Ontological Perfection, the Rex, and the Principle of Path Maximization

This paper attempts to reconcile opportunity cost with virtue ethics in the Abrahamic and Aristotelian traditions, concentrating on Al-Farabi, Maimonides, and Aquinas. I frame opportunity cost in terms of decision making procedures in the Problem of Optimization. The Problem of Optimization asks “Is it wrong to not seek perfection?”, qualifying opportunity costs in teleological virtue ethics frameworks as massive and compounding harms. It forces teleological frameworks to confront what happens there aren't normative obligations to seek perfection perfectly by asserting that wasted time and opportunities is a harm. The aim of this thesis is to assess and critique the teleological frameworks of al-Farabi, Maimonides, and St. Aquinas in order to find a more complete, consistent, and balanced framework to sufficiently respond to the Problem of Optimization.This thesis establishes ontological perfection as a coherent telos, and that the New Rex is the exemplar of the fulfilled telos. The New Rex is both an ideal person and moral exemplar, best qualified as a prophet-philosopher-king. The construct of the New Rex is used to formulate an answer to the Problem of Optimization. Finally, I argue that the Principle of Path Maximization is a way to respond to the Problem; the Principle asserts that actions are impermissible in a teleological framework if they prevent perfection later, and actions are permissible if they ensure that perfection is still viable and is more accessible than before the action was taken.