Groundwork Of The Metaphysics Of Morals Summary

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Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals is a book written by Philosopher Immanuel Kant. In the preface, Kant deciphers ancient Greek philosophy that was divided into three sciences: physics, ethics, and logic (3). Adding maxims would be the only plausible reason for changing this philosophy because Kant thinks it is already perfect. These laws are either laws of nature or freedom. (3) According to Kant, all rational cognition is either formal or material (3). While formal philosophy focuses on the thought of itself, material philosophy focuses on specific objects. Formal philosophy is called logic, whereas physics and ethics are material philosophy (3). Kant fashions these three sciences based on the Greek philosophy which sets a foundation …show more content…
An example of this would be a person who does the right thing for all the right reasons. The second claim Kant makes is that a good will is the only entity in which we show “unconditional worth” (10). My understanding from this is that Kant is suggesting a good will is the only thing we can acquire as something of significance, no matter what the condition calls for. Also, Kant claims that “a good will is not good because of what it effects, or accomplishes, not because of its fitness to attain some intended end, but good just by its willing…” (10). This relates back to the ancient Greek science logic. Logic, just like good will, depends solely on itself.
Another claim Kant constructs in this section is that duty is the concept that we think about first when estimating the entire worth of our actions, which ultimately constitutes the condition of everything else (12). According to Kant, a duty is a good will operating under certain subjective limitations and hindrances (12-13). This means that a good will based off of certain requirements is considered a duty. These certain requirements determine whether the duty was done from duty or if it was done in itself (13). There are three motivations in determining if a good will is done from duty or in
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