century Prussian, while Mill a mid-19th century Englishman.
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