Kant’s project in ethics is to defend the conception of morality that he takes to be embedded in ... more Kant’s project in ethics is to defend the conception of morality that he takes to be embedded in ordinary thought. The principal aims of his foundational works in ethics – the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason – are to state the fundamental principle of morality, which he terms the “Categorical
This article explores a set of questions about the ‘idea of freedom’ that Kant introduces in the ... more This article explores a set of questions about the ‘idea of freedom’ that Kant introduces in the fourth paragraph of Groundwork III. I develop a reading that supports treating it as a normative notion and brings out its normative content in some detail. I argue that we should understand the idea as follows: that it is a general feature of reasoning and judgement that it understands itself to be a correct or sound application of the normative standards of the relevant domain of cognition, not influenced by irrelevant or external factors. Reasoning and judgement are thus normatively committed to these standards of correctness. A second and related concern is to explore connections between the idea of freedom and Kant’s conception of autonomy and to identify different points at which autonomy plays a role in the argument of Groundwork III. In the final section, I mine the idea of freedom for a set of normative commitments specific to rational agency that play a foundational role in Kan...
Kantian Themes from the Philosophy of Thomas E. Hill, Jr., 2015
For this use of "formal principle" see Reath (2010: esp. section III). 9 Citations to Kant are to... more For this use of "formal principle" see Reath (2010: esp. section III). 9 Citations to Kant are to the volume and page in the Berlin Academy edition of Kant's Gesammelte Schriften (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1900-), using the translations (with some modifications) in the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant. I use the following abbreviations: G Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (in Kant 1996a). KpV Critique of Practical Reason (in Kant 1996a). KU Critique of the Power of Judgment (in Kant 2000). MS The Metaphysics of Morals (in Kant 1996a). Rel Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (in Kant 1996b).
Kant holds that when an agent acts contrary to a strict moral requirement, all of the resulting b... more Kant holds that when an agent acts contrary to a strict moral requirement, all of the resulting bad consequences are imputable to the agent, whether foreseeable or not. Conversely, no bad consequences resulting from an agent's compliance with duty are imputable. This paper analyzes the ...
Page 1. Formal Approaches to Kant's Formula of Humanity Andrews Reath To appear in SorinBaia... more Page 1. Formal Approaches to Kant's Formula of Humanity Andrews Reath To appear in SorinBaiasu and Mark Timmons, eds., Kant on Practical Justification: Interpretive Essays (Oxford University Press) My aim in this paper is to explore different ways of understanding Kant's ...
Introduction: Some Main Themes in Kant's Ethics Kant's project in ethics is to defend the concept... more Introduction: Some Main Themes in Kant's Ethics Kant's project in ethics is to defend the conception of morality that he takes to be embedded in ordinary thought. The principal aims of his foundational works in ethicsthe Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason-are to state the fundamental principle of morality, which he terms the "Categorical Imperative", and then to give an account of its unconditional authority-why we should give moral requirements priority over non-moral reasons-by grounding it in the nature of free rational agency. Roughly the principle of morality gets its authority from the fact that it is by acting from this principle that we exercise our free agency. In these works Kant develops a distinctive account of the content of moral requirement (which is filled out in his later work, The Metaphysics of Morals). According to one version of the Categorical Imperative, we determine what sorts of actions are permissible or required in various situations by asking whether a principle of action is rationally willed as universal law for agents with autonomy. A second version of the Categorical Imperative derives the content of morality from the principle that we are to respect "humanity", or "rational nature", as an "end in itself" and never merely as a means. "Humanity" is the capacity for autonomous rational choice, and it includes the capacity to act from one's own judgment of what one has reason to do, to set ends for oneself, and to guide one's actions by values one finds it reasonable to accept. To hold that this capacity is an end in itself is to claim that it has an absolute value-a value that Kant terms "dignity"-that sets limits on the
Kant’s project in ethics is to defend the conception of morality that he takes to be embedded in ... more Kant’s project in ethics is to defend the conception of morality that he takes to be embedded in ordinary thought. The principal aims of his foundational works in ethics – the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason – are to state the fundamental principle of morality, which he terms the “Categorical
This article explores a set of questions about the ‘idea of freedom’ that Kant introduces in the ... more This article explores a set of questions about the ‘idea of freedom’ that Kant introduces in the fourth paragraph of Groundwork III. I develop a reading that supports treating it as a normative notion and brings out its normative content in some detail. I argue that we should understand the idea as follows: that it is a general feature of reasoning and judgement that it understands itself to be a correct or sound application of the normative standards of the relevant domain of cognition, not influenced by irrelevant or external factors. Reasoning and judgement are thus normatively committed to these standards of correctness. A second and related concern is to explore connections between the idea of freedom and Kant’s conception of autonomy and to identify different points at which autonomy plays a role in the argument of Groundwork III. In the final section, I mine the idea of freedom for a set of normative commitments specific to rational agency that play a foundational role in Kan...
Kantian Themes from the Philosophy of Thomas E. Hill, Jr., 2015
For this use of "formal principle" see Reath (2010: esp. section III). 9 Citations to Kant are to... more For this use of "formal principle" see Reath (2010: esp. section III). 9 Citations to Kant are to the volume and page in the Berlin Academy edition of Kant's Gesammelte Schriften (Berlin: de Gruyter, 1900-), using the translations (with some modifications) in the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant. I use the following abbreviations: G Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (in Kant 1996a). KpV Critique of Practical Reason (in Kant 1996a). KU Critique of the Power of Judgment (in Kant 2000). MS The Metaphysics of Morals (in Kant 1996a). Rel Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (in Kant 1996b).
Kant holds that when an agent acts contrary to a strict moral requirement, all of the resulting b... more Kant holds that when an agent acts contrary to a strict moral requirement, all of the resulting bad consequences are imputable to the agent, whether foreseeable or not. Conversely, no bad consequences resulting from an agent's compliance with duty are imputable. This paper analyzes the ...
Page 1. Formal Approaches to Kant's Formula of Humanity Andrews Reath To appear in SorinBaia... more Page 1. Formal Approaches to Kant's Formula of Humanity Andrews Reath To appear in SorinBaiasu and Mark Timmons, eds., Kant on Practical Justification: Interpretive Essays (Oxford University Press) My aim in this paper is to explore different ways of understanding Kant's ...
Introduction: Some Main Themes in Kant's Ethics Kant's project in ethics is to defend the concept... more Introduction: Some Main Themes in Kant's Ethics Kant's project in ethics is to defend the conception of morality that he takes to be embedded in ordinary thought. The principal aims of his foundational works in ethicsthe Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason-are to state the fundamental principle of morality, which he terms the "Categorical Imperative", and then to give an account of its unconditional authority-why we should give moral requirements priority over non-moral reasons-by grounding it in the nature of free rational agency. Roughly the principle of morality gets its authority from the fact that it is by acting from this principle that we exercise our free agency. In these works Kant develops a distinctive account of the content of moral requirement (which is filled out in his later work, The Metaphysics of Morals). According to one version of the Categorical Imperative, we determine what sorts of actions are permissible or required in various situations by asking whether a principle of action is rationally willed as universal law for agents with autonomy. A second version of the Categorical Imperative derives the content of morality from the principle that we are to respect "humanity", or "rational nature", as an "end in itself" and never merely as a means. "Humanity" is the capacity for autonomous rational choice, and it includes the capacity to act from one's own judgment of what one has reason to do, to set ends for oneself, and to guide one's actions by values one finds it reasonable to accept. To hold that this capacity is an end in itself is to claim that it has an absolute value-a value that Kant terms "dignity"-that sets limits on the
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