Introductory description

According to Kant, philosophy seeks to answer just three questions: What can I know? What ought I to do? And, for what may I hope? Answers to the latter two questions comprise Kant’s ethical theory, which is the focus of this module. The module is divided into three thematic parts. Part one concerns Kant’s theory of moral obligation, in particular his attempt to ground such obligation in pure reason. Part two considers Kant’s theories of freedom and of rational faith in the existence of God and immortality of the soul. We conclude, in the third part, by looking at Kant’s applications of his moral theory to history and politics.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1: Kant and the Age of Enlightenment; Introduction to the “Critical Philosophy”
Kant, KrV B-Preface (B vii–xxxvii)

Secondary Reading:
Desmond Hogan, “Kant’s Copernican Turn and the Rationalist Tradition,” in The Cambridge Companion to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, ed. Paul Guyer (CUP, 2010)

Robert Adams, “Things in Themselves,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 57 (1997): 801–25.

Frederick Beiser, “The Enlightenment and Idealism,” [§§I–III] in The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism, ed. Karl Ameriks (CUP, 2000)

Week 2: Moral Duties and Moral Motivation
Kant, Groundwork Preface and §I (4:387–405)

Secondary Reading:
Wood and Schönecker, Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: A Commentary (Harvard University Press, 2015), Chs. 1–2. [Hereaf-ter: Wood and Schönecker]

Karl Ameriks, “Kant on the Good Will,” in his Interpreting Kant’s Critiques (OUP, 2003)

Christine Korsgaard, “Kant’s Analysis of Obligation,” The Monist 72 (1989): 311–40

Barbara Herman, “On the Value of Acting from the Motive of Duty,” The Philosophical Review 90 (1981): 359–382.

Week 3: The Categorical Imperative; Humanity as an End in Itself; Autonomy of the Will
Kant, Groundwork §2 (4:406–425)

Secondary Reading:
Wood and Schönecker, Ch. 3

––––, Kantian Ethics (CUP, 2008), Ch. 5.

J. David Velleman, “Love as a Moral Emotion,” Ethics 109 (1999): 338–74 (esp. 344–48).

Christine Korsgaard, Creating the Kingdom of Ends (CUP, 1996), Ch. 3.

Week 4: The Deduction of the Moral Law
Kant, Groundwork §3 (4:446–463); Review of Schulz (8:10–14)

Secondary Reading:
Wood and Schönecker, Ch. 4

Dieter Henrich, “The Deduction of the Moral Law,” in Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: Critical Essays, ed. Paul Guyer (Rowman & Little-field, 1998), pp. 303–342.

Karl Ameriks, “Kant’s Deduction of Freedom and Morality,” Journal of the History of Philosophy 19 (1981): 53–79.

Week 5: Transcendental Freedom and the Fact of Reason
Kant, KpV “Preface” (5:3–14), “Analytic of Pure Practical Reason” (5:42–57), “Critical Elucidation of the Analytic” (5:89–106)

Secondary Reading:
Allen Wood, “Kant’s Compatibilism,” in Self and Nature in Kant’s Philosophy (Cornell University Press, 1984) pp. 73–101

Derk Pereboom, “Kant on Transcendental Freedom,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 73 (2006): 537–67

Ian Proops, The Fiery Test of Critique, Ch. 12

Week 6: The Highest Good and the Practical Postulates (God, Immortality of the Soul)
Kant, KpV “Dialectic of Pure Practical Reason” (5:107–148)

Secondary Reading:
Kant, Critique of Judgment §§ 87 (5:447–53), 89–91 (5:459–66)

Lawrence Pasternack, “Restoring Kant’s Conception of the Highest Good,” Journal of the History of Philosophy 55 (2017): 435–68.

Andrew Chignell, “Belief in Kant,” The Philosophical Review 116 (2007): 323–360.

Allen Wood, Kant’s Moral Religion (Cornell University Press, 1970), Ch. 1 (pp. 10–33), Ch. 4

Robert Adams, “Moral Faith,” The Journal of Philosophy 92 (1995): 75–95

Week 7: Historical Progress
Kant, “Idea for a Universal History with Cosmopolitan Aim” (8:17–31)

Suggested Reading:
Kant, Critique of Judgment §§83–84; “On the Miscarriage of all Philosophical Trials in Theodicy” (8:253–71).

Pauline Kleingeld, “Kant, History, and the Idea of Moral Development,” History of Philosophy Quarterly 16 (1999): 59–80.

Allen Wood, “Kant’s Philosophy of History,” in Toward Perpetual Peace and Other Writings on Politics, Peace, and History, edited by Pauline Kleingeld, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008, pp. 243-262.

Derk Pereboom, “Kant on God, Evil, and Teleology,” Faith and Philosophy 13 (1996): 801–825.

Week 8: Principles of Justice and Foundations of the State
Kant, “On the Common Saying: That may be Correct in Theory, but it is of no Use in Practice” (focus esp. on Part II, 8:289–307)

Suggested Reading:
Arthur Ripstein, Force and Freedom: Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy, Chs. 1, 2 and 6

Week 9: World Peace
Kant, “Toward Perpetual Peace” (8:343–85)

Suggested Reading:
Paul Guyer, “Nature, Morality, and the Possibility of Peace,” in Kant on Freedom, Law, and Happiness (CUP, 2000), pp. 408–34.

Pauline Kleingeld, “Approaching Perpetual Peace: Kant’s Defense of a League of States and his Ideal of a World Federation,” European Journal of Philosophy 12 (3):304-325 (2004).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• understand Kant’s key ideas and the contribution they make to moral philosophy, and be able to provide critical responses to his ideas.
• isolate the important claims within readings, understand the structure of arguments, test views for strengths and weaknesses, make pertinent use of examples, and compare the substance of views consistently.

Indicative reading list

Those seeking general introductions to Kant’s life and thought may wish to consult Paul Guyer’s Kant (Routledge, 2014) and Manfred Kuehn’s Kant: A Biography (Cambridge University Press, 2001). Those interested in some general background on the period of modern ethical thought leading up to Kant may find helpful J.B. Schneewind’s The Invention of Autonomy: A History of Modern Moral Philosophy (Cambridge University Press, 1998).

The module will focus on reading and grappling with Kant’s own work. Each week there is a key reading from one of Kant’s texts that serves as the basis for the lectures and seminar discussion. Almost all of our readings are contained in: Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, translated and edited by Mary J. Gregor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). You may either purchase this volume or access it online (via the library's website).

In addition to the introductory books mentioned above, here are some booklength treatments of Kant’s practical philosophy that you might find useful:

Henry Allison, Kant’s Theory of Freedom (Cambridge University Press, 1990)

Paul Guyer, Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: A Reader’s Guide (Continuum, 2007)

Christine Korsgaard, Creating the Kingdom of Ends (Cambridge University Press, 1996)

Jens Timmermann, Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: A Commen-tary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)

Allen Wood, Kant’s Ethical Thought (Cambridge University Press, 1999)

Subject specific skills

• close-reading and textual analysis of primary source materials (i.e. Kant's writings), and independent research and assessment of secondary literature
• organisation and articulation of independent responses to the subject matter in written and verbal forms
• construction and defence of critical stances and arguments

Transferable skills

• comprehension and analysis of complex and nuanced written communications
• oral and written communication of independent responses to a range of materials
• presentation of well-reasoned argument in support of a conclusion