17th/18th Century Philosophy > 17th/18th Century German Philosophy > Immanuel Kant > Kant: Ethics > Kant: Moral Psychology > Kant: Moral Motivation
Kant: Moral Motivation
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Edited by Michael Walschots (Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg)
About this topic
Summary | The main interpretive issue surrounding Kant’s understanding of moral motivation concerns how we are to understand the moral motive itself, namely “respect” (Achtung) for the moral law. Kant identifies respect as a feeling, albeit one that has its source in reason, but there is much disagreement over the precise role that this feeling plays in the motivational process, if it plays one at all. Some claim that this feeling plays a positive role in being motivated by the moral law alone, while others argue it does not and is merely ‘epiphenomenal.’ How one characterizes Kant’s view is significant when it comes to understanding it in terms of modern debates concerning cognitivism and non-cognitivism, and internalism and externalism, with interpreters falling on all sides. In many of these debates, attempts are made to compare and contrast Kant’s view to Hume’s. The other issues and key concepts that arise in discussions of Kant’s conception of moral motivation include the following: the role of pleasure in moral action, the concept of an incentive (Triebfeder), the nature of moral feelings, the sense in which moral action is free, the distinction between acting ‘from’ and ‘in accordance with’ duty, and the difference between moral and non-moral motivation. Indeed, Kant’s account of moral motivation often ends up referring to other, larger issues surrounding moral worth, autonomy, Kant’s broader theory of action/agency, freedom and many others. |
Key works | Some classic papers, which represent contrasting interpretations of the role of feeling in moral motivation, are Reath 1989 McCarty 1993, Timmons 1985, and McCarty 1994. Other older papers on respect and moral feeling include Macbeath 1973 and Broadie & Pybus 1975 . Among the more influential papers are Nuyen 1991, Geiger 2011, Sytsma 1993, Wuerth 2013, Zinkin 2006, and more recently Ware 2014. For Kant’s empirical psychology, and the role played by feeling, desire, and cognition in both moral and non-moral motivation, see Frierson 2005 and Frierson 2014. |
Introductions | For introductions to Kant’s view in general, see Allison Henry 2011 Allison 1990 and Uleman 2016. For how Kant’s view contrasts with alternatives, see Klemme et al 2006. For Kant’s broader theory of action see McCarty 2009 and for a useful summary of the various options on the secondary literature see Sargentis 2012 . |
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Related categories
Siblings:
- Kant: Maxims (41)
- Kant: Respect (79)
- Kant: Moral Psychology, Misc (142)
- Kant: Moral Psychology (497 | 126)
- Kant: Respect (79)
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