Kant's Arguments Of Moral Good

Superior Essays
At first glance, moral good humans appear to appeal to the well thought out philosophical view; the truth of moral judgments is relative to the innate sense of whether a human is morally good or morally bad at birth. The basic definition of morally good and bad is that all moral points of view are equal, no one has morals that are any righter or wrong than any other person in this world. As you look closer at the points people use to justify their claims, you can plainly see that there are, more often than not, viable objections that can be made against any of the arguments for morally good, bad, and neutral. Humans born morally good suggest that a baby is born with an innate sense of morality. For example, researchers at Yale University begin …show more content…
Kant does not think that good will is not the same as the phrases, ‘he’s good hearted’, she’s good natured’, and ‘she mean’s well’ because they are ordinary notions. The idea of a good person is ideally closer to the idea of ‘the good will’. Kant’s idea of good will is what makes a good person is his possession of a will that is in certain way determined by, or makes their decisions on the basis of moral law. The only way a person can achieve good will is the idea of one who only makes decisions based on she holds to be morally worth taking moral considerations I themselves to be conclusive reasons to guide her behavior. This sort of character is what a person highly values. Kant believes that we value it without any limitation of qualification. I believe that he means two things, there is no conceivable circumstance in which we regard our own moral goodness as worth forfeiting simply in order to obtain some desirable object. The second meaning is possessing or maintaining one’s moral goodness is the very condition under which anything is worth having or pursuing. What Kant is trying the say is the terms of good will are the decisions of those who have morally demands based on the moral

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    He believes that “A good will is not good because of what it effects or accomplishes, nor because of its fitness to attain some proposed end, it is good only through its willing.” (Kant) Kant believes that we should act in such a way that we…

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Selfishness In Ishmael

    • 1781 Words
    • 8 Pages

    This attitude feeds into Kant’s theory that it’s “our good will to do things whether the…

    • 1781 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Grounding for the Metaphysics of Moral, Kant discusses the term of good will and further develops the nature of it. In the book, he gives several examples to illuminate human nature of good willing through the concept of duty, which is that duty is an action which we are force to perform out of respect for moral law. And there are three of the examples that clearly explain the terms. In the first example, the author states that a dealer shouldn’t overcharge an inexperienced purchaser in accordance with duty.…

    • 979 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For this, it means that there is a notion of law or principles being followed. Thus, acting from one 's duty, permits one 's action to set off any inclinations, they may have abided by the law by following it. This is not about goals or purpose but about our principles and this apply to everybody. Additionally, for Kant “good will” should be exercised even in the absence of good effects because moral truths are based on reason, thus it becomes a moral law. For instance, if a person knows that what he/…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hobbes Vs Kant On Morality

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Since I have I have deprived the will of every impulse that might arise for it from obeying any particular law, there is nothing left to serve the will” (Kant, 1998, pg14)One is able to be good without the need of qualification of being good. Human nature and a…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kant's Moral Explanations

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Explanations of Morals (Kant, Mill, Aristotle and Held) Morals (mor – als) Noun; plural 1. a lesson, especially one concerning what is right or prudent, that can be derived from a story, a piece of information or an experience. 2.…

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Someone who supports Kantianism would argue that they are right and say that a person is good because they always do what is right. However, that does not tell the whole story. By no means am I arguing that doing what is right or fulfilling your moral duty doesn’t make a person good, but what makes a person more good is having a good character. A genuinely good person does not do good things just solely because they are required to by law or should do it. They do good things because it is in their nature and they value these…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 3 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kant starts right off by talking about the only thing that can be considered good without limitations is that of a good will. He describes how the things that bring forth happiness can also cause arrogance unless a good will is present (4:393). He talks about how moderation in affects and passions, as well as self-control and calm reflection are not only good for all purposes, but they even effect the inner worth of a person. Kant believes without the basic principles of good will they can become evil (4:394). He tells us how a good will is good do only its volition, meaning it itself is good.…

    • 1351 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Humans are Naturally Good Humans are naturally born good in the sense humans do what is in their best interest. By nature humans are innocent when they are born for they only know what is rewarding for them and detrimental. Humans only become vile when their best interests clash with someone else's or are taught to become desensitized by others from what is right or wrong.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    We are free to act in way’s that are moral or immoral because according to this theory, our intentions are more meaningful than the outcome. Kant explains that, “A good will is not good because of what it effects or accomplishes-because of its fitness for attaining some proposed end: it is good through its willing along- that is good in itself (pg. 110). ” If we make the conscience effort to do good, we are inherently good. If our objectives are to cause harm, we are inherently bad. If we intend to do good but the outcome does not work in our favour, we are still seen as good since…

    • 1510 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Absolute moral rules mean the rules that everyone must follow in order to act morally. They are the rules that hold under any circumstances universally. I think the best candidates of absolute moral rules are a) We should never lie and b) We should never kill innocent people. There are strong arguments for candidate a)…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Kant’s theory of good will could say we should not base our actions off of what produces the most utility for ourselves in fact we should not even focus on ourselves we should focus on the moral duty that we all have. We could hate doing our moral duties; however, it is our moral duty to complete these…

    • 1310 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Kant describes the good will as good without qualification and it is the only thing that is universally absolutely good. “The good will is good not through what it effects or…

    • 1649 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is for our soul to have life and for it to be filled with happiness. It’s an active life that has it with rational principals. Going back to Kant, and him talking about good will, to me basically with having good will I could be laying down and not doing anything, but to contain me still having good will. Kant went logically wrong about his view on good because to him, the human well-being “happiness are two different independent point of views. Kant’s ethical goal is about following the principals, he believed there was a supreme principal for morality and referred it to the categorical Imperative, which were imperative, hypothetical, and categorical imperatives.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kant's Moral Theory Essay

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Kant’s moral theory is based on the fact that one’s action should be governed by a maxim that follows the purity of the will; the idea that one’s actions should be based on a will that aligns with duty and not on the consequences of one’s actions. In the contrary, rule utilitarianism is based on the consequences of one’s actions and how it impacts the overall happiness of the individuals involved. The following paper focuses on the ideas of duty ethics and utilitarian ethics; and how these ideas can be implemented in the case of James Liang. Kant believes that an act is morally acceptable when such an act perfectly aligns with one’s duty. Furthermore, he believed that all rational beings are obligated by the demands of duty.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics