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Single Idea 6194
[filed under theme 23. Ethics / C. Virtue Theory / 1. Virtue Theory / a. Nature of virtue
]
Full Idea
The highest worth which human beings can and should procure for themselves lies in dispositions and not in actions only.
Gist of Idea
The highest worth for human beings lies in dispositions, not just actions
Source
Immanuel Kant (Critique of Practical Reason [1788], I.1.II)
Book Ref
Kant,Immanuel: 'Critique of Practical Reason (Third edition)', ed/tr. Beck,Lewis White [Library of Liberal Arts 1993], p.74
A Reaction
This leaves the problem of the well-meaning fool, who has wonderful dispositions but poor judgement. What Kant is describing here is better known as virtue. See Idea 58.
Related Idea
Idea 58
If virtues are not feelings or faculties, then they must be dispositions [Aristotle]
The
34 ideas
from 'Critique of Practical Reason'
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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
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An autonomous agent has dignity [Würde], which has absolute worth
[Kant, by Pinkard]
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18234
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The good will is unconditionally good, because it is the only possible source of value
[Kant, by Korsgaard]
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6183
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Can pure reason determine the will, or are empirical conditions relevant?
[Kant]
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6181
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Necessity cannot be extracted from an empirical proposition
[Kant]
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6207
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What fills me with awe are the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me
[Kant]
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6184
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Consistency is the highest obligation of a philosopher
[Kant]
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6185
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No one would lend money unless a universal law made it secure, even after death
[Kant]
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6186
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A holy will is incapable of any maxims which conflict with the moral law
[Kant]
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6187
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Universality determines the will, and hence extends self-love into altruism
[Kant]
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6188
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A permanent natural order could not universalise a rule permitting suicide
[Kant]
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6190
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The sole objects of practical reason are the good and the evil
[Kant]
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6191
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The will is the faculty of purposes, which guide desires according to principles
[Kant]
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6192
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Good or evil cannot be a thing, but only a maxim of action, making the person good or evil
[Kant]
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6193
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Our happiness is all that matters, not as a sensation, but as satisfaction with our whole existence
[Kant]
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6194
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The highest worth for human beings lies in dispositions, not just actions
[Kant]
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6197
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Morality involves duty and respect for law, not love of the outcome
[Kant]
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6196
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People cannot come to morality through feeling, because morality must not be sensuous
[Kant]
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6195
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Reason cannot solve the problem of why a law should motivate the will
[Kant]
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6198
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Virtue is the supreme state of our pursuit of happiness, and so is supreme good
[Kant]
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1456
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Moral law is holy, and the best we can do is achieve virtue through respect for the law
[Kant]
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1452
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Happiness is the condition of a rational being for whom everything goes as they wish
[Kant]
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1454
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Morality is not about making ourselves happy, but about being worthy of happiness
[Kant]
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6201
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Everyone (even God) must treat rational beings as ends in themselves, and not just as means
[Kant]
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1453
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We have to postulate something outside nature which makes happiness coincide with morality
[Kant]
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1455
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Belief in justice requires belief in a place for justice (heaven), a time (eternity), and a cause (God)
[Kant, by PG]
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6199
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Obligation does not rest on the existence of God, but on the autonomy of reason
[Kant]
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6200
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Wisdom is knowing the highest good, and conforming the will to it
[Kant]
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6202
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In all naturalistic concepts of God, if you remove the human qualities there is nothing left
[Kant]
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6205
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To know if this world must have been created by God, we would need to know all other possible worlds
[Kant]
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6204
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Using God to explain nature is referring to something inconceivable to explain what is in front of you
[Kant]
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6206
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From our limited knowledge we can infer great virtues in God, but not ultimate ones
[Kant]
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6203
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Metaphysics is just a priori universal principles of physics
[Kant]
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