GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

CRITICISM OF IDEALIST THEORY 761
the general proposition, that the living of the good life
entails the full development of the best dements in our
personality. The agreement on this point among ethical
writers is, indeed, impressive. Aristotle specifies the full
development of faculty as an ingredient of the good life;
Mill demands the maximum development of the intellect;
T. H. Green finds the end in "self-realization". This much
may, then, be taken as agreed, that by an imperfectly
developed personality no good life can be lived; com-
pleteness of life is at least one of the ends of good living.
Practical experience confirms this conclusion. It is a matter
of common observation that a man whose character wins
respect is one who seeks to make the best of himself, to
advance beyond his imperfections in the direction of an
added perfection, to reach out beyond his present and to
grow. He desires some particular kind of experience, or he
desires merely fulness of experience, and the effort to attain
his desire stimulates his capacity and confirms his manhood.
The fulfilment ofsuch desires is an enrichment oflife, nor can
they be denied without harm to the personality. "Human
life," as Bergson puts it, "is a perpetual becoming," and
human nature, therefore, cannot find satisfaction in what
is static. Thus the right of the individual to realize all
that he has it in him to be constitutes one of the founda-
tions of the claim to personal freedom; for an individual
must be free to choose his own mode of self-realization.
THAT PARTICIPATION IN AFFAIRS is
NECESSARY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PER-
SONALITY. Now, many would hold that, whatever
mode of self-realization he chooses, some degree of participation
in public affairs is an important condition of the
full development of the individual's personality. The Greeks
would have said that it was a necessary condition. Young
men arc moved by what may loosely be called "political
impulse". They feel impelled to take a hand in the running
of the community; they want to feel that they count;
that their wills and wishes matter; that it is not beyond the