Obligatory Actions, Obligatory Maxims

Kantian Review 26 (1):1-25 (2021)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this paper, I confront Parfit’s Mixed Maxims Objection. I argue that recent attempts to respond to this objection fail, and I argue that their failure is compounded by the failure of recent attempts to show how the Formula of Universal Law can be used to demarcate the category of obligatory maxims. I then set out my own response to the objection, drawing on remarks from Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals for inspiration and developing a novel account of how the Formula of Universal Law can be employed to determine the deontic status of action tokens, action types, and maxims.

Similar books and articles

Abortion and Kant’s Formula of Universal Law.Lara Denis - 2007 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37 (4):547-579.
Maxims and Practical Contradictions.Richard Galvin - 2011 - History of Philosophy Quarterly 28 (4):407.
Crafting Maxims.Tobey Scharding - 2016 - Teaching Ethics 16 (1):37-53.
Two Dogmas of Kantian Ethics.Scott Forschler - 2013 - Journal of Value Inquiry 47 (3):255-269.
Kant's compass.Jordan Howard Sobel - 1997 - Erkenntnis 46 (3):365-392.
Kantian Reasons for Reasons.Noell Birondo - 2007 - Ratio 20 (3):264-277.
Recent work on Kantian maxims II.Rob Gressis - 2010 - Philosophy Compass 5 (3):228-239.
Abortion and Kant's Formula of Universal Law.Lara Denis - 2007 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 37 (4):547-579.
Maxims in Kant's practical philosophy.Richard R. McCarty - 2006 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 44 (1):65-83.
Principled and Unprincipled Maxims.David Forman - 2012 - Kant Studien 103 (3):318-336.
Duty and the Will of God.R. G. Swinburne - 1974 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 4 (2):213 - 227.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-05-06

Downloads
578 (#29,221)

6 months
305 (#6,507)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Samuel J. M. Kahn
Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis

Citations of this work

Poverty, Exploitation, Mere Things and Mere Means.Martin Sticker - 2021 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 26 (2):1-17.
The Apple of Kant's Ethics: i‐Maxims as the Locus of Assessment.Samuel Kahn - 2022 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 104 (3):559-577.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Famine, affluence, and morality.Peter Singer - 1972 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 1 (3):229-243.
Intention.G. E. M. Anscombe - 1957 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 57:321-332.
The practice of moral judgment.Barbara Herman - 1985 - Journal of Philosophy 82 (8):414-436.
Kant.Paul Guyer - 2006 - New York: Routledge.
The Practice of Moral Judgment.Barbara Herman - 1985 - Journal of Philosophy 82 (8):414.

View all 19 references / Add more references