  Perfectionism has a distinguished pedigree in the history of ideas, but like many theories in moral and political philosophy it remains very much a work in progress. The topics discussed in this  entry—perfectionist value theory, perfectionist ethics and perfectionism as an approach to politics—are subject to on-going controversy and development. Moreover, these topics, while complementary, remain partially independent of one another. It is possible to affirm perfectionist ethics and reject perfectionism as an approach to politics. Likewise, it is possible to accept some of the claims of perfectionist value theory while rejecting perfectionist ethical and political conclusions.