Kant on Free Will

Philosophy > Logic
Philosophy > Metaphysics
Sociology > Theory

Kant on Free Will

The paper looks at Immanuel Kant's views and discusses the consideration of free will as leading to the concept of duty.

1,558 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2007 Bangladesh

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses that the will is central to Kant's consideration of the metaphysics of morals. The will, as normally understood, is not really free, but carries with it the potential of freedom if it follows the moral law. In doing so the individual acts with autonomy, and then they are the natural 'law-givers' in a 'kingdom of ends'. The last is a postulated place where all ends are universal, and thus are ends in themselves. This essay argues that such a place is not realizable by deliberate means. The writer maintains that Kant is not really imposing the standard of "infallible reason", but rather his concerns are with metaphysics. His overriding aim is to establish a solid foundation for metaphysics.

From the Paper:

"When we exercise free will we are motivated by the promise of tangible gain. At the grossest level it is material gain that we aim for. Such gain has more euphemistic representations, e.g. happiness, utility, convenience, and so on. But however euphemistically we may word such motivation, we may never describe it as universal. It is always contingent, and when the contingency expires the gain is lost. We may be motivated to work hard towards a college education when our goal is a respectable standing in society. As long as we are students the motivation is meaningful. But after we a settled in a white collar job the motivation disappears, replaced by others even more forceful, in which mere respectability is not enough, but we want to be further admired among the 'respectable'. However highly we may eulogize respectability, death brings an end to whole game, and we cannot take our respectability with us to the grave. Some contend that the great among men live on in memory. But memory too fades, and oblivion is the inevitable end result."

Sample of Sources Used:

Berlin, Isaiah and Henry Hardy. Against the Current: Essays in the History of Ideas. New York: Viking Press, 1980.
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Pure Reason. Translated by Werner S. Pluhar. Boston: Hackett Publishing, 1999.
Kant, Immanuel. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2004.
Kant, Immanuel. Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Translated by James W. Ellington. Boston: Hackett Publishing, 2001.
Schmidt, James. What Is Enlightenment?: Eighteenth-Century Answers and Twentieth Century Questions. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.