Abstract

Kant outlines the distinctive feature of ethics through two ends which are at the same time duties: the perfecting of the self and the happiness of others. How should we interpret this thesis within Kant’s moral theory as a whole? In the Tugendlehre we find an overlap of a deontological moral theory and a teleological moral theory, which provides a content to the prescriptions of ethics. My interpretation arises from the semantic complexity of the concept of humanity, here conceived as a dynamic notion that implies the idea of a progressive development of the human sphere; on this basis, I will try to suggest an interpretation which points out the elements of continuity between the Tugendlehre and previous Kantian works. The core of the question analysed in this paper concerns the following idea: the ends of the actions done out of duty arise from a reflection on how to realize the principle of morality: therefore, these ends are not exactly given a priori, they are rather determined by the activity of practical Judgment, which identifies the aspects of the context of action that are relevant for the realization of the moral law.