PHIL 111 Lecture Notes - Gestapo, Practical Reason
27 Feb 2014
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Document Summary
The c. i. provides a standard of rationality which is the basis for all moral requirements: because morality is rationality, immorality is therefore irrationality. Other philosophers have also argued that moral requirements are based on standards of rationality. The difference between kant and his predecessors is the following: for other philosophers, reason mattered either as an instrument or as a source of unique rational intuitions. A rational will is autonomous just in case it is the author of the law that binds it. The fundamental principle of morality- the c. i. - is none other than the law of an autonomous will. So central to kant"s moral philosophy is a conception of reason which sees it as much more than a mere instrument. Moreover, the presence of this self-governing reason in each person constitutes grounds for taking all people as possessing equal worth and deserving equal respect.
