Some Questions about "First Principles of Morals," by Kant

Interpretive Questions

Kant asserts (p. 16) that "Now all imperatives command either hypothetically or categorically." What is a "hypothetical imperative"? What is a "categorical imperative"?

Read pages 15-17, beginning "Everything in nature works according to laws ..." to "action is good for some purpose, possible or actual ..."

Read pages 2-5, beginning, "There is, however, something so strange ..." to "may involve many a disappointment to the ends of inclination."

Re-read the last sentence, "For reason recognizes the establishment of a good will as its highest practical destination, and in attaining this purpose is capable only of a satisfaction of its own proper kind, namely, that from the attainment of an end, which end again is determined by reason only, notwithstanding that this may involve many a disappointment to the ends of inclination."

How is reason to cope with such a disappointment?


On page 8, Kant writes, "the second proposition is: That an action done from duty derives its moral worth, not from the purpose which is to be attained by it, but from the maxim by which it is determined, and therefore does not depend on the realization of the object of the action, but merely on the principle of volition by which the action has taken place, without regard to any object of desire." How can "moral worth" come from the source of the action, and not from its outcome?

Read pp. 8 through 11, from "The third proposition ..." to "Hence my maxim, as soon as it should be made a universal law, would necessarily destroy itself."

Re-read the sentence on p. 9, "I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law." Apply this to Kant's position on lying. What is the role of will in turning a maxim into a universal law?

Read pp. 11 through 13, from "If we have hitherto drawn our notion of duty from the common use of our practical reason" ... to "this duty is involved as duty in the idea of a reason determining the will by a priori principles." Why is Kant's notion duty based on a priori principles. (Note: "a priori" means "from before," that is, before experience).

Read pp. 19 through 22, from "There is therefore but one categorical imperative, namely this: Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will that it should become a universal law ." to "Thus it has been completely shown by these examples how all duties depend as regards the nature of the obligation (not the object of the action) on the same principle."

Discuss how Kant applies his principles to four imagined individuals, who may be described as (1)depressive, (2) indebted, (3) hedonistic, and (4) self-satisfied. Are you convinced that all four would be unsuccessful in willing his actions into universal laws?

Capstone question: Why, according to Kant, does reason control will by means of a priori principles?

The last sentence of the selection reads, "We have not yet, however, advanced so far as to prove a priori that there actually is such an [categorical] imperative, that there is a practical law which commands absolutely of itself and without any other impulse, and that the following of this law is duty." Will Kant go on to prove this, and how?

Evaluative Question

Is it possible to identify people of "pure and good will." (p.1) Can someone who "is not adorned with a single feature of a pure and good will, enjoying unbroken prosperity ... never give pleasure to an impartial rational spectator." [Emphasis added]. In other words, is it universally unacceptable for good things to happen to bad people?