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Duty and the Law (GMOM)

It’s been a little while since I’ve written about Kant’s *Groundwork* here, but it’s high time to get back to it since we’re barely through the first 2/3 of the first section of the book. Say what you will about Kant, but don’t blame him for not rewarding deep reading. My subject here is Kant’s [...]

Posted 04 November 2007 Adam § , , § Comments (0)

Moral Worth without Purposes (GMOM)

My apologies for the short hiatus. It was Homecoming weekend here at UMR (come to think of it, the last one at UMR) and there were many and various events and dinners to attend. But now back to our (non-computer related) regular programming. This post is about what Kant calls his “second proposition” in the [...]

Posted 22 October 2007 Adam § , , § Comments (0)

The Duty to be Happy (GMOM)

As I’ve pointed out before in this series, Kant does not believe that human beings’ purpose is to be happy. The presence of reason suggests we are here for much more. Furthermore, and I think Kant is right about this, giving ourselves the goal of being happy in even a moderately complicated life (where happiness [...]

Posted 12 October 2007 Adam § , , § Comments (0)

Duty, Inclination, and Moral Worth (GMOM)

In the first section of the *Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals*, Kant develops the idea that we can call his first proposition: > In order for an action to have moral worth, it must be done from the motive of duty. This must be one of the single most misunderstood parts of Kantian ethics, [...]

Posted 05 October 2007 Adam § , , § Comments (5)

Kant on Ethics for a Complicated Life (GMOM)

So this is the first post in a series on Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. I’m stealing Chris’s abbrevation for it: GMOM. Phonetically, it’s not a bad way to think about Kant’s Ethics (“Gee Mom, should I tell the truth even to an axe murderer looking for my friend?”). As a bit of [...]

Posted 02 October 2007 Adam § , , § Comments (1)