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Flaws Of Kant's Moral Argument

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Immanuel Kant’s Moral Argument: Fundamentally Flawed
The philosophical argument of moral reasoning is based on the premise that if God did not exist, then objective moral values and duties would not exist. As objective moral values and duties do exist, it can therefore be assumed that God exists. God provides human beings with an innate moral objective reference point. God is the standard of moral values humans compare themselves to. This essay will argue that the argument of moral reasoning is fundamentally flawed and as such does not support a theistic belief in eternal life. To argue this, I will critically survey the moral arguments made by Immanuel Kant. While I recognize that there have been many contributors to the moral argument, I …show more content…

Kant argued that the theoretical arguments for God's existence were unsuccessful, but presented a rational argument for belief in God as a “postulate of practical reason.” The conclusion of the argument is not “God exists” or “God probably exists” but “I (as a rational, moral agent) ought to believe that God exists”. Kant argues that moral behavior is rational; humans have a reason to be morally good. He argues that if a person ought to do something, then they have a reason to do it. Morality is therefore rational. Moreover, moral behavior would not however be rational if there were no guarantee that it would be rewarded. If there was no reward for doing what is right over doing what is wrong, then it is rational to do what it most personally beneficial, even if that may be morally wrong. If this life is all there is, then there is no reason to be morally good. As there is reason to be good, then there is evidence for something more. Building on this, Kant argued that reason dictated that moral actions must have an aim, and that aim is the the highest good. The highest good is a world in which people are both morally good and happy, and in which moral virtue is the condition for happiness. Kant argues that the highest good cannot be achieved in this life. Reason dictates that the highest good should be achieved. This suggests that for it to be achieved there must be another world/life in which this is possible. This suggests that God exists. Kant argued that morality presented itself to human agents in the form of the categorical imperative and the argument for deontology. The categorical imperative states that a person must “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. This is based on the age old, “do unto others as you would have them unto you”. Kant argued a person must embrace that what they do is only alright if it is

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