Agency And Autonomy In Kant S Moral Theory

Author : Andrews Reath
Publisher : Clarendon Press
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2006-02-23
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191537196

Get Book

Agency and Autonomy in Kant's Moral Theory by Andrews Reath Pdf

Andrews Reath presents a selection of his best essays on various features of Kant's moral psychology and moral theory, with particular emphasis on his conception of rational agency and his conception of autonomy. The opening essays explore different elements of Kant's views about motivation, including his account of respect for morality as the distinctive moral motive and his view of the principle of happiness as a representation of the shared structure of non-moral choice. These essays stress the unity of Kant's moral psychology by arguing that moral and non-moral considerations motivate in essentially the same way. Several of the essays develop an original approach to Kant's conception of autonomy that emphasizes the political metaphors found throughout Kant's writings on ethics. They argue that autonomy is best interpreted not as a psychological capacity, but as a kind of sovereignty: in claiming that moral agents have autonomy, Kant regards them as a kind of sovereign legislator with the power to give moral law through their willing. The final essays explore some of the implications of this conception of autonomy elsewhere in Kant's moral thought, arguing that his Formula of Universal Law uses this conception of autonomy to generate substantive moral principles and exploring the connection between Kantian self-legislation and duties to oneself. The collection offers revised versions of several previously published essays, as well as two new papers, 'Autonomy of the Will as the Foundation of Morality' and 'Agency and Universal Law'. It will be of interest to all students and scholars of Kant, and to many moral philosophers.

Author : Andrews Reath
Publisher : Oxford University Press on Demand
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2006
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199288823

Get Book

Agency and Autonomy in Kant's Moral Theory by Andrews Reath Pdf

Kant's theory of moral sensibility : respect for the moral law and the influence of inclination -- Hedonism, heteronomy, and Kant's principle of happiness -- The categorical imperative and Kant's conception of practical rationality -- Legislating the moral law -- Autonomy of the will as the foundation of morality -- Legislating for a realm of ends : the social dimension of autonomy -- Agency and universal law -- Self-legislation and duties to oneself -- Agency and the imputation of consequences in Kant's ethics.

Author : Jane Kneller,Sidney Axinn
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 1998-04-23
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781438409405

Get Book

Autonomy and Community by Jane Kneller,Sidney Axinn Pdf

In Autonomy and Community, contemporary Kant scholars apply Kant's moral and political views to current social issues, examining contemporary topics through the lenses of various recent Kantian approaches to issues in ethical, political, and social philosophy. The articles, written with a minimum of technical language, engage current social problems directly, demonstrating the possibility of diverse applications of Kant's views. The authors, reaching well beyond the realm of academic philosophy, apply Kant's moral and political views to contemporary social concerns both general and specific. Under the first heading are chapters presenting readings of Kant's social theory and theory of human history, the relationship of moral practice to the social contract, Kant's theory of civic duty, and the relevance of Kantian philosophy to contemporary feminist theory. In Part II, more specific issues of contemporary interest are explored: war, international relations, race and ethnicity questions, abortion, capital punishment, environmental ethics, labor relations, and the nature of the institution of marriage. Taken as a whole, Autonomy and Community shows that Kantianism offers a social vision that goes far beyond Kant's well-known abstract theory. [Contributors to the book include Sharon Anderson-Gold, Thomas Auxter, Susan Feldman, Gerald F. Gaus, Charles W. Mills, Nelson Potter, Philip Rossi, Robin May Schott, Harry van der Linden, Hollyn L. Wilson, Robert Paul Wolff, and Allen W. Wood.]

Author : Katerina Deligiorgi
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2012-05-31
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191631276

Get Book

The Scope of Autonomy by Katerina Deligiorgi Pdf

Katerina Deligiorgi offers a contemporary defence of autonomy that is Kantian in orientation but which engages closely with recent arguments about agency, morality, and practical reasoning. Autonomy is a key concept in contemporary moral philosophy with deep roots in the history of the subject. However, there is still no agreed view about the correct way to formulate an account of autonomy that adequately captures both our capacity for self-determination and our responsiveness to reasons. The theory defended in The Scope of Autonomy is distinctive in two respects. First, whereas autonomy has primarily been understood in terms of our relation to ourselves, Deligiorgi shows that it also centrally involves our relation to others. Identifying the intersubjective dimension of autonomy is crucial for the defence of autonomy as a morality of freedom. Second, autonomy must be treated as a composite concept and hence not capturable in simple definitions such as acting on one's higher order desires or on principles one endorses. One of the virtues of the composite picture is that it shows autonomy lying at the intersection of concerns with morality, practical rationality, and freedom. Autonomy pertains to all these areas, though it does not exactly coincide with any of them. Proving this, and so tracing the scope of autonomy, is therefore essential: Deligiorgi shows that autonomy is theoretically plausible, psychologically realistic, and morally attractive.

