Download or read book Kant and the Moral Necessity of Civil Society written by Jacqueline Anne Augustine and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Kant's political theory has not received as much attention or analysis from commentators as is enjoyed by other areas of his thought. This appears to be due to one of two assumptions: either that Kant's political writings were merely tangential to his philosophical system, a kind of end-of-life dabbling in other studies; or that if Kant intended the political writings to be part and parcel of his overall philosophical project, he failed to demonstrate it as such. I argue that both assumptions are incorrect. There is good textual evidence that Kant intended his political writings to be taken as part of the whole of his philosophy, and throughout that body of work, the conceptual framework exists to make the connection evident. Fundamental to Kant's philosophy is an examination and understanding of the nature of man. Kant's epistemology, ontology, and metaphysics all support the consideration of man qua noumenon and man qua phenomenon. In Chapter 2, I introduce the concept of reciprocity as the bridge between those two realms. Reciprocity is at work in Kant's earliest writings, as he argued in favor of a Leibnizian doctrine of 'living forces.' But reciprocity evolves for Kant in such a way as to avoid the 'pre-established harmony' that he believed undermined the very agency that a living force represents. Through historical and textual exegesis, I seek to illuminate the concept of reciprocity as bridging both the physical and metaphysical aspect of human action. With reciprocity as a 'dynamical' concept, I proceed, in Chapter 3, with a defense of the Kantian claim that the formulations of the categorical imperative introduced in the Groundwork are indeed equivalent. It is the claim of equivalency that shows the necessary connection of politics to Kant's ethical theory. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss the content of Kantian morality, as derived by the categorical imperative. In particular, I wish to show that an individual's duties to himself and to others require him to be an active participant in civil society. Chapters 6 and 7 present the essential aspects of civil society according to Kant and the reciprocal nature of duty between citizens and their government. These requirements demonstrate the true moral necessity of pursuing a 'rightful condition'" (p. VI-VII).
Download or read book Kant on Civil Society and Welfare written by Sarah Holtman and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What justifies state-sponsored supports for individual welfare within a Kantian political system, as well as the purpose and extent of such supports and the form they may take, are vexed questions. This Element characterizes and assesses main contenders (including minimalist and middle-ground accounts) by examining the competing interpretations of Kant's larger political theory that found their social welfare claims. It then develops and defends an alternative based in civic respect. This emphasizes the perspective and institutional commitments that Kant's model of citizenship entails and what is required to respect each as both a person and a participant in joint governance.
Download or read book Force and Freedom written by Arthur Ripstein and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-15 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this masterful work, both an illumination of Kant’s thought and an important contribution to contemporary legal and political theory, Arthur Ripstein gives a comprehensive yet accessible account of Kant’s political philosophy. Ripstein shows that Kant’s thought is organized around two central claims: first, that legal institutions are not simply responses to human limitations or circumstances; indeed the requirements of justice can be articulated without recourse to views about human inclinations and vulnerabilities. Second, Kant argues for a distinctive moral principle, which restricts the legitimate use of force to the creation of a system of equal freedom. Ripstein’s description of the unity and philosophical plausibility of this dimension of Kant’s thought will be a revelation to political and legal scholars. In addition to providing a clear and coherent statement of the most misunderstood of Kant’s ideas, Ripstein also shows that Kant’s views remain conceptually powerful and morally appealing today. Ripstein defends the idea of equal freedom by examining several substantive areas of law—private rights, constitutional law, police powers, and punishment—and by demonstrating the compelling advantages of the Kantian framework over competing approaches.
