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Analyzing Kant's Explanation Of Moral Law

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Essay:
In his work, Kant argues that there is a supreme moral principal, which he calls categorical imperative which dictates us to act according to moral laws that we give to ourselves. In order to establish this, he comes with three sub arguments that constitute to the main argument. First, he establishes that the principle of a good will is to do only those actions whose maxims can be conceived as having the form of a law. Good actions are those governed by good will, and we assign moral worth to these actions only. Secondly, he establishes that moral law can be reached through practical reason because it is one of the principles of practical reason. Lastly, after establishing that good will operates under moral laws and these laws can be achieved through practical reason, he shows that moral law is the law of an autonomous will. Hence, he concludes that every rational being with autonomous will ought to act according to moral laws.
Kant starts from analysing how we commonly think about morality and what are the principals governing them. He assigns moral worth to only those actions governed by the good will. The good will is the …show more content…

In Kant's words, we act not merely in accordance with laws, but in accordance with our representations or conceptions of laws (AK 4: 412). Since categorical imperative is unconditional, we cannot simply analyse it to derive what we ought to do. Hence it must be synthetic a priori and hence morality depends on the possibility of establishing a synthetic a priori practical principle. The categorical Imperative, in the most general sense, tells us to act on those principles, principles which are themselves laws. Kant continues: There is, therefore, only a single categorical imperative and it is this: act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law. (AK 4:

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