Philosophischer Perfektionismus als Kritik des sozialen Perfektionierungsdrangs: Interdisziplinär sortierende Überlegungen

The essay provides a critical overview of the discussion of perfection in the social sciences and contrasts it with the one in philosophy. How can the practice of self-optimization be criticized by the same subjects who promote it themselves? Common criticisms of perfection sometimes address neither subjects nor structures, but remain with placeless “regimes” or “dispositifs”. This allows self-victimization without stepping on anyone's toes. The essay presents another variant of this toothless critical strategy, which is not directed against perfection per se, but itself based on a different idea of perfection - on the humanistic idea of ​​human growth. This idea connects Aristotle with Rousseau, and virtue ethics with egalitarianism. The proposed “balance model” can indicate when improvements are beneficial for subjects and when or why they become problematic, and thus help us escape some conceptual deadlocks.