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Kant

9 Pages 2240 Words


purpose."Whereas Aristotle focuses on the interdependence of thinking and desiring in the pursuit of any objective, Kant does not portray a necessary unity of rationality and inclination at each stage of effective deliberation and action. In fact, in his concern with moral worth as the prime consideration in all actions, he appears to suggest that humans could do without a source of needs. "Inclinations are so lacking in absolute worth that the universal wish of every rational being must be indeed to free himself completely from them." Further, in his discussion of the realm of ends, Kant suggests that the sovereign who is free from the plague of inclinations is the model for mere members of society. He argues that "the sovereign cannot maintain this position merely through the maxims of his will but only when he is a completely independent being without need and with power adequate to his will. In his formulation of virtue, Kant goes so far as to portray inclinations as the fundamental opponent of the moral disposition. Virtue, according to Kant, is fortitude, the capacity to resist a strong but unjust opponent, i.e., inclination.
Kant argues that the proper function of reason is to produce the highest good which cannot be the Aristotelian highest good, i.e., happiness. In fact, the cultivation of this reason to produce the highest good can reduce happiness to less than For Kant the highest good is one which is unconditional; the highest good is something that cannot be conditioned by the moment. Kant agrees with Aristotle that reason employed in the service of inclination is a function of the will. Yet for Kant, it is a lesser function and cannot be a candidate for a supreme principle of morality. It only exhibits a conditional worth.
The dialectic of reason is a process that occurs in our thinking when the law of duty seems to contradict our inclinations to do otherwise. It is essentially reason speculating about how to argue aga...

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