# Perfection

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State of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence

For other uses, see [Perfection (disambiguation)](/source/Perfection_(disambiguation)).

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A [perfectly black body](/source/Black_(color)); and a [perfect circle](/source/Circle)

**Perfection** is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence.

The term designates a range of diverse, if often kindred, concepts used in a variety of fields.

## Term and concept

The noun "perfection", the adjective "perfect", and the verb "to perfect" derive from the Latin verb "*perficere*" – "to finish" or "to bring to an end".[1]

[Aristotle](/source/Aristotle)

The ancient Greek word for "perfection" was "*teleiotes*".[2]

The Greek [polymath](/source/Polymath) [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) (384–322 BCE) distinguished three concepts of perfection:

- - 1. that which was complete – which contained all the requisite parts; - 2. that which was so good that nothing of the kind could be better; - 3. that which had attained its purpose.[3]

The Polish philosopher [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz) (1886 – 1980) notes that perfection is often confused with other qualities, such as "excellence". The German polymath [Leibniz](/source/Gottfried_Wilhelm_Leibniz) (1646–1716), who thought the world to be the [best of all possible worlds](/source/Best_of_all_possible_worlds), never called it perfect.[4]

## Paradox

[Vanini](/source/Lucilio_Vanini)

The Franco-Italian scholar [Joseph Juste Scaliger](/source/Joseph_Juste_Scaliger) (1540–1609), the Italian polymath [Lucilio Vanini](/source/Lucilio_Vanini) (1585–1619), and (according to Vanini) the Greek philosopher [Empedocles](/source/Empedocles) (ca. 494 – ca. 434 BCE) held that the greatest perfection was *imperfection*, for if the world were perfect, it could not be *further* perfected.[5]

This idea accorded with the [Baroque](/source/Baroque) aesthetic of Vanini and the French polymath [Marin Mersenne](/source/Marin_Mersenne) (1588–1648): the perfection of an art work occurs when the spectator complements the work with an act of contemplation.[6]

## Perfect numbers

Main article: [Perfect number](/source/Perfect_number)

The [ancient Greeks](/source/Ancient_Greece) called [perfect numbers](/source/Perfect_numbers) "*teleioi*". A variety of numbers have been called "perfect", for example the number 10 (a person's hands have 10 fingers).[7]

Greek mathematicians regarded as "perfect" a number which equals the [sum](/source/Summation) of its [divisors](/source/Divisor) that are smaller than itself, such as the number 6, because 1 + 2 + 3 = 6.[8][a]

[Euclid](/source/Euclid) (*[fl.](/source/Floruit)* 300 BCE) gave a formula for (even) "perfect" numbers:

- N*p* = 2*p*−1 (2*p* − 1)

where *p* and 2*p* − 1 are [prime numbers](/source/Prime_number).[9]

After more than two millenia of study, it still is not known whether there exist infinitely many perfect numbers; or whether there are any odd ones.[10]

## Physics

A number of fictitious physical entities are traditionally called "perfect":

A *[perfectly rigid](/source/Rigid_body)* body is one that supposedly is not deformed by forces applied to it.[11]

A *[perfectly plastic](/source/Plasticity_(physics))* body is one that is supposedly deformed indefinitely as a load is applied to it.[12]

A *[perfectly black](/source/Black_body)* body would be one that absorbed, completely, radiation falling upon it.[13]

A *[perfect fluid](/source/Perfect_fluid)* would be one that is incompressible and non-viscous.[14]

A *[perfect gas](/source/Perfect_gas)* would be one whose molecules did not interact with each other and had no volume of their own.[15]

All these are fictitious ideals that do not exist in nature. They are useful insofar as they set physical extremes which nature can only approach asymptotically.[16]

## Ethics

[Plato](/source/Plato)

Main article: [Perfectionism (philosophy)](/source/Perfectionism_(philosophy))

The [ancient Greek philosopher](/source/Ancient_Greek_philosopher) [Plato](/source/Plato) (born ca. 428–423 BCE, died ca. 347 BCE) seldom used the term "perfection", but the concept of "[the good](/source/Form_of_the_Good)", central to his philosophy, was tantamount to "perfection".[17]

[Christianity](/source/Christianity) embraced the ideal of perfection. [Matthew](/source/The_Gospel_of_Matthew) 5:48 enjoined: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."[18]

[Saint Augustine](/source/Augustine_of_Hippo) (354 – 430), a [Roman North African](/source/Roman_North_Africa), wrote that not only that man is properly termed perfect and without blemish who is already perfect, but also he who *strives* unreservedly after perfection.[19]

