ARCE, Nikole ETHICS 1 - U3

GUTIERREZ, Regieneve Joyce

VILLANUEVA, Gielledane
VISCO, Ma. Elaine

Why do we strive for perfection if it is unattainable?

In search for the answers on what is perfection and why people strive for it, we stumbled
upon different perspectives of famous writers and philosophers, about their views on perfection
and how it is attained.

As Vince Lombardi has quoted, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection
we can catch excellence”. Human beings tend to look at a certain goal of perfection which would
bring them satisfaction once attained. It just shows that we do not settle for the “bare minimum”
of things and we strive to achieve something more. It could also be affected by the constant
change of our surroundings or how the people around us see us. We always look for the better
version of ourselves and of the things around us. Even in the simplest things such as choosing
coffee, we have our own standards and criteria as to what is the “best” coffee formula.

According to Aristotle, the actuality of a thing is it’s form, which allows this to do the
things it wants to do, what it can do and it helps enable one thing to be what it is. Perfection in
Ethics is defined to follow a goal, which is the goal of excellence. A person strives for perfection
because he/she wants to excel in something they ought to be good at. Perfection perhaps is
unattainable, it is a vessel/medium in which people try to achieve in order to attain certain
values and beliefs that can be used in our lives.

Perfection is a state of being flawless and this has been something that everyone of us
is striving for but still bearing in mind that there’s no such thing as perfect. This way of thinking
can be perceived as a measuring tool. The idea of perfection sets as a guide because all of us
have an idea of what perfect is and we try to work and achieve results as close to our idea of
perfection. It is our way of measuring how good we are in certain things and if we are living the
best way we can. Therefore it is imperative to say that perfection can be associated with one’s
own satisfaction without really reaching a true perfection or without any shortcomings at all.