PHIL 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Avail, Berit Brogaard, Meaningful Life
Document Summary
The good will is not good because of what it effects or accomplishes or because of its adequacy to achieve some proposed end; it is good only because of its willing, i. e. , it is good of itself. And, regarded for itself, it is to be esteemed incomparably higher than anything which could be brought about by it in favor of any inclination or even of the sum total of all inclinations. Usefulness or fruitlessness can neither diminish nor augment this worth. Corollary of kant"s view: bad will is bad regardless of whether it accomplishes its evil ends. Where a significant aspect of what someone does depends on factors beyond his control, yet we continue to treat him in that respect as an object of moral judgment, it can be called moral luck. Ultimately, nothing or almost nothing about what a person does seems to be under his control.