Some Bible voices cast doubt on whether perfection is attainable by man. 1 John 1:8 says: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."[20]

As early as the 5th century, two distinct views on perfection had emerged within the Church: that perfection was attainable by man on earth by his own powers; and, that it may come only by special [divine grace](/source/Divine_grace).[21]

The 14th century saw, with the [Scotists](/source/Scotism),[b] a shift in interest from [moral](/source/Moral) to [ontological](/source/Ontology) perfection. The 15th century, particularly during the [Italian Renaissance](/source/Italian_Renaissance), saw a shift to [artistic](/source/Art) perfection.[22]

The second half of the 16th century brought the [Counter-Reformation](/source/Counter-Reformation), the [Council of Trent](/source/Council_of_Trent), and heroic attempts to attain perfection through [contemplation](/source/Contemplation) and [mortification of the flesh](/source/Mortification_of_the_flesh).[23]

The first half of the 17th century saw the beginnings of [Jansenism](/source/Jansenism) and a growing belief in [predestination](/source/Predestination) and in the impossibility of perfection without [divine grace](/source/Divine_grace).[24]

The 18th century and the [Enlightenment](/source/Age_of_Enlightenment) brought a sea change to the idea of moral perfection, from [religious](/source/Religion) to [secular](/source/Secular). The perfect man was he who lived in harmony with nature.[25]

The mid-18th century saw a brief retreat from the idea of perfection, when the French *[Encyclopédie](/source/Encyclop%C3%A9die)* entry on "Perfection" discussed only [technological](/source/Technology) perfection – the optimal matching of human handiworks to the tasks set for them; no mention was made of [moral](/source/Morality), [aesthetic](/source/Esthetics), or [ontological](/source/Ontology) perfection.[26]

The 18th century otherwise saw declarations about the coming perfection of man from [Immanuel Kant](/source/Immanuel_Kant) (1724 – 1804) and [Johann Gottfried von Herder](/source/Johann_Gottfried_von_Herder) (1744 – 1803).[27]

Other writers, of this and following periods, who expected perfection to come about via [secular](/source/Secular) processes included [David Hume](/source/David_Hume), [John Locke](/source/John_Locke), [David Hartley](/source/David_Hartley_(philosopher)), [Claude Adrien Helvétius](/source/Claude_Adrien_Helv%C3%A9tius), [Jeremy Bentham](/source/Jeremy_Bentham), [Charles Fourier](/source/Charles_Fourier), [Francis Galton](/source/Francis_Galton), [Johann Gottlieb Fichte](/source/Johann_Gottlieb_Fichte), [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](/source/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel), and the 19th-century [positivists](/source/Positivism) and [evolutionists](/source/Evolutionism) including the polymath [Herbert Spencer](/source/Herbert_Spencer).[28]

From the 20th century, writes Tatarkiewicz, the goal has been not so much perfection as *improvement* aimed at attaining excellence.[29]

## Aesthetics

[Pythagoras](/source/Pythagoras)

In [ancient Greece](/source/Ancient_Greece), the 6th-century BCE [Pythagoreans](/source/Pythagoreans) held that perfection in [beauty](/source/Beauty) and [art](/source/Art) consisted in correct [proportions](/source/Proportion_(architecture)) and in a [harmonious](/source/Harmony) arrangement of parts. For [Plato](/source/Plato), in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, beauty and perfection were one.[30] The views of these Greeks dictated that, for every art, there was but one perfect [form](/source/Substantial_form).[31]

There was also a common belief that certain proportions and shapes were perfect in themselves. Plato felt that the most perfect proportion was the ratio of the side to the diagonal of a square.[32]

[Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) (384–322 BCE) regarded the circle as the perfect, most beautiful form. Roman politician and orator [Cicero](/source/Cicero) (106 – 43 BCE) wrote: "Two forms are the most distinctive: of solids, the sphere ... and of plane figures, the circle..."[33]

[Renaissance](/source/Renaissance) aesthetics placed less emphasis than had [classical](/source/Classicism) aesthetics on the unity of things perfect. Italian courtier [Baldassare Castiglione](/source/Baldassare_Castiglione) (1478 – 1529), in his *[Courtier](/source/Il_Cortegiano)*, wrote of [Leonardo](/source/Leonardo_da_Vinci), [Andrea Mantegna](/source/Andrea_Mantegna), [Raphael](/source/Raphael), [Michelangelo](/source/Michelangelo), and [Giorgione](/source/Giorgione), that "each of them is unlike the others, but each is the most perfect in his style."[34]

