scholarly journals The paradox of imperfect duty in Kant's moral philosophy: A problem in 'applying' ethics'

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 540-564
Author(s):  
Phillip Richter
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Applied Ethics ◽  
Discourse Ethics ◽  
Kantian Ethics ◽  
Imperfect Duty ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
Metaphysics Of Morals

The Applied Ethics debate has not yet sufficiently clarified what application of ethics exactly is. The issue of application is considered to be especially problematic in Kantian ethics or in discourse ethics. This article describes the concept of applying ethics in Kant. In discussing the duty of helping others and the theory of its application in Metaphysics of Morals it is shown that a strict separation of justification and application in ethical theory results in the paradox of imperfect duty. The paradox says that the duty to help others would be fulfilled without ever being fulfilled in action. To overcome the paradox it is necessary to form submaximes of helping, which are not arbitrarily but instructed by a theory of casuistry. This casuistry, if it is considered as a doctrine of application in Kantian ethics, can overcome the paradox of imperfect duty. However, the casuistry can overcome this paradox only if it is understood as a philosophy of prudence, which can be found in Aristotle or Descartes.

Die Wirklichkeit des Sittlichen

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Kersting
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Discourse Ethics ◽  
Moral Knowledge ◽  
Moral Principle ◽  
Pure Reason ◽  
Kantian Ethics ◽  
Hermeneutic Approach ◽  
The Given ◽  
Moral Convictions

Within the Kantian ethics consciousness of the moral principle is a fact of reason which cannot be grounded in any antecedent data, empirical or rational. Hegel however argues that the fact of reason is necessarily embedded in the fact of „Sittlichkeit“, that a pure reason is an empty and chimerical construction, that moral knowledge is unavoidably rootet in the contingent moral convictions of the given cultural and social environment. This essay defends Hegel’s critique of Kant’s moral philosophy and – by generalizing Hegel’s hermeneutic approach – sketches the outlines of an explicatory concept of ethics which contradicts the scientistic understanding of moral philosophy characteristic for Kant, the utilitarianism and the supporters of discourse ethics likewise.

A Dictionary of Ethics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence Cuneo
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Applied Ethics ◽  
Normative Ethics ◽  
Key Terms

This authoritative dictionary contains clear, concise definitions of key terms from ethical theory and touches upon a variety of relevant subfields including metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. A Dictionary of Ethics is a valuable reference resource for academics, practitioners, and students of moral philosophy, applied ethics, and public policy. It will also be of interest to readers looking to familiarize themselves with ethical terms and the concepts they express.

Life and Work

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
Mark Timmons
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
General Introduction ◽  
Metaphysics Of Morals ◽  
Normative Ethical Theory

This chapter is an introduction to Kant’s life and his work. It situates Kant’s moral philosophy historically, explains his writing of The Doctrine of Virtue (DV) and its place in Kant’s overall moral philosophy. The chapter concludes with an overview of the book’s five parts. Part I is background comprising two chapters. Part II explains the material in Kant’s general introduction to The Metaphysics of Morals, of which DV is a part. Part III covers the dedicated introduction to DV, while parts IV and V cover the doctrine of elements of ethics and the doctrine of method that comprise his normative ethical theory.

Ethical Theory and Applied Ethics

1989 ◽  
pp. 101-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Macklin
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Applied Ethics

scholarly journals Kant’s Categorical Imperative and Duty

2018 ◽  
pp. 16-26
Author(s):  
Karif Jal Basara
Keyword(s):  
Immanuel Kant ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Categorical Imperative ◽  
Philosophical Concept ◽  
Metaphysics Of Morals

The categorical imperative is the central philosophical concept in the deontological moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, it may be defined as a way of evaluating motivations for action.

Kant's Justification of Ethics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Ware
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Practical Reason ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
Moral Law ◽  
Critical Methodology ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Historical Contextualization ◽  
Metaphysics Of Morals ◽  
Moral Normativity ◽  
Moral Requirements

Kant’s arguments for the reality of human freedom and the normativity of the moral law continue to inspire work in contemporary moral philosophy. Many prominent ethicists invoke Kant, directly or indirectly, in their efforts to derive the authority of moral requirements from a more basic conception of action, agency, or rationality. But many commentators have detected a deep rift between the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason, leaving Kant’s project of justification exposed to conflicting assessments and interpretations. In this major re-reading of Kant, Owen Ware defends the controversial view that Kant’s mature writings on ethics share a unified commitment to the moral law’s primacy. Using both close analysis and historical contextualization, Owen Ware overturns a paradigmatic way of reading Kant’s arguments for morality and freedom, situating them within Kant’s critical methodology at large. The result is a novel understanding of Kant that challenges much of what goes under the banner of Kantian arguments for moral normativity today.

Beyond Respect and Beneficence

Respect ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 157-170
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Kantian Ethics ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Moral Attitude ◽  
Moral Attitudes ◽  
Recent Tendency

Thomas E. Hill, Jr. breaks with two conventional approaches in moral philosophy. Hill eschews the recent tendency to focus either on duties or on virtues, and instead emphasizes the importance of moral attitudes. And Hill specifically steps outside the usual framework of Kantian ethics by developing and defending the importance of a moral attitude besides respect and beneficence, namely the attitude of appreciation. To appreciate something is to recognize and respond appropriately to its value as something worth attending to, observing, admiring, cherishing, or the like, for its own sake. The attitude of appreciation is especially important in personal relationships, although it includes recognizing and responding positively to the distinctive features possessed by many sorts of things, not just persons.

Discourse

2021 ◽  
pp. 25-49
Author(s):  
Nathan Myrick
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Discourse Ethics ◽  
Shared Understanding ◽  
Musical Meaning ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Musical Activity ◽  
Musical Genres ◽  
And Control

This chapter engages the discursive problem of music in both popular and academic literature, and, using ethnographic evidence, shows that musical meaning is partially determined and simultaneously configured via linguistic and generic means. One of the ways communities may form is around shared understanding of musical meaning, and musical meaning may be determined largely by generic understandings—musical genres often function discursively for North American evangelicals. The chapter argues that generic musical meaning is imbued with values and convictions, claiming that these are negotiated as a kind of discourse ethics. However, these generic understandings of meaning are unstable, being troubled by the competing claims of authenticity and control. This instability precludes ethical theorization on the premise of discourse alone, yet it indicates that the discourse that takes place both around and through musical activity is ethically important and should be taken into account in any ethical theory that gives an account of music.

Applied Ethics

Philosophy ◽  
2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Søbirk Petersen ◽  
Jesper Ryberg
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Applied Ethics ◽  
Personal Life ◽  
General Criterion ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Point Of Departure

Applied ethics is a branch of ethics devoted to the treatment of moral problems, practices, and policies in personal life, professions, technology, and government. In contrast to traditional ethical theory—concerned with purely theoretical problems such as, for example, the development of a general criterion of rightness—applied ethics takes its point of departure in practical normative challenges. Along with general overviews and journals, nine central branches of applied ethics are added, with six to eight references in connection to each branch. It should be noted that these branches constitute only a selection among the plethora of disciplines within applied ethics. Moreover, some overlap is found among the different areas.

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