Kant and the Foundations of Morality

Kant and the Foundations of Morality
Author: Halla Kim
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2015-02-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0739179012

Halla Kim explores the leading themes in Kant’s philosophical ethics from a structural-methodological point of view to highlight the activities of reason vis-à-vis the blind forces of brute nature. Basing the study on Kant's short, but monumental, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kim also draws on other major writings by Kant and his critics. Kim shows that philosophical ethics, as Kant conceived it, must capture the gist of the ineluctable, inescapable, and irreducible freedom we strive to exemplify in our practical lives. Viewed this way, the moral law is none other than the law of the will determining itself. It is the law of the self-activity of the will. Contending that the concepts and doctrines in Kant’s ethics should be understood as an ethics of the self-activity of the will, Kim argues that the categorical imperative is the particular way this moral law is addressed to finite rational beings. Kant and the Foundations of Morality provides new perspective on the philosopher's thought to benefit studies of eighteenth-century philosophy, epistemology, modern philosophy, moral theory, moral philosophy, and ethics.

Kant's 'Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'

Kant's 'Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'
Author: Jens Timmermann
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2009-12-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0521878012

This volume discusses Kant's philosophical development in the Groundwork and his attempt to justify the categorical imperative as a principle of freedom.

An Introduction to Kant's Moral Philosophy

An Introduction to Kant's Moral Philosophy
Author: Jennifer K. Uleman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2010-01-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 113948446X

Immanuel Kant's moral philosophy is one of the most distinctive achievements of the European Enlightenment. At its heart lies what Kant called the 'strange thing': the free, rational, human will. This introduction explores the basis of Kant's anti-naturalist, secular, humanist vision of the human good. Moving from a sketch of the Kantian will, with all its component parts and attributes, to Kant's canonical arguments for his categorical imperative, this introduction shows why Kant thought his moral law the best summary expression of both his own philosophical work on morality and his readers' deepest shared convictions about the good. Kant's central tenets, key arguments, and core values are presented in an accessible and engaging way, making this book ideal for anyone eager to explore the fundamentals of Kant's moral philosophy.

Kant's Observations and Remarks

Kant's Observations and Remarks
Author: Susan Meld Shell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2012-05-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0521769426

Kant's Observations of 1764 and Remarks of 1764-5 (a set of fragments written in the margins of his copy of the Observations) document a crucial turning point in his life and thought. Both reveal the growing importance for him of ethics, anthropology and politics, but with an important difference. The Observations attempts to observe human nature directly. The Remarks, by contrast, reveals a revolution in Kant's thinking, largely inspired by Rousseau, who 'turned him around' by disclosing to Kant the idea of a 'state of freedom' (modelled on the state of nature) as a touchstone for his thinking. This and related thoughts anticipate such famous later doctrines as the categorical imperative. This collection of essays by leading Kant scholars illuminates the many and varied topics within these two rich works, including the emerging relations between theory and practice, ethics and anthropology, men and women, philosophy, history and the 'rights of man'.

Kant’s Moral Metaphysics

Kant’s Moral Metaphysics
Author: Benjamin Bruxvoort Lipscomb
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2010-06-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3110220040

Morality has traditionally been understood to be tied to certain metaphysical beliefs: notably, in the freedom of human persons (to choose right or wrong courses of action), in a god (or gods) who serve(s) as judge(s) of moral character, and in an afterlife as the locus of a “final judgment” on individual behavior. Some scholars read the history of moral philosophy as a gradual disentangling of our moral commitments from such beliefs. Kant is often given an important place in their narratives, despite the fact that Kant himself asserts that some of such beliefs are necessary (necessary, at least, from the practical point of view). Many contemporary neo-Kantian moral philosophers have embraced these “disentangling” narratives or, at any rate, have minimized the connection of Kant’s practical philosophy with controversial metaphysical commitments ‐ even with Kant’s transcendental idealism. This volume re-evaluates those interpretations. It is arguably the first collection to systematically explore the metaphysical commitments central to Kant’s practical philosophy, and thus the connections between Kantian ethics, his philosophy of religion, and his epistemological claims concerning our knowledge of the supersensible.

Ethics Done Right

Ethics Done Right
Author: Elijah Millgram
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2005-07-14
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780521839433

Examines how practical reasoning can be put into the service of ethical and moral theory.

The Value of Humanity in Kant's Moral Theory

The Value of Humanity in Kant's Moral Theory
Author: Richard Dean
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2006-05-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199285721

The humanity formulation of Kant's Categorical Imperative demands that we treat humanity as an end in itself. Because this principle resonates with currently influential ideals of human rights and dignity, contemporary readers often find it compelling, even if the rest of Kant's moral philosophy leaves them cold. Moreover, some prominent specialists in Kant's ethics have recently turned to the humanity formulation as the most theoretically central and promising principle of Kant'sethics. Nevertheless, it has received less attention than many other aspects of Kant's ethics. Richard Dean offers the most sustained and systematic examination of the humanity formulation to date. He presents an original analysis of what it means to treat humanity as an end in itself, and examinesthe implications both for Kant scholarship and for practical guidance on specific moral issues.

Kant's Search for the Supreme Principle of Morality

Kant's Search for the Supreme Principle of Morality
Author: Samuel J. Kerstein
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2002-05-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1139434195

At the core of Kant's ethics lies the claim that if there is a supreme principle of morality then it cannot be a principle based on utilitarianism or Aristotelian perfectionism or the Ten Commandments. The only viable candidate for such a principle is the categorical imperative. This book is the most detailed investigation of this claim. It constructs a new, criterial reading of Kant's derivation of one version of the categorical imperative: the Formula of Universal Law. This reading shows this derivation to be far more compelling than contemporary philosophers tend to believe. It also reveals a novel approach to deriving another version of the categorical imperative, the Formula of Humanity, a principle widely considered to be the most attractive Kantian candidate for the supreme principle of morality. This book will be important not just for Kant scholars but for a broad swathe of students of philosophy.

The Kantian Foundation of Schopenhauer's Pessimism

The Kantian Foundation of Schopenhauer's Pessimism
Author: Dennis Vanden Auweele
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2017-04-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1351721607

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- Note on References -- Introduction -- 1 Schopenhauer's Philosophical Pedigree -- 2 Schopenhauer on Knowledge -- 3 Schopenhauer's Metaphysics -- 4 Schopenhauer on Ethics and Action -- 5 Schopenhauer's Philosophy of Religion -- 6 Schopenhauer's Aesthetics -- 7 Schopenhauer's Ascetics -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index