Perfection gradually came to be seen as but one of many admirable qualities. [Italian Renaissance](/source/Italian_Renaissance) [scholar](/source/Scholar) [Cesare Ripa](/source/Cesare_Ripa) (ca. 1555 – 1622), in his *Iconologia*, placed *perfezione* on an equal footing with grace (*grazia*), prettiness (*venustà*), and [beauty](/source/Beauty) (*bellezza*).[35]

Still, [Leibniz](/source/Leibniz)'s pupil [Christian Wolff](/source/Christian_Wolff_(philosopher)) (1679 – 1754) wrote in his *Psychology* that beauty consisted in perfection and that this was the reason why beauty was a source of pleasure. No such general aesthetic theory, explicitly naming perfection – writes Tatarkiewicz – had ever been formulated by any of perfection's devotees from [Plato](/source/Plato) to Italian Renaissance architect [Andrea Palladio](/source/Andrea_Palladio) (1508 – 1580).[36]

Wolff's theory of beauty-as-perfection was elaborated by the school's chief aesthetician, [Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten](/source/Alexander_Gottlieb_Baumgarten) (1714 – 1762). [Gotthold Ephraim Lessing](/source/Gotthold_Ephraim_Lessing) (1729 – 1781) considered both [beauty](/source/Beauty) and [sublimity](/source/Sublimity) to be ideas of perfection.[37]

[Immanuel Kant](/source/Immanuel_Kant) (1724 – 1804) wrote much about perfection in his *[Critique of Judgment](/source/Critique_of_Judgment)*, but in the realm of aesthetics he concluded: "The faculty of taste is entirely independent of the concept of perfection".[38]

Earlier in the 18th century, France's leading aesthetician, *[Encyclopédie](/source/Encyclop%C3%A9die)* editor [Denis Diderot](/source/Denis_Diderot) (1713 – 1784), had expelled the concept of perfection from aesthetics. [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](/source/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau) (1712 – 1778) had treated perfection as an unreal concept and had written to the polymath and *[Encyclopédie](/source/Encyclop%C3%A9die)* co-editor [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](/source/Jean_le_Rond_d'Alembert) (1717 – 1783) : "Let us not seek the [chimera](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chimera) of perfection..."[39]

In England, in 1757, aesthetician [Edmund Burke](/source/Edmund_Burke) (1729 – 1797) too had denied that perfection was the cause of beauty.[40]

In the 19th century, perfection ceased to be a leading concept in aesthetics. French dramatist, poet, and novelist [Alfred de Musset](/source/Alfred_de_Musset) (1810 – 1857) held that "Perfection is no more attainable for us than infinity."[41]

In the 20th century, French poet and philosopher [Paul Valéry](/source/Paul_Val%C3%A9ry) (1871 – 1945) saw perfection as an impracticable goal.[42]

## Ontology and theology

[Parmenides](/source/Parmenides)

The Greek philosopher [Anaximander](/source/Anaximander) (ca. 610 – ca. 546 BCE) described the world as "endless". [Xenophanes](/source/Xenophanes) (ca. 570 – ca. 478 BCE) declared it "the greatest". But they did not regard it as perfect.[43]

[Parmenides](/source/Parmenides) (*[fl.](/source/Floruit)* in the late-6th or early-5th century BCE), however, considered *[being](/source/Being)* (existence) to be "*tetelesmenon*" ("finished"); and [Melissus of Samos](/source/Melissus_of_Samos) (*[fl.](/source/Floruit)* in the 5th century BCE), his successor in the [Eleatic school](/source/Eleatics), said that *being* (existence) "is entirely" ("*pan esti*"). Thus both saw perfection in *being* (existence). Parmenides moreover thought the world to be [finite](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/finite), limited in all directions, and like a [sphere](/source/Sphere) – which was a mark of its perfection.[44]

Parmenides' view was embraced to some extent by [Plato](/source/Plato) (late-5th to mid-4th century BCE), who thought that the world was the work of a good [Demiurge](/source/Demiurge), and that this was why order and harmony prevailed in it. Plato believed that the world was the best, the most beautiful, perfect; and that it had a perfect shape (spherical) and a perfect motion (circular).[45]

But Plato said nothing about the Demiurge himself being perfect. Perfection implied limits; whereas it was the world, not the Demiurge, that had limits.[46]

