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Single Idea 22007
[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / B. Value / 1. Nature of Value / f. Ultimate value
]
Full Idea
For Kant, there is something about beings that can act autonomously that is itself of 'absolute worth', which Kant calls the 'dignity' [Würde] of each such agent.
Gist of Idea
An autonomous agent has dignity [Würde], which has absolute worth
Source
report of Immanuel Kant (Critique of Practical Reason [1788]) by Terry Pinkard - German Philosophy 1760-1860 02
Book Ref
Pinkard,Terry: 'German Philosophy 1760-1860' [CUP 2002], p.53
A Reaction
This answers my puzzle about where Kant's fundamental values come from. Surely wicked actions can be autonomous? Autonomous actions aren't thereby good actions. A 'good' will, course, whatever that is. Rational? My problem with existentialist ethics.
The
34 ideas
from 'Critique of Practical Reason'
18235
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Only human reason can confer value on our choices
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
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18675
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Kant may rate two things as finally valuable: having a good will, and deserving happiness
[Orsi on Kant]
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22007
|
An autonomous agent has dignity [Würde], which has absolute worth
[Kant, by Pinkard]
|
18234
|
The good will is unconditionally good, because it is the only possible source of value
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
|
6183
|
Can pure reason determine the will, or are empirical conditions relevant?
[Kant]
|
6181
|
Necessity cannot be extracted from an empirical proposition
[Kant]
|
6207
|
What fills me with awe are the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me
[Kant]
|
6184
|
Consistency is the highest obligation of a philosopher
[Kant]
|
6185
|
No one would lend money unless a universal law made it secure, even after death
[Kant]
|
6186
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A holy will is incapable of any maxims which conflict with the moral law
[Kant]
|
6187
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Universality determines the will, and hence extends self-love into altruism
[Kant]
|
6188
|
A permanent natural order could not universalise a rule permitting suicide
[Kant]
|
6191
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The will is the faculty of purposes, which guide desires according to principles
[Kant]
|
6190
|
The sole objects of practical reason are the good and the evil
[Kant]
|
6192
|
Good or evil cannot be a thing, but only a maxim of action, making the person good or evil
[Kant]
|
6193
|
Our happiness is all that matters, not as a sensation, but as satisfaction with our whole existence
[Kant]
|
6194
|
The highest worth for human beings lies in dispositions, not just actions
[Kant]
|
6197
|
Morality involves duty and respect for law, not love of the outcome
[Kant]
|
6196
|
People cannot come to morality through feeling, because morality must not be sensuous
[Kant]
|
6195
|
Reason cannot solve the problem of why a law should motivate the will
[Kant]
|
6198
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Virtue is the supreme state of our pursuit of happiness, and so is supreme good
[Kant]
|
1456
|
Moral law is holy, and the best we can do is achieve virtue through respect for the law
[Kant]
|
1452
|
Happiness is the condition of a rational being for whom everything goes as they wish
[Kant]
|
1454
|
Morality is not about making ourselves happy, but about being worthy of happiness
[Kant]
|
6200
|
Wisdom is knowing the highest good, and conforming the will to it
[Kant]
|
6201
|
Everyone (even God) must treat rational beings as ends in themselves, and not just as means
[Kant]
|
6199
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Obligation does not rest on the existence of God, but on the autonomy of reason
[Kant]
|
1453
|
We have to postulate something outside nature which makes happiness coincide with morality
[Kant]
|
1455
|
Belief in justice requires belief in a place for justice (heaven), a time (eternity), and a cause (God)
[Kant, by PG]
|
6205
|
To know if this world must have been created by God, we would need to know all other possible worlds
[Kant]
|
6204
|
Using God to explain nature is referring to something inconceivable to explain what is in front of you
[Kant]
|
6206
|
From our limited knowledge we can infer great virtues in God, but not ultimate ones
[Kant]
|
6202
|
In all naturalistic concepts of God, if you remove the human qualities there is nothing left
[Kant]
|
6203
|
Metaphysics is just a priori universal principles of physics
[Kant]
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