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Immanuel Kant's Grounding For The Metaphysics Of

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In the late 18th century, German philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote extensively on the basis of morals. In his Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals¸ Kant describes the dichotomy present in humans which is a result of humans being both a rational and a natural creature. The rational portion of human pulls them towards acting morally through use of reason. At the same time, the natural aspect of human beings acts as a counterweight, pulling people towards their natural inclinations, especially self-interest. The strength of this counterweight seems massive when a look is taken at human history. In the past, human beings have appeared to participate in wars and immorality more so than they have in using reason to act morally. Kant examines the …show more content…

Kant believes that the key to a good life is the use of reason and that one can look at history and see that it is pushing people towards a cosmopolitan state which will solve the issue of the dichotomy and allow people to maximize their use of …show more content…

The ultimate goal of nature in terms of human beings is for a cosmopolitan to be formed. A cosmopolitan consists of nations interacting as a society. The society of nations ensures the individual freedoms of all of the nations and all of the citizens within those nations. It is the perfect atmosphere to allow people to be ruled by their own reason. With everyone having their individual freedoms guaranteed, they are encouraged to live autonomously. Human beings will be more likely to determine the moral law for themselves and recognize that they cannot act as an exception to that moral law. People are more likely to act autonomously when they no longer have to fear that their freedom will be take away from an outside force. People can develop their natural capacities for reason in this amiable and peaceful environment. Kant argues that history is preparing people to live in this

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Kant mentioned that it was difficult for men to become enlightened due to the fact there is always a person of religion and government teaching the people laws of life. If a man didn't want to become enlightened, he would just follow the people who is above him intellectually and lawfully because it is easier that way. For Kant, the importance of being enlightened is for man to use his natural gifts and find his own reasoning of the way of the world. Kant believed a scholar's use of public reasoning gives people a sense of reassurance which gives people to obey because it is a way of reinforcement of rules and law that the scholar presents the public with on a congregations behalf. Public reason is what people follow in order to make the society around them run at ease.

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Immanuel Kant’s work Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals was Kant’s first work on moral philosophy and remains to this day one of the most influential works in the subject. He believes that philosophy can be divided into three groups: physics, ethics and logic. Kant’s goal with this particular work was to develop a clearer grounding and understanding of moral principles so that people can better deflect distractions. “Moderation in emotions and passions, self-control, and calm deliberation are not only good in many respects but even seem to constitute part of the intrinsic worth of a person (Kant, 7).” These qualities are what help to build a moral foundation in a person.

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Introduction Philosopher has for centuries reflected over where morality comes from. Some think morality comes from the Gods commandments, while others think that the knowledge of morality comes from rational thoughts. However, the Scottish philosopher, David Hume has rejected all these ideas of where morality comes from and in “A Treatise of Human Nature, Book III,” Hume claims that “the moral aspect of an action cannot be discovered by reason.” Body Hume uses powerful arguments with examples to support his claim that moral action cannot be discovered by reason.

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“What does it feel like to be moral?” Kant and the Subjective Vitality of the Moral Law Obeying the categorical imperative, by definition, requires a person to abstract from their conscious inclinations, acting from a higher kind of motivation that is not oriented toward personal gain. What kind of conscious mental state, precisely, is denoted by Kant’s references to this kind of motivation, however, is not immediately obvious. It certainly cannot be a mere desire for the end toward which an action prescribed by the moral law is geared – this would place the action right back into the sphere of inclinations. Nor, I will argue, can it be a desire to obey the categorical imperative as such – at least, not in the conventional sense of “desire”

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Kant believes that a person has the responsibility to discover their individual talents. He thinks living on the streets would be an unreasonable decision to make. Wolff says “ Do what makes you and your condition, or that of others more perfect; omit what makes it less perfect.” (Fieser pg.175) He believes that exact statement is the fundamental law of nature. Kant suggests that morality is not determined from traditional authorities but strictly relies on human reason.

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Second, Kant was aware that it makes no sense to blame people for what is beyond their control; the consequences of what we do are often beyond our control, subject to accidents or interruptions that we could not possibly have predicted using logic or science. Kant said, “the only thing that is good without qualification is a good will”—in other words, our good intentions and attempts to do

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In this essay I will explore Kant’s absolute view of the human moral. Kant uses examples to explain what it means to be moral, and if that moral behavior is universal. Kant argues that in order for an action to be considered good, all its intentions must be good as well. We undertake tasks because we think they will serve as a moral duty. Kant argues that a moral law that is almost innate in all of us holds us all—there is an unwritten code that most of us try and follow.

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I hope to convince the reader that Kant’s Categorical Imperative is the better way to live a morally conscious life and more practical to follow as well. First I will briefly describe both Kant’s and Mill’s principles. Then I will go on to explain the advantages and disadvantages of both. Finally, I hope to provide a counterargument for some of Kant’s Categorical Imperatives downfalls. Kant states the Categorical Imperative as: "Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will and general natural law."

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Enlightenment is a phenomenon which has been widely discussed amongst the academics over the centuries. While reading Immanuel Kant’s essay on “what is enlightenment?” certain ideas jumped out and resonated with me. The aim of this paper therefore is to discuss those two important ideas from the text and to relate it with relevant real life examples. Kant emphasizes on the freedom to exercise public use of reason and thinking as a means of achieving enlightenment and yet at the same time he juxtaposes it with the idea of fulfilling one’s civic duties and obligations.

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This restriction of freedom allows humans to become lazy and immature which prevents them from becoming Enlightened. Kant argues that once people embrace laziness and immaturity, it becomes difficult to think by one’s self. He believes in the use of two types of reason, the public and private use of reason. He claims that the public use of reason alone can bring mankind into Enlightenment because it is this reasoning that allows groups of people with similar thoughts and criticisms to take a stance on a specific issue and bring it to the attention of the king.

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As a society continues to allow more freedom, it becomes more of an enlightened age, Kant describes that when obstacles have been removed the individuals and society were enlightened free to pursue, self-determination and

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