Author : Robert Paul Wolff
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : UOM:39015040357959

Get Book

The Autonomy of Reason by Robert Paul Wolff Pdf

Author : Stefano Bacin,Oliver Sensen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 239 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2018-10-25
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781107182851

Get Book

The Emergence of Autonomy in Kant's Moral Philosophy by Stefano Bacin,Oliver Sensen Pdf

A thorough study of why Kant developed the concept of autonomy, one of his central legacies for contemporary moral thought.

Author : Oliver Sensen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 315 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107004863

Get Book

Kant on Moral Autonomy by Oliver Sensen Pdf

This book explores the central importance Kant's concept of autonomy for contemporary moral thought and modern philosophy.

Author : Roger J. Sullivan
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 436 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 1989
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0521369088

Get Book

Immanuel Kant's Moral Theory by Roger J. Sullivan Pdf

This book, sure to become a standard reference work, is a comprehensive, lucid, and systematic commentary on Kant's practical (or moral) philosophy. Kant is arguably the most important moral philosopher of the modern period; yet, prior to this area in a single volume. Using as nontechnical a language as possible, Professor Sullivan offers a detailed, authoritative account of Kant's moral philosophy - including his ethical theory, his philosophy of history, his political philosophy, his philosophy of religion, and his philosophy of education - and demonstrates the historical, Kantian origins of such important notions as â€~autonomy', â€~respect for persons', â€~rights', and â€~duties'. An invaluable resource, this book will be extremely useful to advanced undergraduates, graduates, and professional philosophers alike.

Author : Eric Watkins
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107182455

Get Book

Kant on Persons and Agency by Eric Watkins Pdf

This volume investigates Kant's conception of what a human being is and how a human being can act autonomously. Scholars explore fundamental topics such as freedom, autonomy, and personhood from both practical and theoretical perspectives, and consider their importance within Kant's wider system of philosophy.

Author : Robert Stern
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2015-10-29
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191033667

Get Book

Kantian Ethics by Robert Stern Pdf

This volume presents a selection of Robert Stern's work on the theme of Kantian ethics. It begins by focusing on the relation between Kant's account of obligation and his view of autonomy, arguing that this leaves room for Kant to be a realist about value. Stern then considers where this places Kant in relation to the question of moral scepticism, and in relation to the principle of 'ought implies can', and examines this principle in its own right. The papers then move beyond Kant himself to his wider influence and to critics of his work, including Hegel, the British Idealists, and the Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Løgstrup, while also offering a comparison with William James's arguments for freedom. The collection concludes with a consideration of a broadly Kantian critique of divine command ethics offered by Stephen Darwall, arguing that the critique does not succeed. General themes considered in this volume therefore include value, perfectionism, agency, autonomy, moral motivation, moral scepticism, and obligation, as well as the historical place of Kant's ethics and its influence on thinkers up to the present day.

Author : Christopher Yeomans
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2015-01-02
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199394555

Get Book

The Expansion of Autonomy by Christopher Yeomans Pdf

Georg Lukács wrote that "there is autonomy and 'autonomy.' The one is a moment of life itself, the elevation of its richness and contradictory unity; the other is a rigidification, a barren self-seclusion, a self-imposed banishment from the dynamic overall connection." Though Lukács' concern was with the conditions for the possibility of art, his distinction also serves as an apt description of the way that Hegel and Hegelians have contrasted their own interpretations of self-determination with that of Kant. But it has always been difficult to see how elevation is possible without seclusion, or how rigidification can be avoided without making the boundaries of the self so malleable that its autonomy looks like a mere cover for the power of external forces. Yeomans explores Hegel's own attempts to grapple with this problem against the background of Kant's attempts, in his theory of virtue, to understand the way that morally autonomous agents can be robust individuals with qualitatively different projects, personal relations, and commitments that are nonetheless infused with a value that demands respect. In a reading that disentangles a number of different threads in Kant's approach, Yeomans shows how Hegel reweaves these threads around the central notions of talent and interest to produce a tapestry of self-determination. Yeomans argues that the result is a striking pluralism that identifies three qualitatively distinct forms of agency or accountability and sees each of these forms of agency as being embodied in different social groups in different ways. But there is nonetheless a dynamic unity to the forms because they can all be understood as practical attempts to solve the problem of autonomy, and each is thus worthy of respect even from the perspective of other solutions. "Everyone recognizes the importance of Hegel's critique of Kantian morality as empty, but until now there has not been a fully worked out presentation of how Hegel's views in his discussion of Sittlichkeit actually provide the missing content. Yeomans has finally provided us with a reconstruction of Hegel's mature position that makes good on all the promissory notes that Hegel (and his commentators) gives in his famous descriptions of his alternative to Kantian ethics. Yeomans offers a compelling account of Hegel's view of individuality, societal differentiation and its roots in Kantian and Fichtean moral theory. The book will be a major contribution to the scholarship on Hegel's practical philosophy."-Dean Moyar, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University "Yeomans' book is a subtle, detailed and original explication of some key ideas having to do with how Hegel's general philosophy of action (or theory of the nature of agency) relates to his social and political philosophy. It is attentive to Hegel's texts, and it ties its discussions into all the relevant contemporary themes in philosophy. It is very ambitious in its attempt to make Hegel's theory into a real competitor to other views that are currently in wide play in the philosophical world. It will very likely become one of the key texts in the secondary literature on Hegel."-Terry Pinkard, University Professor of Philosophy, Georgetown University

