The Highest Good in Kant's Philosophy

by Thomas Höwing (Editor)

Overview

The idea of a final end of human conduct – the highest good – plays an important role in Kant’s philosophy. Unlike his predecessors Kant defines the highest good as a combination of two heterogeneous elements, namely virtue and happiness. This conception lies at the centre of some of the most influential Kantian doctrines such as his famous “moral argument” for the rationality of faith, his conception of the unity of reason and his views concerning the final end of nature as well as the historical progress of mankind. To be sure, the different treatments of the highest good in Kant’s work have led to a great deal of discussion among his readers. Besides Kant’s arguments for moral faith, recent debate has focused on the place of the highest good within Kant’s moral theory, on the antinomy of pure practical reason, and on the idea of the primacy of practical reason. This collection of new essays attempts to re-evaluate Kant’s doctrine of the highest good and to determine its relevance for contemporary philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110374285
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	04/25/2016
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas Höwing, Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments v

Introduction 1

Abbreviations and Methods of Reference 9

Notes on Contributors 11

I The Concept of the Highest Good and its Place in Kant's Moral Theory

The Highest Good and the Notion of the Good as Object of Pure Practical Reason Federica Basaglia 17

Kant on 'Good', the Good, and the Duty to Promote the Highest Good Pauline Kleingeld 33

Kant on Happiness and the Duty to Promote the Highest Good Florian Marwede 51

"Mixtum Compositum": On the Persistence of Kant's Dualism in the Doctrine of the Highest Good Birgit Recki 71

The Determination of the Concept of the Highest Good Stephen Engstrom 89

II Kant's Moral Arguments and the Postulates of Pure Practical Reason

God, the Highest Good, and the Rationality of Faith: Reflections on Kant's Moral Proof of the Existence of God Gabriele Tomasi 111

Kant on "Moral Arguments": What Does the Objectivity of a Postulate of Pure Practical Reason Consist In? Stephan Zimmermann 131

Kant, Mendelssohn, and Immortality Paul Guyer 157

Life without Death: Why Kantian Agents Are Committed to the Belief in Their Own Immortality Jochen Bojanowski 181

III Epistemology, Science, and Metaphysics

Kant on Opinion, Belief, and Knowledge Thomas Höwing 201

Must We Believe in the Realizability of Our Ends? On a Premise of Kant's Argument for the Postulates of Pure Practical Reason Marcus Willaschek 223

Applying the Concept of the Good: The Final End and the Highest Good in Kant's Third Critique Andrea Marlen Esser 245

"The supersensible … in us, above us and after us": The Critical Conception of the Highest Good in Kant's Practico-Dogmatic Metaphysics Günter Zöller 263

Index of Names 281

Subject Index 283

Editorial Reviews

"Il maggior pregio del volume curato da Höwing sta in conclusione proprio nella molteplicità di interpretazioni indipendenti e talora opposte in esso presentate. Raccogliendo intorno ad alcune domande fondamentali una costellazione di possibili risposte, il testo si mostra capace di restituire alcune fra le più originali implicazioni della multiforme dottrina kantiana del sommo bene e certamente di stimolare nuove questioni."
Silvia Petronzio in: Con-Textos Kantianos. International Journal of Philosophy, N.o 4, Noviembre 2016, pp. 380-390

From the Publisher