permanent feature of all human experience (and not just something that randomly occurs sometime).
It is the goal of Kant’s argument to demonstrate how individuals can actualize this good will and why it is
they need to come to see this actualization as something they necessarily
must
do.
The way this works
out is that Kant comes to understand that agents act according to the good will whenever they tap into
their rationality. Thus the good will becomes the rational will. From this linkage Kant goes on to
demonstrate how the
moral law
arises from the
rational laws
that we derive from our rational
reflections on the good will, i.e. when we reflect rationally on what rationality demands. Because the
moral law is derived from reason, Kant holds that the moral law will apply universally to any living thing
that possesses reason, that means anything with a human brain. In this sense Kant argues morality is
universal because the exact same moral laws rests within every single person, and when each person
rationally reflects within themselves they will find reason demanding they do the same thing.
What the most of Kant’s ethics consists in is the elucidation and systematization of the different moral
laws which we find when we examine reason. The way this comes about and how it all works is the
crucial aspect of Kant’s ethical system. What we just discussed is merely the introduction and
groundwork, and the main thing you need to get out of it is the following: The Good will is the only thing
that is wholly good, the good will is universal in that it rests within each person, rationality tells us to
follow the good will if we want to act ethically, the goal of ethics is to study what it is reason tells us to
do, i.e. it is to describe the structure of the good will.
The more good will a person cultivates within
themselves on Kant’s account the better that person is –
they are of “
moral worth
.
”
The Moral Requirement and DUTY/OBLIGATION – the Categorical versus Hypothetical Imperative:
Intentions and Motives
The most crucial part of Kant’s ethics in terms of applying and thinking about particular problems can be
found in the following few sections – so pay attention yo.
Kant’s most important ethical concept is that of
“Duty”
or
“Obligation.”
For Kant whenever the
individual acts in order to keep or obey by the moral law, i.e. the dictates of reason, and whenever an
individual acts according to duty the good can be understood as being realized in the concrete world.
Hence part of Kant’s goal is to get people acting rationally, but another part is dedicated to
understanding just what it means to act from duty. Here is where Kant begins to diverge greatly from the
ethical theories we have read thus far, as where Aristotle thinks of ethics in terms of virtues and
Bentham/Mill think of ethics in terms of the Greatest Happiness Principle, Kant thinks of ethics according
to duty, and only when an individual acts from duty can they be considered as acting ethically.
