Moral Saints
Author(s): Susan Wolf
Source: The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 79, No. 8 (Aug., 1982), pp. 419-439
Published by: Journal of Philosophy, Inc.
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THE JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY
VOLUME LXXIX, NO. 8, AUGUST 1982
.~ ~
..+I ~ ~ ~ ~ .
MORAL SAINTS*
DON'T knowwhetherthereare anymoralsaints.But if there
are, I am glad thatneitherI nor those about whom I care most
are among them. By moral saint I mean a person whose every
action is as morally good as possible, a person, that is, who is as
morally worthyas can be. Though I shall in a momentacknowl-
edge the varietyof typesof person thatmightbe thoughtto satisfy
thisdescription,it seems to me thatnone of thesetypesserveas un-
equivocally compelling personal ideals. In other words, I believe
that moral perfection,in the sense of moral saintliness,does not
constitutea model of personal well-being towardwhich it would
be particularlyrational or good or desirable fora human being to
strive.
Outside thecontextof moral discussion, this will strikemanyas
an obvious point. But, within that context, the point, if it be
granted,will be granted with some discomfort.For within that
context it is generally assumed that one ought to be as morally
good as possible and that what limits thereare to morality'shold
on us are setby featuresof human natureof which we ought not to
be proud. If,as I believe,theideals thatare derivablefromcommon
sense and philosophically popular moral theoriesdo not support
theseassumptions, then somethinghas to change. Either we must
change our moral theoriesin ways thatwill make themyield more
palatable ideals, or, as I shall argue, we must change our concep-
tion of what is involvedin affirminga moral theory.
In this paper, I wish to examine the notion of a moral saint,
first,to understandwhat a moral saint would be like and whysuch
a being would be unattractive,and, second, to raise some questions
about the significanceof this paradoxical figurefor moral philo-
419
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MORAL SAINTS 421
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MORAL SAINTS 423
and attractivenessthat the moral strengthsgo, so to speak, along-
side of specific,independentlyadmirable, nonmoral ground proj-
ects and dominant personal traits.
When one does finallyturnone's eyestowardlives thatare domi-
natedbyexplicitlymoral commitments,moreover,one findsoneself
relievedat thediscoveryof idiosyncrasiesor eccentricitiesnot quite
in line with the pictureof moral perfection.One preferstheblunt,
tactless,and opinionated BetsyTrotwood to the unfailinglykind
and patient Agnes Copperfield; one prefersthe mischievousness
and the sense of irony in Chesterton'sFather Brown to the inno-
cence and undiscriminatinglove of St. Francis.
It seems that,as we look in our ideals for people who achieve
nonmoral varietiesof personal excellence in conjunction with or
colored by some version of high moral tone, we look in our para-
gons of moral excellence for people whose moral achievements
occur in conjunction withor colored by some interestsor traitsthat
have low moral tone. In other words, thereseems to be a limit to
how much moralitywe can stand.
One mightsuspect thattheessence of theproblem is simply that
thereis a limit to how much of any single value, or any single type
of value, we can stand. Our objection thenwould not be specificto
a life in which one's dominant concernis morality,but would ap-
ply to any life that can be so completelycharacterizedby an ex-
traordinarilydominant concern. The objection in thatcase would
reduceto therecognitionthatsuch a lifeis incompatiblewithwell-
roundedness.If thatwere the objection, one could fairlyreplythat
well-roundednessis no more supreme a virtuethan the totalityof
moral virtuesembodied by the ideal it is being used to criticize.But
I think this misidentifiesthe objection. For the way in which a
concernformoralitymaydominatea life,or, more to thepoint, the
way in which it may dominate an ideal of life,is not easily imag-
ined by analogy to the dominance an aspiration to become an
Olympic swimmeror a concernpianist mighthave.
A person who is passionately committedto one of these latter
concernsmightdecide thather attachmentto it is strongenough to
be worth the sacrificeof her ability to maintain and pursue a sig-
nificantportion of what else life mightofferwhich a properdevo-
tion to her dominant passion would require. But a desire to be as
morallygood as possible is not likelyto take the formof one desire
among others which, because of its peculiar psychological
strength, requiresone to foregothepursuitof otherweakerand sep-
aratelyless demanding desires. Rather, the desire to be as morally
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MORAL SAINTS 425
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MORAL SAINTS 427
the ideal of the moral saint, we expressa conviction thatit is good
not to be a moral saint.