A similar view was expressed by [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle) (384–322 BCE), who held the world's *primum movens*, or "[first cause](/source/First_cause)", to be pure form, pure energy, pure reason – features which were superior to all else. The first cause had the highest attributes, but perfection was not one of them.[47]

However, the [pantheist](/source/Pantheism) [Stoics](/source/Stoics) – Greek and Roman followers of [Zeno of Citium](/source/Zeno_of_Citium), [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus) (ca. 334 – ca. 262 BCE) – thought the divinity to be perfect, precisely because, as [pantheists](/source/Pantheist), they identified it with the world.[48]

Roman politician and orator [Cicero](/source/Cicero) (106 – 43 BCE) wrote in *De natura deorum* (On the Nature of the Gods) that the world "encompasses ... all *beings* [existences]... And what could be more absurd than denying perfection to an all-embracing *being* [existence]?..."[49]

Eventually Greek philosophy became bound up with the [Christian](/source/Christianity) religion – the concept of first cause, with the concept of [God](/source/God) the [Creator](/source/Creator_deity). Christian [theology](/source/Theology) united the features of the first cause in Aristotle's *[Metaphysics](/source/Metaphysics_(Aristotle))* with the features of the Creator in the *[Book of Genesis](/source/Book_of_Genesis)*. But the attributes of God did not include perfection, for a perfect being must be finite.[50]

Another reason to deny perfection to God originated in a branch of Christian theology that was influenced by a Greek [Platonist](/source/Platonism), [Plotinus](/source/Plotinus) (204/5 – 270 CE): The absolute from which the world derived could not be grasped in terms of human [concepts](/source/Concept). Not only was that absolute not [matter](/source/Matter), it was not spirit either, nor [idea](/source/Idea). it was incomprehensible and ineffable; it was beyond all that we may imagine, including perfection.[51]

Italian [Scholastic](/source/Scholasticism) [Thomas Aquinas](/source/Thomas_Aquinas) (ca. 1225 – 1274), indicating that he was following [Aristotle](/source/Aristotle), defined a perfect thing as one that "possesses that of which, by its nature, it is capable." There were, in the world, things perfect and imperfect, more perfect and less perfect. God permitted imperfections in Creation when they were necessary for the good of the whole. It was natural for man to go by degrees from imperfection to perfection.[52]

To [Duns Scotus](/source/Duns_Scotus) (ca. 1265/66 – 1308), perfection was not an attribute of God but a property of Creation, and all things partook of perfection to a greater or lesser degree. A thing's perfection depended on what sort of perfection it was eligible for; and that was perfect which had attained the fullness of the qualities possible for it. Hence "whole" and "perfect" meant more or less the same.[53]

This, notes Tatarkiewicz, was a [teleological](/source/Teleology) concept, for it implied a "*[telos](/source/Telos_(philosophy))*" (an end – a goal or purpose). God created things that served certain purposes – created even those purposes – but He himself did not serve a purpose. Since God was not finite, He could not be called perfect: for the concept of perfection served to describe *finite* things. Perfection was not a [theological](/source/Theology) concept, but an [ontological](/source/Ontology) one, writes Tatarkiewicz, because it was a feature, in some degree, of every *being* (existence).[54]

The concept of perfection, as an attribute of God, entered theology only in modern times, through French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician [René Descartes](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes) (1596 – 1650).[55]

[Leibniz](/source/Leibniz) (1646 – 1716) wrote: "As Descartes states, *[existence](/source/Existence)* itself is perfection." Leibniz also construed perfection in a different way in his *[Monadology](/source/Monadology)*: "Only that is perfect which possesses no limits – that is, only God."[56]

Leibniz's pupil and successor, [Christian Wolff](/source/Christian_Wolff_(philosopher)) (1679 – 1754), however, ascribed perfection not to *[existence](/source/Existence)* as a whole, but once again to its individual constituents. He gave, as examples, an eye that sees faultlessly, and a watch that runs faultlessly.[57]

Wolff's pupil [Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten](/source/Alexander_Gottlieb_Baumgarten) (1714 – 1762) derived perfection from rules, but anticipated their "collisions" leading to exceptions and limiting the perfection of things. Eventually he arrived at the conclusion that "everything is perfect".[58]

Tatarkiewicz writes that Wolff and his pupils had returned to the [ontological](/source/Ontology) concept of perfection that the [Scholastics](/source/Scholastics) had used; and that the *[theological](/source/Theology)* concept of perfection had lasted only from Descartes to Leibniz, in the 17th century.[59]

