Bodily Goods

In this paper I argue for a category of goods I call ‘bodily goods’. These are grounded in a teleological and essentialist conception of human functioning, viz. a perfectionist conception that is continuous with but not identical to Aristotle’s own conception. Distinguishing the goods of health from the goods of ability, I explore further perfectionist goods such as athleticism and those goods grounded in our reproductive power. I round off the paper by looking at the good of beauty – concluding it is not a properly bodily good at all – and at various bodily bads, which are contingent on bodily alteration