MORAL SAINTS AND MORAL THEORIES
I have triedso far to paint a picture-or, rather,two pictures-of
what a moral saint mightbe like, drawing on what I take to be the
attitudes and beliefs about morality prevalent in contemporary,
common-sense thought. To my suggestion that common-sense
moralitygeneratesconceptionsof moral saints thatare unattractive
or otherwise unacceptable, it is open to someone to reply, "so
much the worse forcommon-sensemorality."Afterall, it is often
claimed that the goal of moral philosophy is to correctand im-
prove upon common-sensemorality,and I have as yetgiven no at-
tentionto the question of what conceptionsof moral sainthood,if
any, are generatedfromthe leading moral theoriesof our time.
A quick, breezyreading of utilitarianand Kantian writingswill
suggest the images, respectively,of the Loving Saint and the Ra-
tional Saint. A utilitarian,with his emphasis on happiness, will
certainlyprefertheLoving Saint to theRational one, since theLov-
ing Saint will himselfbe a happier person than the Rational Saint.
A Kantian, with his emphasis on reason, on the other hand, will
find at least as much to praise in the latteras in the former.Still,
both models, drawn as theyare fromcommon sense, appeal to an
impure mixtureof utilitarianand Kantian intuitions.A morecare-
ful examination of these moral theories raises questions about
whethereithermodel of moral sainthood would reallybe advocated
by a believerin theexplicit doctrinesassociated witheitherof these
views.
Certainly,the utilitarianin no way denies thevalue of self-reali-
zation. He in no way disparages the developmentof interests,tal-
ents, and other personally attractivetraitsthat I have claimed the
moral saint would be without. Indeed, since just thesefeaturesen-
hance the happiness both of the individuals who possess themand
of those with whom theyassociate, theabilityto promotethesefea-
turesboth in oneselfand in otherswill have considerablepositive
weightin utilitariancalculations.
This implies thatthe utilitarianwould not support moral saint-
hood as a universal ideal. A world in which everyone,or even a
large number of people, achieved moral sainthood-even a world
in which theystrove to achieve it-would probably contain less
happiness than a world in which people realized a diversityof
ideals involving a varietyof personal and perfectionistvalues.
More pragmaticconsiderationsalso suggest that,if the utilitarian
wants to influence more people to achieve more good, then he
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MORAL SAINTS 429
have or a judgment he does not make. For it may be thata limited
and carefullymonitoredallotmentof timeand energyto be devoted
to the pursuitof some nonmoral interestsor to the developmentof
some nonmoral talentswould make a persona bettercontributorto
the general welfarethan he would be if he allowed himselfno in-
dulgences of this sort.The enjoymentof such activitiesin no way
compromisesa commitmentto utilitarianprinciplesas long as the
involvementwith theseactivitiesis conditionedby a willingnessto
give themup wheneverit is recognizedthat theycease to be in the
general interest.
This will go some way in mitigatingthe picture of the loving
saint thatan understandingof utilitarianismwill on firstimpres-
sion suggest.But I thinkit will not go veryfar.For thelimitations
on time and energywill have to be rathersevere,and the need to
monitor will restrictnot only the extent but also the quality of
one's attachmentto these interestsand traits.They are only weak
and somewhat peculiar sorts of passions to which one can con-
sciously remain so conditionallycommitted.Moreover,the way in
which the utilitariancan enjoy these "extra-curricular"aspects of
his life is simply not the way in which theseaspects are to be en-
joyed insofaras theyfigureinto our less saintlyideals.
The problem is not exactly that the utilitarianvalues these as-
pects of his life only as a means to an end, for the enjoymenthe
and othersget fromtheseaspects are not a means to, but a part of,
the general happiness. Nonetheless,he values thesethingsonly be-
cause of and insofaras theyare a part of the generalhappiness. He
values them,as it were,under thedescription'a contributionto the
general happiness'. This is to be contrastedwith the various ways
in which theseaspects of life may be valued by nonutilitarians.A
person mightlove literaturebecause of theinsightsinto human na-
tureliteratureaffords.Anothermight love the cultivationof roses
because rosesare thingsof greatbeautyand delicacy.It may be true
thatthesefeaturesof therespectiveactivitiesalso explain why these
activitiesare happiness-producing.But, to the nonutilitarian,this
may not be to the point. For if one values theseactivitiesin these
more direct ways, one may not be willing to exchange them for
others that produce an equal, or even a greateramount of happi-
ness. From thatpoint of view, it is not because theyproduce happi-
ness that theseactivitiesare valuable; it is because theseactivities
are valuable in more direct and specific ways that theyproduce
happiness.
To adopt a phrase of BernardWilliams', the utilitarian'smanner
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MORAL SAINTS 431
moral saint, like the othermoral saints I have been considering,is
dominated by the motivationto be moral.
Which of these interpretationsof Kant one preferswill depend
on the interpretationand the importanceone gives to the role of
the imperfectduties in Kant's over-all system.Rather than choose
betweenthemhere,I shall considereach brieflyin turn.