Thanks to Wolff's school, the concept of perfection endured in Germany through the 18th century. In other western countries, especially France and Britain, the concept was already in decline and was ignored by the French *[Encyclopédie](/source/Encyclop%C3%A9die)*.[60]

In Christian Wolff's school, perfection was an essential property of every thing, without which the thing cannot exist. "This", says Tatarkiewicz, "was a singular moment in the history of the [ontological](/source/Ontology) concept of perfection; soon thereafter, that history came to an end."[61]

## See also

- [Christian perfection](/source/Christian_perfection)

- [Perfect competition](/source/Perfect_competition)

- [Perfect fifth](/source/Perfect_fifth)

- [Perfect flower](/source/Perfect_flower) (bisexual flower)

- [Perfect fourth](/source/Perfect_fourth)

- [Perfect pitch](/source/Absolute_pitch)

- [Perfection (law)](/source/Perfection_(law))

- [Perfectionism (philosophy)](/source/Perfectionism_(philosophy))

- [Perfectionism (psychology)](/source/Perfectionism_(psychology))

- [Three perfections](/source/Three_perfections) (Chinese art)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** "Perfect numbers" are also called "[Mersenne numbers](/source/Mersenne_numbers)", after [Marin Mersenne](/source/Marin_Mersenne), who studied them in the early 17th century.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** [Scotists](/source/Scotism): a [philosophical school](/source/Philosophical_school) and [theological system](/source/Theological_system) named after Scottish philosopher-theologian [John Duns Scotus](/source/John_Duns_Scotus) (ca. 1265/66 – 1308).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection: the Term and the Concept", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), p. 5.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection: the Term and the Concept", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), p. 6.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection: the Term and the Concept", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), p. 7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection: the Term and the Concept", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), p. 9.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Paradoxes of perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 1 (winter 1980), p. 77.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Paradoxes of perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 1 (winter 1980), p. 77.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfect Numbers", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 137.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfect Numbers", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), pp. 137–138.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfect Numbers", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 138.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfect Numbers", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 138.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection in Physics and Chemistry", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 139.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection in Physics and Chemistry", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 139.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection in Physics and Chemistry", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 139.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection in Physics and Chemistry", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 139.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection in Physics and Chemistry", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 139.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Perfection in Physics and Chemistry", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), p. 139.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 117.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 117.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 118.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 118.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 119.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 121.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 121.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 121.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 122.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 123.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 123.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 123.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Moral Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), p. 124.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 145.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), pp. 145–146.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 146.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 146.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 147.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 147.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 150.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 150.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 150.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 151.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 151.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-43)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 151.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-44)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Aesthetic Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), p. 151.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 187.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 187.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 187.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 187–188.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-49)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 188.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-50)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 188.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-51)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 188.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-52)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 188.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-53)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 188.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-54)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 189.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-55)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 189–190.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-56)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 190.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-57)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 190–91.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-58)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection," *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 191.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-59)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 191–92.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-60)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 192.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-61)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 192.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-62)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 192.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-63)** [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), "Ontological and Theological Perfection", *Dialectics and Humanism*, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 192.

## Sources

- [Bolesław Prus](/source/Boles%C5%82aw_Prus), *On Discoveries and Inventions: A Public Lecture Delivered on 23 March 1873*.

- [Władysław Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz), *O doskonałości* (On Perfection), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1976. - An English translation of [Tatarkiewicz](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Tatarkiewicz)'s book, by Christopher Kasparek, was serialized in *Dialectics and Humanism: the Polish Philosophical Quarterly*, vol. VI, no. 4 (autumn 1979), pp. 5–10; vol. VII, no. 1 (winter 1980), pp. 77–80; vol. VII, no. 2 (spring 1980), pp. 137–39; vol. VII, no. 3 (summer 1980), pp. 117–24; vol. VII, no. 4 (autumn 1980), pp. 145–53; vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 187–92; and vol. VIII, no. 2 (spring 1981), pp. 11–12.

- Teresa Tyszkiewicz, *Bolesław Prus*, Warsaw, Państwowe Zakłady Wydawnictw Szkolnych, 1971.

## External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[Perfection](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/Perfection)***.

- Wall, Steven. ["Perfectionism in Moral and Political Philosophy"](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perfectionism-moral/). In [Zalta, Edward N.](/source/Edward_N._Zalta) (ed.). *[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy](/source/Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy)*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1095-5054](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1095-5054). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [429049174](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/429049174).

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