Abstract

The aim of this book is to distinguish meaningfully between two basic aspects of Kant’s moral theory. These he stated in terms of the German words Wille and Willkür. While Wille means the ability of the self to legislate in the moral rather than in the strictly legal sense, Willkür signifies that freedom to choose and act which makes a person a free moral agent. Throughout the book Hochberg emphasizes the significance of this moral freedom. Without it, morality itself would be utterly impossible, for human beings would be as much at the mercy of their passions and instincts as the brutes.