1 Wojciech Załuski The Idea of Human Perfection in Modern Philosophy Abstract. The present article provides a synthetic description of the history of the idea of human perfection in modern philosophy. The description is aimed at capturing the main currents in this history, which have been divided into the “anti-perfectionist” and the “pro-perfectionist”. The former currents include: (1) the re-appearance of the pessimistic picture of human nature underlying skepticism with regard to the feasibility of the idea of human moral perfection; (2) the fall of the classical picture of the world leading to the rejection of the idea of human teleological/metaphysical perfection and to skepticism with regard to the possibility of the justification of the idea of human moral perfection; and (3) the discovery of the incompatibility and incommensurability of moral values leading to doubts regarding the coherence of the very idea of human moral perfection. The latter currents include: (1) the new ( “Romantic”) way of understanding human moral perfection based on the idea of radical freedom and (2) the appearance of the belief in the perfectibility of human beings, i.e., their unlimited capacity to perfect their moral, intellectual, and physical abilities. The article also outlines the complex relations between these currents. 1. Introduction The history of the idea of human perfection did not proceed in modern philosophy in one distinct direction; rather, one can discern in it several different and often mutually contradictory currents. These currents can be broadly and schematically divided into two kinds, which I shall call “anti-perfectionist”, i.e., undermining in some way the idea of human perfection, and the “pro-perfectionist”, i.e., endorsing this idea and transforming its sense (as compared with its earlier – ancient and medieval – senses). Before presenting these currents, I will clarify the two basic concepts of human perfection to be invoked in this article, viz. teleological/metaphysical perfection and moral perfection. The former refers to the kind of perfection which consists in a human being’s reaching his/her “natural end” (telos), i.e., attaining the state in which his/her nature is fully developed, whereas the notion of human moral perfection refers to the state in which a human being fully realizes his/her moral duties. Now, the anti-perfectionist currents include: (1) the re- appearance of the pessimistic picture of human nature underlying skepticism regarding the feasibility of the idea of human moral perfection; (2) the fall of the