Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals In Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals, Kant elaborates on his idea that having a good will and being a moral person in turn will produce a good life. In all situations, a good will is good because it is done with a good intent regardless of the end result. A good will is composed of will and reason and can be simply defined as what someone ought to do. Here, I will discuss what it means to have a good life in relation to having a good will and how these two factors relate to happiness.
According to Kant, if we want to be good and moral people and therefore have a good life, we must do what is right, not because it makes us feel good, but because it should be done. So rather than do what makes us happy, which would seem like an action that would be done in order to have a good life, one should ignore that impulse and just do what is right. This brings up the idea that people are only doing what is right and not what is making them happy, therefore making them unhappy. How can one live a good life if they avoid the actions that make them happy and simply…show more content… If one’s life is so insignificant compared to the bigger picture of the world or the universe, then why is morality, goodness or badness, and rightness or wrongness important? Perhaps life would be best if people lived only to benefit themselves, or where what ought to be done is not even considered. But, if life was like this, no one would benefit because everyone would only be thinking of ways to make themselves happy. Perhaps this is what Kant is trying to explain, for the total wellbeing of our species, people must do what ought to be done and focus on achieving a good life to make life easier to live rather than do what they want because it will make themselves happy which in turn produces total unhappiness among all