On the second interpretation of Kant, the Kantian moral saint is,
not surprisingly,subject to many of the same objections I have
been raising against other versions of moral sainthood. Though
the Kantian saint may differfromthe utilitariansaint as to which
actions he is bound to performand which he is bound to refrain
fromperforming,I suspect thattherange of activitiesacceptable to
the Kantian saint will remain objectionably restrictive.Moreover,
the manner in which the Kantian saint must thinkabout and jus-
tifythe activitieshe pursues and the charactertraitshe develops
will strikeus, as it did with the utilitarian saint, as containing
"one thoughttoo many." As the utilitariancould value his activi-
ties and charactertraitsonly insofaras theyfell under the descrip-
tion of 'contributionsto thegeneral happiness', the Kantian would
have to value his activitiesand charactertraitsinsofaras theywere
manifestationsof respectforthe moral law. If the developmentof
our powers to achieve physical, intellectual,or artisticexcellence,
or the activitiesdirectedtoward making othershappy are to have
any moral worth,theymust arise froma reverenceforthe dignity
thatmembersof our species have as a resultof being endowed with
pure practical reason. This is a good and noble motivation,to be
sure. But it is hardlywhat one expects to be dominantlybehind a
person's aspirations to dance as well as Fred Astaire,to paint as
well as Picasso, or to solve some outstandingproblem in abstract
algebra, and it is hardlywhat one hopes to find lying dominantly
behind a father'saction on behalf of his son or a lover's on behalf
of her beloved.
Since the basic problem with any of the models of moral saint-
hood we have been consideringis thattheyare dominatedby a sin-
gle, all-importantvalue underwhich all otherpossible values must
be subsumed, it may seem that the alternativeinterpretationof
Kant, as providinga stringentbut finiteset of obligations and con-
straints,might provide a more acceptable morality.According to
this interpretationof Kant, one is as morally good as can be so
long as one devotessome limited portion of one's energiestoward
altruism and the maintenance of one's physical and spiritual
health,and otherwisepursues one's independentlymotivatedinter-
ests and values in such a way as to avoid oversteppingcertain
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MORAL SAINTS 433
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MORAL SAINTS 435
that moral ideals do not, and need not, make the best personal
ideals. Earlier,I mentionedone of theconsequences of regardingas
a testof an adequate moral theorythatperfectobedience to its laws
and maximal devotion to its interestsbe somethingwe can whole-
heartedlystrivefor in ourselves and wish for in those around us.
Drawing out the consequences somewhat furthershould, I think,
make us more doubtful of the proposed test than of the theories
which, on this test,would fail. Given the empirical circumstances
of our world, it seems to be an ethical factthatwe have unlimited
potential to be morallygood, and endless opportunityto promote
moral interests.But thisis not incompatiblewith thenot-so-ethical
fact that we have sound, compelling, and not particularlyselfish
reasons to choose not to devote ourselves univocally to realizing
this potential or to takingup this opportunity.
Thus, in one sense at least, I am not reallycriticizingeitherKan-
tianismor utilitarianism.Insofaras thepoint of view I am offering
bears directlyon recentwork in moral philosophy,in fact,it bears
on criticsof these theorieswho, in a spiritnot unlike the spiritof
most of this paper, point out that the perfectutilitarianwould be
flawed in this way or the perfectKantian flawed in that.3The as-
sumption lying behind these claims, implicitlyor explicitly,has
been thattherecognitionof theseflawsshows us somethingwrong
with utilitarianismas opposed to Kantianism,or somethingwrong
with Kantianismas opposed to utilitarianism,or somethingwrong
with both of these theoriesas opposed to some nameless thirdal-
ternative.The claims of this paper suggest,however,that this as-
sumption is unwarranted.The flaws of a perfectmasterof a moral
theoryneed not reflectflawsin the intramoralcontentof the theory
itself.
MORAL SAINTS AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY
In pointing out the regrettablefeaturesand the necessaryabsence
of some desirable featuresin a moral saint, I have not meant to
condemn the moral saint or the person who aspires to become one.
Rather, I have meant to insist that the ideal of moral sainthood
should not be held as a standard against which any other ideal
must be judged or justified,and that the posture we take in re-
sponse to the recognitionthat our lives are not as morallygood as
3See, e.g., Williams, op. cit. and J.J.C. Smartand BernardWilliams, Utilitarian-
ism: For and Against (New York: Cambridge, 1973). Also, Michael Stocker,"The
Schizophreniaof Modern Ethical Theories," this JOURNAL, LXIII, 14 (Aug. 12, 1976):
453-466.
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MORAL SAINTS 437
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ON DOING GOOD 439
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