Aither 34/2025 (International issue no. 13):24-35 | DOI: 10.5507/aither.2025.005

The Role of Happiness in Moral Motivation. A Discussion in Contemporary Ethics

Martin Cajthaml

Palacký University Olomouc

This paper analyses the role of happiness in moral motivation within the eudaimonistic tradition. It addresses the Aristotelian-Thomistic tension between choosing virtuous action for its own sake and for the sake of eudaimonia. Through a critical examination of Josef Seifert’s two-motive theory, Jeff D’Souza’s altruistic eudaimonism, and Chris Toner’s excellence-prior eudaimonism, I argue that Seifert’s phenomenological framework provides the most coherent account. It distinguishes between a primary, value-responsive motive directed toward morally relevant goods and a secondary, subordinate desire for true happiness. This dual structure retains the legitimacy of eudaimonistic motivation while avoiding both the self-referentiality characteristic of traditional eudaimonism and the excessive other-centredness of its modern revisions.

Received: June 23, 2025; Revised: October 31, 2025; Accepted: October 31, 2025; Published: December 31, 2025  Show citation