Kant's Ethical Thought (Modern European Philosophy)

MODERN

EUROPEAN

PHILOSOPHY

KANT'S ETHICAL THOUGHT ALLEN W. WOOD

MODERN

T

EUROPEAN

PHILOSOPHY

HIS I S A MAJOR N E W STUDY O F K A N T ' S ETHICS that will transform the way students and scholars approach the

subject in future. Allen W o o d argues that Kant's ethical vision is grounded in the idea of the dignity of the rational nature of every human being. Undergoing both natural competitiveness and social antagonism, the human species, according t o Kant, develops the rational capacity t o struggle against its impulses toward a human community in which the ends of all are t o harmonize and coincide. The distinctive features of the book are twofold. First, it focuses for the first time on the central role played in Kant's ethical theory by the value of rational nature as an end itself. Second, it shows the importance of Kant's systematic theory of human nature and history and its implications for the structure, formulation, and application of Kant's moral principles. This comprehensive study will be of critical importance t o students of moral philosophy, the history of ideas, political theory, and religious studies. A L L E N W . W O O D is Professor of Philosophy at Yale University.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS www.cambridge.org

«SHSSF

Cover design by Jeffrey J. Faville

KANT'S ETHICAL T H O U G H T This is a major new study of Kant's ethics that will transform the way students and scholars approach the subject in the future. Allen Wood argues that Kant's ethical vision is grounded in the idea of the dignity of the rational nature of every human being. Undergoing both natural competitiveness and social antagonism, the human species, according to Kant, develops the rational capacity to struggle against its impulses, toward a human community in which the ends of all are to harmonize and coincide. The distinctive features of the book are twofold. First, it focuses for the first time on the central role played in Kant's ethical theory by the value of rational nature as an end in itself. Second, it shows the importance of Kant's systematic theory of human nature and history and its implications for the structure, formulation, and application of Kant's moral principles. This comprehensive study will be of critical importance to students of moral philosophy, the history of ideas, political theory, and religious studies. Allen W. Wood is Professor of Philosophy at Yale University.

MODERN EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY General Editor R o b e r t B. Pippin, University of Chicago Advisory Board Gary Gutting, University of Notre Dame Rolf-Peter H o r s t m a n n , Humboldt University, Berlin Mark Sacks, University of Essex

This series contains a range of high-quality books o n philosophers, topics, a n d schools of t h o u g h t p r o m i n e n t in the Kantian a n d post-Kantian Europ e a n tradition. It is n o n s e c t a r i a n in a p p r o a c h a n d methodology, a n d includes b o t h introductory a n d m o r e specialized treatments of these thinkers a n d topics. Authors are e n c o u r a g e d to i n t e r p r e t the b o u n d a r i e s of the m o d e r n E u r o p e a n tradition in a b r o a d way a n d in primarily philosophical r a t h e r than historical terms.

Some Recent Titles: Frederick A. Olafson: What Is a Human Being"? Stanley Rosen: The Mask of Enlightenment: Nietzsche's Zarathustra R o b e r t C . Scharff: Comte after Positivism F. C. T. Moore: Bergson: Thinking Backwards Charles L a r m o r e : The Morals of Modernity R o b e r t B. Pippin: Idealism as Modernism Daniel W. Conway: Nietzsche's Dangerous Game J o h n P. McCormick: Carl Schmitt 's Critique of Liberalism Frederick A. Olafson: Heidegger and the Ground of Ethics G ü n t e r Zöller: Fichte's Transcendental Philosophy W a r r e n Breckman: Marx, the Young Hegelians, and the Origins of Radical Social Theory William Blattner: Heidegger's Temporal Idealism Charles Griswold: Adam Smith and the Virtues of Enlightenment Gary Gutting: Pragmatic Liberalism and the Critique of Modernity

KANT'S ETHICAL T H O U G H T

ALLEN W. WOOD Yale University

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA www.cup.org i o Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia Ruiz de Alarcön 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain © Allen W. Wood 1999 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1999 Printed in the United States of America 7)i/)c/ac«NewBaskerville 10.25/13 pt.

