Significance and System Essays on Kant's Ethics

by Timmons, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780190203368
• ISBN10: 0190203366
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2017-04-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Significance and System: Essays on Kant's Ethics brings together central lines of thought in Mark Timmons's work on Kant's moral theory. The first part of the book concerns the interpretation and justification of the categorical imperative in which Timmons argues for a "differential roles" interpretation of the categorical imperative, according to which distinct formulations of this principle play different roles in the overall economy of Kant's ethics. In addition he offers a detailed interpretation of the analytic/synthetic distinction in Kant's ethics that plays a central role in Kant's justification of his supreme moral principle. In the second part, Timmons addresses questions about the relation between motive and rightness, arguing, for example, that contemporary Kantians have misunderstood that relation. This part also examines Kant's attempt in the Doctrine of Virtue to ground a system of ethical duties in the categorical imperative. In part three, Timmons turns to issues in Kant's psychology of moral evil, including the psychology of the devilish vices. Throughout Timmons combines interpretive insight with a critical eye in interpreting and criticizing Kant's ethical thought.

Author Biography

Mark Timmons is Professor of Philosophy at University of Arizona. His books include Disputed Moral Issues, Third Edition, Kant's Metaphysics of Morals, and Morality without Foundations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements and Sources
Abbreviations for Kant's works
Introduction

Part I: Interpreting the Categorical Imperative
1. Necessitation and Justification in Kant's Ethics
2. Decision Procedures, Moral Criteria, and the Problem of Relevant Descriptions in Kant's Ethics
3. The Categorical Imperative and Universalizability
4. The Philosophical and Practical Significance of Kant's Universality Formulations of the Categorical Imperative

Part II: Motive, Rightness, and Virtue
5. Motive and Rightness in Kant's Ethical System
6. Kant's Grounding Project in the Doctrine of Virtue
7. The Perfect Duty to Oneself as an Animal Being
8. The Moral Significance of Gratitude in Kant's Ethics
Part III: The Psychology of Moral Evil
9. Love of Honor, Emulation, and the Devilish Vices in Kant's Ethics
10. The Good, the Bad, and the Badass: On the Descriptive Adequacy of Kant's Conception of Moral Evil

Index