What Makes A Good?

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

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.

How does one define what is good? Is it the beauty around us, actions that one performs, or living a life without troubles? If you stopped random people on the street and asked them, “what is good?” you would probably get many different answers. Merriam-Webster gives a simple definition of good as ‘high quality’. The KJV dictionary gives the definition of good as ‘complete or sufficiently perfect in its kind’. Here we have two definitions of good, one from a worldly source and the other from a biblical source. How can we use these definitions to evaluate what good is and to prove good exists in the world today? In the Bible, Matthew 12:35 states, “A good man out of the treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (King James Version). Does this mean that good can only come from a person who has a characteristically good

In Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant seeks to develop a clear understanding of moral principles. Qualities of character and fortune can be exercised for either good or bad purposes, and only the good will is naturally and inherently good. Humans are at once rational and natural beings; our reason and natural characteristics are distinct from each other. Kant suggests that we must choose either to follow our rational or natural capacities. Although man’s highest purpose may seem to be self-preservation and happiness, as rational beings our highest purpose is to develop this good will. Our instinct leads us to the pursuit happiness and self-preservation, but the will developed by our reason would be good in itself and

Immanuel Kant states that the only thing in this world that is “good without qualification” is the good will. He states the attributes of character such as intelligence, wit, and judgment are considered good but can be used for the wrong reasons. Kant also states that the attributes of good fortune such as health, power, riches, honor, that provide one happiness can also be used in the wrong way (7). In order to understand Kant’s view of moral rightness, one must understand that only a good will is unambiguously good without qualification, it is “good in itself”. To clarify, Kant states that “a good will is good not because of what it effects or

First we’ll start with the will. Kant likes to focus on the will that can only be found in “rational beings”, which Kant defines as those capable of moral deliberation (humans). Kant states “the will is a capacity to choose only that which reason independently of inclination cognizes as practically necessary, that is, as good.”(Kant) In other words, “the will is nothing more than the capacity for practical

     The will, as Kant describes, is of practical reason. A rational being is an individual who has the capacity to execute their behavior by the conceptions of laws. This discipline of action is also known as the will. Our judgment that advises us on our action is known as an imperative or a command to act on a certain motive. An imperative can be either hypothetical or categorical. In the hypothetical imperative one acknowledges an action as right or necessary if it is a manner in which to obtain or achieve a certain goal. As such you would act on an action if a previous circumstance has taken place. These types of actions come from our previous experiences and counsel us to a way in which our desires can be achieved. Thus, an action cannot be held universally valid at all times if its goal is to acquire some objective of desire under a certain set of conditions. If the goal is ultimately happiness, we are unable to set any universally hypothetical imperatives for happiness. This is because the definition of happiness differs from person to person. One man’s happiness can very well be another man’s misery. As Kant explains, a binding moral law then cannot be

make people happy - are then moral. But this is not so Kant says if

For most of us, achieving some state of Happiness is a core objective. Indeed, in a great many of the philosophical musings on the very purpose of our lives here on Earth will tend to focus on the importance of achieving happiness, of sharing happiness and of bringing happiness to others. It is therefore reasonable to propose the knee-jerk response that happiness is the end in and of itself. However, as Kant asserts, this is an incomplete understanding of our supposed purpose here. As the 18th Century German philosopher asserts, happiness lived without the principle of good will, can have the capacity to be a rather unsavory force. According to Kant, in fact, this concept of good will is a core determinant as to whether the characteristics by which we can be defined may be considered virtues or vices. Kant argues that this truth "holds with gifts of fortune; power, riches, honor, even health, and that complete well-being and contentment with one's condition which is called happiness make for pride and often hereby even arrogance, unless there is a good will to correct their influence on the mind and herewith also to rectify the whole principle of action and make it universally comfortable to its end." (Kant, p. 7) This principle underlies the initial rejection of the assumption that Happiness, however formulated, is the

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

Kant: It’s not only what you do that matters, but your motivation behind it as well. / Duty to do something depends not on the other’s rights, but on the rational assessment of what is the right thing to do based on the various types of relationships that you have with that person. / The only thing that is intrinsically good is the good will, rationality to do what is right for the right reason. / Good will is the only thing fully under our control. / Good will is being motivated to do what is good for the right reasons. The right reasons are ones that are rational. / Motivation should come from moral law or duty.

In Kant’s mind we all have good intentions when doing something, and for such reason, we can’t be accounted guilty for doing something wrong if the original intention was to do something good. Basically, he implied

“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.

All humans have some type of understanding of what good will is, as it is a reason or a determination of the proper thing to do at the right time or period. Rather than the human reaction to try and satisfy or make oneself happy, humans would be and should be more naturally inclined to make possible good will and being good which this will bring about unintentional happiness or satisfaction. Then Kant going on to explain that by using reason in a situation, humans would not be able to attain good will as reason cannot be used on a unconditional basis and that would cloud judgement.