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Single Idea 24011

[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 3. Emotions / c. Role of emotions ]

Full Idea

Kant thinks emotions can't contribute to moral worth because emotions are too capricious, they are too passive, and they are fortuitously distributed by nature.

Gist of Idea

Kant thought emotions are too random and passive to be part of morality

Source

report of Immanuel Kant (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals [1785]) by Bernard Williams - Morality and the emotions p.226

Book Ref

Williams,Bernard: 'Problems of the Self: Papers 1956-1972' [CUP 1979], p.226

A Reaction

[compressed] If, like Kant, you want morality to be concerned with rational principles, then you will want morality to be clear, stable and consistent - which emotions are not. I'm with Williams on this one.

Related Idea

Idea 24010 An admirable human being should have certain kinds of emotional responses [Williams,B]

The 19 ideas with the same theme [role played by emotion in mental life]:

4015 For Descartes passions are God-given preservers of the mind-body union [Descartes, by Taylor,C]
19415 Passions reside in confused perceptions [Leibniz]
24011 Kant thought emotions are too random and passive to be part of morality [Kant, by Williams,B]
15577 Moods are more fundamentally revealing than theories - as when fear reveals a threat [Heidegger, by Polt]
24014 Emotions are a sort of bodily incantation which brings a magic to the world [Sartre]
24015 Emotions makes us believe in and live in a new world [Sartre]
23946 The passions are subjective, concerning what is important to me, rather than facts [Solomon]
23940 Emotions are strategies for maximising our sense of dignity and self-esteem [Solomon]
23936 It is only our passions which give our lives meaning [Solomon]
23949 Passions exist as emotions, moods and desires, which all generate meaning [Solomon]
23956 The Myth of the Passions says they are irrational, uncontrolled and damaging [Solomon]
23963 Which emotions we feel depends on our sense of our own powers [Solomon]
24008 Reference to a person's emotions is often essential to understanding their actions [Williams,B]
4269 An emotion is a motive which is also a feeling [Scruton]
23979 Emotional responses can reveal to us our values, which might otherwise remain hidden [Goldie]
23976 If we have a 'feeling towards' an object, that gives the recognition a different content [Goldie]
23977 When actions are performed 'out of' emotion, they appear to be quite different [Goldie]
23980 It is best to see emotions holistically, as embedded in a person's life narrative [Goldie]
23982 If emotions are 'towards' things, they can't be bodily feelings, which lack aboutness [Goldie]