Immanuel Kant Research Paper

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who was born on April 22, 1724. He is a central figure in modern philosophy. One of his biggest works is “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals” that was written in 1785. Kant argued that right actions are only right if those actions are not instigated by impulses or desires, but by practical reason. He believes that actions are only right if it fulfills one’s duty. He believed that the morality of an action must be assessed in terms of the motivation behind it. For instance, if two people do the same exact thing but one is unable to achieve his/her goal because of something beyond his/her control then that person should not be punished in any way for not succeeding. These two people had the same motive so why not consider them equal? Kant writes, “A good will is not good because of it effects or accomplishes, because of its fitness to attain some proposed end, but only because its volition, that is, it is good in itself. . .” Kant has come up with the …show more content…
in Greece. He enrolled in Plato’s academy when he was a teenager. Later, he founded his own school called Lyceum where he spent most of his life studying, teaching, and writing. One of Aristotle’s biggest works includes, “Eudaimonia” which means “doing and living well.” For Aristotle, the end or final cause of human existence is Eudaimonia. Aristotle believed that eudemonia is the good life and to achieve this, we must live as best as a human being can live. You do not live the best life by being asleep or doing the bare minimum. Aristotle also translated eudemonia as happiness. He believed that this was not a state of mind but an activity. For instance, the action of living. He also believed that eudemonia is objective. This meaning that when someone uses this term, is making a judgement about someone’s life as a good life. Finally, he believed that eudemonia was not something that could easily be