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Single Idea 6195

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 6. Motivation for Duty ]

Full Idea

How a law in itself can be the direct motive of the will (which is the essence of morality) is an insoluble problem for the human reason.

Gist of Idea

Reason cannot solve the problem of why a law should motivate the will

Source

Immanuel Kant (Critique of Practical Reason [1788], I.1.III)

Book Ref

Kant,Immanuel: 'Critique of Practical Reason (Third edition)', ed/tr. Beck,Lewis White [Library of Liberal Arts 1993], p.75

A Reaction

If that is the great man's final word, then it is tempting to switch to an empirical moral theory, such as that of Hobbes or Hume or E.O. Wilson, which starts from what motivations are available, and builds morality up from that.

The 34 ideas from 'Critique of Practical Reason'

18235 Only human reason can confer value on our choices [Kant, by Korsgaard]
18675 Kant may rate two things as finally valuable: having a good will, and deserving happiness [Orsi on Kant]
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 A holy will is incapable of any maxims which conflict with the moral law [Kant]
6187 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]
6190 The sole objects of practical reason are the good and the evil [Kant]
6191 The will is the faculty of purposes, which guide desires according to principles [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 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]
6201 Everyone (even God) must treat rational beings as ends in themselves, and not just as means [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]
6199 Obligation does not rest on the existence of God, but on the autonomy of reason [Kant]
6200 Wisdom is knowing the highest good, and conforming the will to it [Kant]
6202 In all naturalistic concepts of God, if you remove the human qualities there is nothing left [Kant]
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]
6203 Metaphysics is just a priori universal principles of physics [Kant]