Author : Christine Marion Korsgaard
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2014-05-14
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191564598

Get Book

The Constitution of Agency by Christine Marion Korsgaard Pdf

Christine M. Korsgaard is one of today's leading moral philosophers: this volume collects ten influential papers by her on practical reason and moral psychology. Korsgaard draws on the work of important figures in the history of philosophy such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Hume, showing how their ideas can inform the solution of contemporary and traditional philosophical problems, such as the foundations of morality and practical reason, the nature of agency, and the role of the emotions in action. In Part 1, The Principles of Practical Reason, Korsgaard defends the view that the principles of practical reason are constitutive principles of action. By governing our actions in accordance with Kant's categorical imperative and the principle of instrumental reason, she argues, we take control of our own movements and so render ourselves active, self-determining beings. She criticizes rival attempts to give a normative foundation to the principles of practical reason, challenges the claims of the principle of maximizing one's own interests to be a rational principle, and argues for some deep continuities between Plato's account of the connection between justice and agency and Kant's account of the connection between autonomy and agency. In Part II, Moral Virtue and Moral Psychology, Korsgaard takes up the question of the role of our more passive or receptive faculties--our emotions and responses --in constituting our agency. She sketches a reading of the Nicomachean Ethics, based on the idea that our emotions can serve as perceptions of good and evil, and argues that this view of the emotions is at the root of the apparent differences between Aristotle and Kant's accounts of morality. She argues that in fact, Aristotle and Kant share a distinctive view about the locus of moral value and the nature of human choice that, among other things, gives them account of what it means to act rationally that is superior to other accounts. In Part III, Other Reflections, Korsgaard takes up question how we come to view one another as moral agents in Hume's philosophy. She examines the possible clash between the agency of the state and that of the individual that led to Kant's paradoxical views about revolution. And finally, she discusses her methodology in an account of what it means to be a constructivist moral philosopher. The essays are united by an introduction in which Korsgaard explains their connections to each other and to her current work.

Author : Henry E. Allison
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 1990-09-28
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0521387086

Get Book

Kant's Theory of Freedom by Henry E. Allison Pdf

An innovative and comprehensive interpretation of Kant's concept of freedom analyzes the role it plays in his moral philosophy and psychology and considers critical literature on the subject.

Author : Ken Gemes,Simon May
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 294 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2009-05-07
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191607882

Get Book

Nietzsche on Freedom and Autonomy by Ken Gemes,Simon May Pdf

The principal aim of this volume is to elucidate what freedom, sovereignty, and autonomy mean for Nietzsche and what philosophical resources he gives us to re-think these crucial concepts. A related aim is to examine how Nietzsche connects these concepts to his thoughts about life-affirmation, self-love, promise-making, agency, the 'will to nothingness', and the 'eternal recurrence', as well as to his search for a 'genealogical' understanding of morality. These twelve essays by leading Nietzsche scholars ask such key questions as: Can we reconcile his rejection of free will with his positive invocations of the notion of free will? How does Nietzsche's celebration of freedom and free spirits sit with his claim that we all have an unchangeable fate? What is the relation between his concepts of freedom and self-overcoming? The depth in which these and related issues are explored gives this volume its value, not only to those interested in Nietzsche, but to all who are concerned with the free will debate, ethics, theory of action, and the history of philosophy.

Author : Barbara Herman
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0674697170

Get Book

The Practice of Moral Judgment by Barbara Herman Pdf

Barbara Herman argues for a radical shift in the way we perceive Kant's ethics. She convincingly reinterprets the key texts, at once allowing Kant to mean what he says while showing that what Kant says makes good moral sense. She urges us to abandon the tradition that describes Kantian ethics as a deontology, a moral system of rules of duty. She finds the central idea of Kantian ethics not in duty but in practical rationality as a norm of unconditioned goodness. This book both clarifies Kant's own theory and adds programmatic vitality to modern moral philosophy.