Growth and the Shape of a Life

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 stor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pacific philosophical quarterly 2022-09, Vol.103 (3), p.581-605
Main Author: Dunkle, Ian D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Life
Personal development
Philosophy
Redemption
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0279-0750
1468-0114
DOI:10.1111/papq.12372