Kant 's Good Will Theory

Kant believed that the one unconditional good thing is good will (Fincke, 2009). In other words, any other candidate for 'good ' – such as courage or happiness – can be turned evil through immoral intentions. For example, it takes courage to stand up for someone getting bullied in the park, however, it also takes courage to bully someone in the park. As you can see, courage without good will, or good intentions, can be the downfall of another person. An argument that is well known to be made by Kant goes as follows; a shoe keeper might do what is

Hypothetical imperative is the "practical necessity of some possible action as a means to achieving something else that one does or might want" as defined in page 19 of Bennett’s translation, whereas categorical is an action that is "objectively necessary in itself without regard to any other end" (Bennett, 19). When Kant says "We like to flatter ourselves with the false claim to a more noble motive; but in fact we can never, even by the strictest examination, completely plumb the depths of the secret incentives of our actions," in page 19, he is suggesting that even though human beings think that there only exists principled and virtuous thoughts in ourselves, there lies greater motivations and reasons behind our actions.

The subject of good will for Kant is controversial. Kant believes that good will is not based on a reaction to the consequences, either negative or positive, merely by the intention of which the act was made. When an action is done in good will, the reasoning is not emotional (Johnson, 2008). It does not done out of sympathy or empathy for the individual, rather by a sense of duty. This is the controversial part because many believe that while good will is based on positive intentions, the act is performed through a feeling of love for the fellow man. Kant believes that good will focuses on all human beings regardless of feelings of love, friendship, bond, hatred, or lack of caring. This is why the best way to describe it is duty. However, Kant was not implying that no other motivating factor fuels good will. He was simply stating that when there is a dilemma that has the individual questioning the good will or morality of a decision that it is best to look at it from an unbiased view (Johnson, 2008). Removing emotional attachment from the situation has already proven to be helpful in making rational decisions in an otherwise difficult moment.

Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative is a theory that basically relays the same message that most mothers teach their kids, and that is to do the right thing. The categorical imperative could be easily explained by the Golden Rule about treating others as you would like to be treated. Kant dives a little deep with his theory, however, and breaks the categorical imperative into three formulations. The first formulation is about essentially removing yourself from a situation and doing what is best for everyone. Kant is basically saying that it is unethical to make decisions that affect everyone, but only benefits you. The second formulation is about making sure that

Kant defined a hypothetical imperative as an action that addresses what "should" or "ought" to be done. He believed that the necessity of performing a certain action was based on other desires. This particular action would only be important if it was beneficial for another reason. It is prudent that a man feel the responsibility to achieve his own wants. However, Kant speaks of a second group of imperatives known as "categorical imperatives."

On the other hand, there are few to none examples of a Categorical Imperative, because as Kant would believe, they have to be actions that are good in themselves completely. To arrive at the Categorical Imperative, Kant starts off by explaining that an action is good without qualification if done from duty and not primarily from inclination, or ulterior motives. This, in a more simplified manner, means an action is good if it was the right thing to do and a person did it for the sake of duty and not because of anything else, like instincts or feelings. Kant believes there are very few people in this world that can actually live up to the standard of duty. From this point, Kant states that moral worth is determined by the rule or principle by which an action has been decided, not in the purpose to be attained by it. This statement goes back to the difference of means versus ends; is a person’s action based on the mean or is it based on ends? After Kant arrives at this, he then affirms that duty is the reverence for the law. The difference between reason and will is established at this point. Reason, or thought, can be described as theoretical or pure reason, or it can be described as practical reason. Kant describes theoretical reason as determining a given concept, but practical reason is idea of making the concept actual. Will, on the other side, can be broken down to either the “holy will” or empirically mixed

Deontology is the ethical view that some actions are morally forbidden or permitted regardless of consequences. One of the most influential deontological philosophers in history is Immanuel Kant who developed the idea of the Categorical Imperative. Kant believed that the only thing of intrinsic moral worth is a good will. Kant says in his work Morality and Rationality “The good will is not good because of what it affects or accomplishes or because of it’s adequacy to achieve some proposed end; it is good only because of it’s willing, i.e., it is good of itself”. A maxim is the generalized rule that characterizes the motives for a person’s actions. For Kant, a will that is good is one that is acting by