Download or read book Kant written by Jeffrie G. Murphy and published by Mercer University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Kantian Virtue and Civil Society written by Christopher William Surprenant and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Many commentators view Immanuel Kant's political writings as an appendix to what they consider his more serious philosophical writings on metaphysics and epistemology, moral philosophy, and aesthetics. Contrary to this view, this dissertation argues that Kant's political writings are a necessary and significant component of his philosophical corpus because his ethical system is incomplete without a corresponding political philosophy. A primary function of Kant's political philosophy is to outline the conditions necessary for an individual to secure external freedom or liberty. While it is true that his moral philosophy focuses primarily on an individual's ability to secure internal freedom or autonomy, this dissertation argues that, on Kant's view, it would be impossible for us to secure autonomy if we were unable first to secure liberty. In addition, Kantian morality requires the refinement of one's talents and reason, a task impossible without political society. For Kant, the purpose of the state is not to enact laws that make people moral; rather, its project is to implement policies and procedures that weaken the forces of heteronomy, thereby to remove barriers to moral action. Arguably the most important aspect of this function is constituted by the system of moral education. It is an institution necessary for establishing the framework for autonomous action. Kant argues that an individual's initial interest in morality is based upon the rewards or punishments usually associated with moral or immoral action, not morality itself. Through the process of moral education an individual's interest in morality shifts. As a result of this process, a person's interest in morality will no longer be subordinate to the interest in receiving or avoiding the effects associated with moral and immoral action. Instead, one becomes interested in morality for its own sake--for the sake of one's freedom. Since moral education is for Kant only possible within political society, a Kantian agent cannot learn to be moral outside the context of a commonwealth.
Download or read book Kant and the Cultivation of Virtue written by Chris W. Surprenant and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-13 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Chris W. Surprenant puts forward an original position concerning Kant’s practical philosophy and the intersection between his moral and political philosophy. Although Kant provides a detailed account of the nature of morality, the nature of human virtue, and how right manifests itself in civil society, he does not explain fully how individuals are able to become virtuous. This book aims to resolve this problem by showing how an individual is able to cultivate virtue, the aim of Kant’s practical philosophy. Through an examination of Kant’s accounts of autonomy, the state, and religion, and their effects on the cultivation of virtue, Surprenant develops a Kantian framework for moral education, and ultimately raises the question of whether or not Kantian virtue is possible in practice.
Download or read book An Introduction to Kant s Ethics written by Roger J. Sullivan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1994-07-29 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the most up-to-date, brief and accessible introduction to Kant's ethics available. It approaches the moral theory via the political philosophy, thus allowing the reader to appreciate why Kant argued that the legal structure for any civil society must have a moral basis. This approach also explains why Kant thought that our basic moral norms should serve as laws of conduct for everyone. The volume also includes a detailed commentary on Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant's most widely studied work of moral philosophy.
Download or read book On the Old Saw written by Immanuel Kant and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-07-26 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this famous essay, first published in 1793, Kant considers the alleged conflict between theory and practice in the conduct of human affairs in three widening contexts: those of the common person faced with a moral decision, of the politician and the citizen concerned with the extent and limits of political obligation, and, finally, of the citizen of the world whose actions have a bearing on war and peace among nations. Unlike other animals, Kant reminds us, people must decide how they will live their lives. They therefore ask for a guide to action, a set of principles—a theory. From the outset, Kant rejects the ancient claim that the practical possibilities of action cannot always be reconciled with moral demands. He offers his own moral theory, a theory starting out from the principle of the right as an unequivocal guide to action. In partial disagreement with the rival theories of Hobbes and Locke, he proposes that the only condition under which the individual can achieve true destiny as a person and a member of the human race is the civil state. Such a state can be secured only by law. Although "from such crooked wood as man is made of, nothing perfectly straight can be built," only the rule of law can bring about a stable society. Last, Kant turns to the relation between theory and practice in international relations. "Nowhere," he writes, "does human nature appear less lovable than in the relation of whole nations to each other." But to hope for world peace on the basis of "the so-called balance of power is a mere chimera." There is no other remedy to international lawlessness and war than an international coercive law, and such law can grow only out of sound theory. "I put my trust in theory. At the same time, I trust in the nature of things, and also take account of human nature, which I cannot, or will not, consider so steeped in evil that in the end reason should not triumph."
Download or read book Kant and Law written by B.Sharon Byrd and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 602 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Immanuel Kant's legal philosophy and theory have played an enormous role in the development of law since the eighteenth century. Although this influence can be seen primarily in German law and in the law of nations which have traditionally been oriented toward German legal development, today Kant's philosophy has experienced a Renaissance in the Anglo-American legal world. This anthology collects what the editors believe to be the very best of articles on Kant's legal theory, with an emphasis on his Metaphysics of Morals of 1797. In particular the articles relate to: 1) the nature of law and justice, 2) private law, 3) public law, 4) criminal law, 5) international law, and 6) cosmopolitan law.
