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Good Enough

Good Enough J S P Vanderbilt University No matter how well things go for us, we tend to dream of ways in which they could go better. Our love affair with the perfect may be an expression of Western restlessness or, more generally, the result of human desires in overdrive, but it unquestionably structures much of what we hope for and work to achieve. We want not only more of everything but also more perfect versions of the goods we have and the experiences we enjoy. We seem to think that the world falls short of the ideal and that therefore everything needs to be improved. This belief has become the grotesque mantra of the manufacturers of commercial goods, who advertise their products as "new and improved." But it is also embraced in cooking where we seek surprising ways to enhance the taste of meals, in human relations where we try to find the perfect friends, and in raising children where they can never quite meet our expectations. It is not that we fail to know what is good; we just believe that nothing is good enough. A particularly harmful version of the view that nothing is good enough hides http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of Speculative Philosophy Penn State University Press

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Publisher
Penn State University Press
Copyright
Copyright © Penn State University Press
ISSN
1527-9383
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

J S P Vanderbilt University No matter how well things go for us, we tend to dream of ways in which they could go better. Our love affair with the perfect may be an expression of Western restlessness or, more generally, the result of human desires in overdrive, but it unquestionably structures much of what we hope for and work to achieve. We want not only more of everything but also more perfect versions of the goods we have and the experiences we enjoy. We seem to think that the world falls short of the ideal and that therefore everything needs to be improved. This belief has become the grotesque mantra of the manufacturers of commercial goods, who advertise their products as "new and improved." But it is also embraced in cooking where we seek surprising ways to enhance the taste of meals, in human relations where we try to find the perfect friends, and in raising children where they can never quite meet our expectations. It is not that we fail to know what is good; we just believe that nothing is good enough. A particularly harmful version of the view that nothing is good enough hides

Journal

The Journal of Speculative PhilosophyPenn State University Press

Published: Aug 1, 2009

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