Table of contentsIntroductionImmanuel KantGood willWhat is good will?Will and good willGood will and reasonGood will is good without limitationConclusionReference ListIntroductionImmanuel Kant, one of the most active philosophers in the history of Western philosophy, in his famous work Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Moral, discusses the idea of ​​ethics and how it can be carried out despite its necessity. In this article, I intend to introduce Kant's general definition of moral action, and with this in mind, I want to define "good will" and present what he actually means by it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayImmanuel KantImmanuel Kant was born in 1724 in the small town of Königsberg in Germany, where he lived until his death in 1804 . His parents were moderately wealthy. They belonged to a religious group known as the Pietists, a sect that had a strong influence on Kant's life and future thinking and personality. Kant began his studies at the local Collegium Fredericianum, also run by a pietist. In 1740 he joined the University of Königsberg, where he studied classics, physics and philosophy. try to construct such a narrative, if it is worth understanding and evaluating the truth. For Kant, “nothing can be conceived in the world, or even outside the world, which can be described as good, without reservation, except a good will. » Of course, other things, such as moderation of possessions, can be considered good. “And yet they can hardly be called universally good… for without the principles of good they might become truly evil. A villain's composure not only makes him more dangerous, but also directly makes him seem more despicable to us than he otherwise would have been. Kant's main point here is that the essence of the morally good act is the principle that a person asserts when he or she wills an act. “Good will is good, not because of what it accomplishes, not because of its usefulness in achieving a specific objective, but only because of the will, that is to say, it is good in itself. » A rational being strives to do what he ought to do, which is distinguished from what is done by inclination or personal interest. Acting out of inclination or self-interest seems to be on a different level of morality than acting out of duty to the moral law. Now, morally speaking, it is not enough that the effects or consequences of our behavior conform to the moral law; the truly moral act is performed for the sake of the moral law "because all these effects - even the promotion of the happiness of others - could also have been caused by other causes, so that for this there would be no no need for the will to be rational... "Moral duty lies in the will, and good will is that which acts from a sense of duty, and "an action performed from duty must totally exclude the influence of inclination , and with it every object of the will, so that there remains nothing which can determine the will except objectively the law and subjectively the pure respect of this practical law..." Now, duty implies that we are subject to an obligation, and as rational beings, we are aware of this obligation as it appears to us as an imperative. Not all imperatives are linked to morality, because not all imperatives have the marks of necessity and universality that a moral rule requires. Technical requirements such as “if you want to build a bridge across the river,you must use materials of a certain strength”, do not say that it is absolutely necessary to build the bridge. You can build a tunnel or use a surface craft to get to the other side. Again, there are certain prudential imperatives that say that if I am to be popular with certain people, then I must say or do certain things. But again, it's not absolutely necessary for me to achieve this popularity. The technical and prudential imperatives are then hypothetical imperatives because they only govern us if we decide to enter their sphere or their functioning. The Will and the Goodwill The first thing we must do in attempting to achieve such a result is to address what Kant means by the term "will." There is a good chance of understanding statements about a particular type of person. It therefore seems quite innocent to recognize goodwill in light of the qualities of this “person”. (For example, with the moral virtues of the good person). “The claim that good will is the only unlimited good is then naturally seen as a praise of a certain type of moral character or an affirmation of a certain type of moral ideal – of the better type of person than we think we can exist.” There is no doubt that Kant's assertion that "good will has certain implications in these matters, but this line of thinking can lead to crucial errors if we are not careful to separate the notion of good will from that of a person who has one.” see what Kant means by good will, I think we will see that a person who is fundamentally bad can (sometimes) show good will, and that a person who is generally good can sometimes show bad will. We will also see later that good will is not the same thing as a moral virtue. We will see that Kant explicitly says that a person can have good will but lack virtue. Will, Kant says, is a practical way of acting based on legal concepts. When we act or achieve what we set out to do, our actions are often beyond our control, so the morality of our actions does not depend on their outcome. What we can control, however, is the desire behind the action. In other words, we can operate under one law rather than another. Practical moral behavior must therefore be evaluated in terms of the purpose behind it. If two people, Smith and Jones, perform the same act, coming from the same point of view of the law, but events beyond Smith's control prevent them from achieving their goals, Smith is a far cry from the praise he deserved. We must consider them as morally as their will after their actions. Good will according to Kant is the only thing that is absolutely necessary for a person to have a good desire to undertake moral action. Kant believes that we value unrestricted good will. In this, it means that there is no circumstance in which we must convey our moral beliefs in order to find something desirable. Instead, virtues such as strength or courage may be downplayed or granted in certain circumstances. For example, we do not want to use our power to benefit those who are not good enough for the weak, and it may not be right to use our courage in action. Kant makes a connection between good will and conditional happiness. He makes it clear that our performance is only good if goodwill depends on it. In other words, without good will, all our actions will harm others. The good also helps us achieve satisfactionmoral. Kant says that good will “will shine like a jewel for itself, like something that has its full value in itself.” This means that good will is good in itself and does not need an excuse to justify its moral value. Even if our actions do not achieve the desired goals, as long as we have good intentions and have good will, our actions are the right attitude to adopt. Good Will and Reason After explaining the meaning of good will, Kant explains the importance and practicality of relating reason to our will. He then says that it is useless to give a reason for action that governs prosperity and happiness. The effect of trusting in the reason of our thinking is eliminated if we are willing to abandon action by instinct. In other words, if we show why actions are often chosen by the individual, then we are not fully applying the function of the intellect. Moreover, we turn to a certain aspect of our actions for no reason. Kant distinguishes acts motivated by inclination from those performed on principle. For example, someone may ask me why I did a certain thing and point out that it brought me no gain, or perhaps even made life a little less pleasant; to which I could respond: “I know that I have no gain to gain from this action, but I do it because of the principle of the thing. For Kant, this type of state of mind is the essence of moral conscience. When I act on principle, the only factor determining my motivation is that this particular action illustrates a particular case falling under the general law or "maxim." For Kant, the mental process by which the actor understands that a particular case falls under a certain principle is an exercise in "reasoning", or to be more precise, what Kant calls "practical reason", the reason used as a guide for action. ("Pure reason" is reason used to achieve certainty, or what Kant calls "scientific knowledge.") Since to have moral value, an action must be performed according to a principle, and to see that a certain principle applies to a particular action, it is necessary that In the exercise of reason, only rational beings can be considered to behave morally. According to Kant, the more reason is used to meet the need to achieve happiness and joy, the more likely it is to be truly successful. People who use reason to guide themselves, without harming their own desires, consequences, or inclinations, are creating good will. If our inspections are governed by good reasons, then we can be confident that we are meeting the objective of the inspection. That is, if we base our decisions on reason and reason alone, then we must act in accordance with good will. The intellectual use of reason is necessary to achieve our goal unconditionally and also prevents us from producing moral desires and biased choices. Kant says that this reason limits the realization of happiness; which is always a requirement and often leads to decreased satisfaction. Good will is good without limitation. Kant begins the first section of Groundwork with a statement that is one of the most memorable of all his writings: "There is nothing that it is possible to think of in any place in the world, or even of whatever is outside of it, which can be considered good without limitation, except one good will.” Goodness is limited depending on external circumstances. For example, the drug is good, although it is not recommended to take an excessive dose, taking into account the age, weight or condition of the patient. Wealth and power are good, but not for those, 10,2019.