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7496 | Rules and duties are based on the will, as that is all we control |
Full Idea: Since actions and performances are not wholly in our power and since nothing is really in our power but our will - it is on the will that all the rules and duties of Man are based and established. | |||
From: Michel de Montaigne (I.7 Our deeds are judged by intention [1580], p.0028) | |||
A reaction: This is almost Kant's claim that the only truly good thing is a good will (e.g. Idea 3711). Aristotle disagrees, because a virtuous person should also have good desires. We may will to have good desires, but virtue requires actually having them. |