To introduce the hypothetical imperative, think about studying for a really hard test. Your grade is not likely to be considered passing, unless you get an A on this final. You’ve been studying all week, but you just can’t seem to retain the material. So what should you do? You need to pass this class, so does it really matter whether or not the actions you take to do so are morally correct? You decide to cheat. You get the A, you pass the class, and your parents are proud of you. This is the hypothetical imperative- if you wish to obtain a certain goal, you ought to take certain means in order to reach it. The categorical imperative states that “act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law” (Copleston 324). This imperative is the one that holds moral worth, because it demands that before taking an action, it must first be considered a universal law. By that, Kant means that it the action you desire to take cannot be taken by the whole of society, then you shouldn’t even be doing it yourself. If it is not an everyday action, that every person could also do, then it is morally

Kant’s meaning of “good will” is it is good in itself, not because of its ability to attain some proposed end. The usefulness of it cannot add to or take away from its worth. Suppose you find a bag of money, the right thing to do is to turn it in, but only after you have seen a reward offered do you turn it in. It is the right thing to do but you are seeking the offered reward and not turning it in because it is the right thing. Another example, if you receive too much money back after a purchase at a store you realize it immediately, but only offer to correct it once you realize the person behind you in line seen what had happened. This correction to gain respect and admiration by the person behind you is for doing what was right whether they were there or not. I agree in one way that if you are doing something for the praise, and selfishness it is not for the right reasons and is not “good will”, but by receiving this praise and reward it may led to better behavior even when someone is not watching to give a reward. This would be resulting in teaching morally good behavior without reward.

A simple way to define the difference is that hypothetical imperatives dictate if you want this, then you ought to do this. The goals are based on self-interest. On the other hand, categorical imperatives are unconditional and mandate that we recognize there is only one true imperative; always take the moral ground. According to Kant, moral truths are not received from on high through divine revelation or inspiration. Rather, they are based on reasons that make sense to all people who bother to think about

The good will is what we want to do unless something external prevents us from accomplishing it. It rests on good intentions, which are at the source of our every action. However, the circumstances we find ourselves into may disrupt our good intentions, and the results may not be what we had expected. On such terms, we should not be held accountable for the negative results, since our very first intention was to do good. I other words, the good will is good in itself, by virtue, and it is independent from any type of inclination.

“There is no possibility of thinking of anything at all in this world, or even out of it, which can be regarded as good without qualifications, except a good will.” (Kant, pg.7 393). No other thing that may appear good can be unqualifiedly good, as even “Talents of the mind…Gifts of power…[Other] qualities…Have no intrinsic unconditional worth, but they always presuppose, rather, a good will, which restricts the high esteem in which they are otherwise rightly held.” (Kant, pg.7 393-394). So Immanuel Kant introduces the public to his Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, which results not in simply a grounding work, but one that is utterly groundbreaking. This opener, wholly devoted to the establishment of the importance of will and intention, notes the guiding characteristics of a good will. As enumerated previously, Kant recognizes the plausible potential positivity of plenty concepts, but remains of the mind that none of these are good in themselves without the efforts of a good will to guide and restrict them in a manner that perpetuates their positivity.

In the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals Kant explains that there are many goods including happiness, food and desires, but there is only one highest good. This highest good is a good without qualification. The implication being that this highest good is inherently good in itself. Kant further explains that there is only one highest good or one good without qualification which is good will. Good without qualification is a bit vague so Kant has several criteria involved in determining what it is and why good will satisfies them.

In his work, Groundwork of Metaphysic of Morals, Immanuel Kant talks about three formulations of imperative. The first formulation of imperative is “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction." Kant believes that our actions should be the same in all situations, regardless of the outcome. Some acts are always wrong, even if the act leads to an admirable outcome. Kant believes that emotions and consequences should not play a role in moral action. We are morally obligated or have a duty

Immanuel Kant concerns himself with deontology, and as a deontologist, he believes that the rightness of an action depends in part on things other than the goodness of its consequences, and so, actions should be judged based on an intrinsic moral law that says whether the action is right or wrong – period. Kant introduced the Categorical Imperative which is the central philosophy of his theory of morality, and an understandable approach to this moral law. It is divided into three formulations. The first formulation of Kant’s Categorical Imperative states that one should “always act in such a way that the maxim of your action can be willed as a universal law of humanity”; an act is either right or wrong based on its ability to be