Growth and the Shape of a Life
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Department
Philosophy and Religion
School
Humanities
Abstract
Why does it seem better to be a pauper who becomes a king rather than a king who becomes a pauper even when each life contains an equivalent sum of goods to the other? Many argue that only the pauper-to-king life can be told as a redemption story and that it is good for you to live a redemption story. This paper calls that explanation into question and proposes an alternative: upward-trending lives reveal growth. I argue that growth is a valuable feature of a life, that redemption is not, and that growth explains intuitions cited in favor of redemption.
Publication Title
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly
Recommended Citation
Dunkle, I.
(2021). Growth and the Shape of a Life. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/18918