RT Article
T1 For the Sake of the Final End: Eudaimonism, Self-Orientation, and the Nature of Human Agency
JF Journal of religious ethics
VO 48
IS 2
SP 182
OP 200
A1 Darr, Ryan
LA English
PB Wiley-Blackwell
YR 2020
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1698617119
AB The question of the viability of theological eudaimonism as an interpretation of the moral life has generated increasing debate in recent years. This essay aims to advance the debate about theological eudaimonism (and eudaimonism more generally) by addressing a closely related but insufficiently discussed issue: the nature of human agency and its relationship to value. The most commonly raised objection to eudaimonism is that it is objectionably agent-oriented. I argue that worries about objectionable self-orientation often stem from importing foreign pictures of agency into the eudaimonist tradition. I make this case through an analysis of Nicholas Wolterstorff’s recent critique of eudaimonism. Wolterstorff presupposes a common contemporary conception of agency. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and Elizabeth Anderson, I show that other conceptions of agency are available. Clarity about the nature of human agency and its relationship to value will bring greater clarity to the debate about eudaimonism and self-orientation.
K1 Elizabeth Anderson
K1 Nicholas Wolterstorff
K1 Thomas Aquinas
K1 Agency
K1 Eudaimonism
K1 final end
K1 Happiness
K1 self-orientation
DO 10.1111/jore.12305