Kant's Practical Philosophy: Duty, Morality, and the Categorical Imperative

Immanuel Kant: Practical Moral Philosophy

Immanuel Kant, an Enlightenment philosopher, sought to define the limits of human knowledge. While his overall philosophy is extensive, this discussion focuses specifically on his practical morality.

The Kantian Moral Law and the Categorical Imperative

For Kant, the moral law is practical and necessary. It is fundamentally formulated through the Categorical Imperative, often stated in variations such as: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."

Distinction Between Types of Morality

Kant distinguishes between two primary types of morality:

1. Material Morality (Heteronomous Ethics)

• It is heteronomous. The will is moved to act by something external to itself, such as power, pleasure, or desired outcomes.
• It uses hypothetical imperatives, which are not universal but empirical (e.g., "If you want X, then do Y").
• Its meaning is contained in the end result; it proposes the means necessary to achieve a specific goal.
• The goodness or badness of an action is determined *a posteriori* by the result achieved.

2. Formal Morality (Kantian Formalism)

• It has no content (it offers no specific purpose or property). It tells us *how* we should act, not *what* we should achieve.
• The maxim is often expressed in the Formula of Humanity: "Always act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means."
• It uses the Categorical Imperative (viewed as a synthetic *a priori* proposition of practical reason), a universal law whose rules are an end in themselves and are not a means to obtain something else.
• Actions are autonomous because we obey the moral law out of duty to act according to our own rational will.

Duty, Legality, and Moral Goodness

Formal morality is universal and necessary *a priori*. The goodness or badness of an action is based solely on the moral law itself.

Kant concludes that an action is truly good only if it is done out of duty and not for other purposes (such as inclination or expected reward). Kant distinguishes between:

• Acting from duty (Morality): The action is performed because the moral law commands it.
• Acting according to duty (Legality): The action conforms to the moral law, but the motivation is external (e.g., fear of punishment, self-interest).

The fundamental Kantian question, "What should I do?", is answered by stating that we should do whatever the moral law dictates.

The Supreme Good and the Postulates of Practical Reason

Another important aspect of Kantian philosophy is the concept of the Supreme Good, which is constituted by the unity of virtue and happiness. However, Kant argues that this unity is impossible to achieve fully in this finite life.

In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant demonstrated the impossibility of metaphysics as a science and the impossibility of objectively knowing the Soul, God, or the World as objects of theoretical knowledge, though he never denied their existence.

To make the attainment of the Supreme Good possible, it is necessary to postulate certain realities required by practical reason. These Postulates of Practical Reason are conditions for the establishment of the Supreme Good:

1. Freedom of Will: Necessary because moral obligation implies the ability to choose to follow the moral law.
2. Immortality of the Soul: Necessary to allow infinite time for the perfect alignment of the will with the moral law (virtue).
3. Existence of God: Necessary to guarantee the ultimate connection between virtue and happiness (the Supreme Good).

Kant concludes that Practical Reason (Moral Consciousness and its principles) has primacy over Theoretical Reason, and the progress of morality is intrinsically linked to the progress of human freedom.