Download or read book Kantian Commitments written by Barbara Herman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kantian Commitments comprises ten essays that represent a series of efforts to rethink many of the fundamentals of Kant's ethics and to draw out some implications for moral theory and practice. The essays of Part One revisit and revise central pieces of Kant's moral framework, offering a new understanding of the formulas of the categorical imperative, revisiting the idea of exceptions to duties, and sharpening the contrast between the value commitments of Kantian theory and other deontologies (especially recent contractualisms). The working hypothesis is to take seriously the idea that the formulas of the categorical imperative frame an account of moral reasoning with standards of validity and soundness that enable moral judgment to explicate the connection between our rational natures and our duties. Part Two takes on some less central but important topics which are informed by the arguments of Part One: the rationale for Kant's moralized view of history; the implications of a Kantian view of morality for social pluralism; the fit of Kant's conception of moral psychology with affect-centered theories of human development; the motivation behind Kant's argument for indirect duties to animals; and the place of the idea of the highest good in a morally good life. The overall aim of the essays is to explore core Kantian commitments through a program of inquiry that peels away assumptions often brought to Kant's texts that introduce questions their arguments were not meant to answer. Removing these obstacles clarifies the ambition and scale of Kantian theory.
Download or read book Kant s Theory of Justice written by Allen Rosen and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-05 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this accessible interpretation of Kant's political philosophy, Allen D. Rosen concentrates on the relation between justice, political authority (the state), and individual liberty.
Download or read book Ends and Principles in Kant s Moral Thought written by John E. Atwell and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) stands among the greatest thinkers of the Western world. There is hardly an area of thought, at least of philosophical thought, to which he did not make significant and lasting contributions. Particularly noteworthy are his writings on the foundations and limits of human knowledge, the bidimensional nature of perceptual or "natural" objects (including human beings), the basic principles and ends of morality, the character of a just society and of a world at peace, the movement and direction of human history, the nature of beauty, the end or purpose of all creation, the proper education of young people, the true conception of religion, and on and on. Though Kant was a life-long resident of Konigsberg, Prussia - child, student, tutor, and then professor of philosophy (and other subjects) - his thought ranged over nearly all the world and even beyond. Reports reveal that he (a bachelor) was an amiable man, highly respected by his students and colleagues, and even loved by his several close friends. He was apparently a man of integrity, both in his personal relations and in his pursuit of knowledge and truth. Despite his somewhat pessimistic attitude toward the moral progress of mankind - judging from past history and contemporary events - he never wavered from a deep-seated faith in the goodness of the human heart, in man's "splendid disposition toward the good.
Download or read book Metaphysical Elements of Justice written by Immanuel Kant and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revision of the Library of Liberal Arts edition of 1965. This volume offers the complete text of Kant's Metaphysics of Morals, Part I, translated by John Ladd, along with Ladd's illuminating Introduction to the first edition, expanded to include discussion of such issues as Kant's conception of marriage and its relevance to his view of women. An updated bibliography, glossary, and index are also provided.
Download or read book Community and Progress in Kant s Moral Philosophy written by Kate A. Moran and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2012-03 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The text draws on a wide range of Immanuel Kant's writings, including his texts on moral and political philosophy and his lectures on ethics, pedagogy, and anthropology. Though the book is grounded in an analysis of Kant's writing, it also puts forward the novel claim that Kant's theory is centrally concerned with the relationships we have in our day-to-day lives.
Download or read book Autonomy and Community written by Jane Kneller and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shows how Kant's basic position applies to and clarifies present-day problems of war, race, abortion, capital punishment, labor relations, the environment, and marriage.
Download or read book Reason Morality and Beauty written by Bindu Puri and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description
Download or read book Concepts of Normativity Kant or Hegel written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-08-12 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Both Kant’s and Hegel’s conceptions of normativity have shown to be extremely thorough and influential until today. Against the background of the much-disputed issue of ‘formalism’, Concepts of Normativity: Kant or Hegel? explores limits and perspectives of their deliberations.