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A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wood, Allen W. Kant's ethical thought / Alien W. Wood. p. cm. - (Modern European philosophy) ISBN 0-521-64056-3 ( h e ) . - ISBN 0-521-64836-x (pbk.) I. Kant, Immanuel, 1724—1804-Contributions in ethics. I. Title. II. Series. B2799.E8W59 1999 i7o'.g2-dc2i 98-32168 CIP ISBN 0 5 2 1 64056 3 hardback ISBN 0521 64836 x paperback

[AG]

To the memory of my parents Alleen Blumberg Wood April 18, 1906-July 28, 1986 Forrest E. Wood July 2, 1909-February 4, 1998

CONTENTS

Preface

page xiii

Abbreviations Citations Formufas and proposition^ Table of duties of virtue

xvii xvii xx xxiv

Introduction i An Enlightenment moralist 2 Human equality 3 Morality and human nature 4 Kant's ethical writings 5 The structure of this book I

1 1 5 8 11 13

METAPHYSICAL F O U N D A T I O N S

1

Common rational moral cognition 1 Grounding ethical theory 2 The good will 3 Acting from duty 4 Moral worth and maxims 5 Respect for law

2

Rational will and imperatives i The will 2 A prion practical principles 3 Hypothetical imperatives 4 As^ertoric imperatives 5 Categorical imperatives

*

17 17 21 26 40 42 go 50 55 60 65 70

IX

CONTENTS

X

3

The formula of universal law 1 Objective practical principles 2 The derivation of FUL and FLN 3 Applying FLN: suicide 4 False promises and converted deposits 5 Rusting talents 6 Refusing to help 7 The problems with FUL 8 Exceptional behavior and self-preference

7D 76 78 82 87 90 91 97 107

4

The formula of humanity as end in itself 1 Ends and determining grounds of the will 2 Ends in themselves and existent ends 3 Humanity and personality 4 Things and persons 5 Kant's derivation of FH 6 The equal worth of all rational beings 7 Applying FH 8 The structure of arguments from FH

111 111 114 118 122 124 132 139 150

5

The formula of autonomy and the realm of ends 1 The ground of obligation 2 FA as a moral principle 3 The realm of ends 4 Freedom and the moral law 5 Formulating the moral law

156 156 163 165 171 182

II

ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

6

The study of human nature 1 Practical anthropology 2 The difficulty of self-knowledge 3 Pragmatic anthropology 4 Human history as a natural phenomenon 5 Natural teleology

193 193 196 202 207 215

7

The history of human nature 1 Herder vs. Kant 2 Historical conjectures 3 The first free choice 4 The origin of morality 5 Kant's historical materialism

226 226 233 235 238 244

CONTENTS

XI

8

Human inclinations and affections 1 Natural desire 2 Natural passions 3 Social passions 4 Desire and deception 5 Sympathy, love, and charity 6 Friendship

250 250 253 259 265 269 275

9

The historical vocation of morality 1 The radical evil in human nature 2 Nature and culture 3 Reason, communication, and enlightenment 4 The ethical community

283 283 291 300 309

Conclusion 1 The final form of Kant's ethical theory 2 The sphere of right 3 Ethics as a system of duties 4 Ethics as a system of ends 5 Ethics as virtue 6 What is Kantian ethics about?

321 321 322 323 325 329 333

Notes

337

Index

419

i

PREFACE

The ideas for this book were already taking shape in the 1980s, while I was at work on Hegel's Ethical Thought.1 There I tried to present Hegel's critique of Kant in a way that was accurate and fair to both philosophers, but as the work progressed I became increasingly aware how difficult this would be. I realized from the beginning that Hegel's criticisms of the Kantian principle of morality do not entirely succeed because, like most of Kant's readers, Hegel attended exclusively to the Formula of Universal Law, ignoring the other formulations, which are more adequate statements of the principle. 2 I also began to see that on the deeper issues that separate the two philosophers, Kant's position is grounded on a distinctive theory of human nature and history, whose importance for Kant's ethics has seldom been appreciated. In some ways this theory anticipates Hegel's own philosophy of history, but it also provides a compelling explanation for Kant's notorious view that natural inclinations are a "counterweight" to moral reason (G 4:405) rather than being (as Hegel thinks) an expression of reason. I decided to write a book on Kant's ethical thought when I realized that along with the overemphasis on the Formula of Universal Law, the neglect of Kant's empirical theory of human nature and history is responsible for most of the misunderstandings of Kant's ethical thought that prevail among its supporters as well as its critics. The picture of Kantian ethics that emerges is, I think, not only a more accurate historical portrait but a deeper and more engaging ethical view than that with which Kant is usually credited. While I do mount my own criticisms of Kant's ethical theory in some of its details, I argue that many familiar objections to it are based on serious misunderstandings of Kant's position. Here I chiefly criticize the overemphasis on the Formula of Universal Law, when it is taken as the definitive expression of Xlll

XIV

PREFACE

the principle grounding Kant's ethical theory and as most authentically characterizing its conception of moral reasoning. 3 Under this heading I also place the common charges that Kantian ethics is unconcerned with the empirical realities of psychology, society, and history, that it sees no value in the affective side of our nature, and that it is individualistic both in its conception of moral agency and in its moral conclusions. In all these cases, I think the truth is exactly the reverse. At other points I try to show Kant's detractors that even where they may continue to reject some Kantian doctrines even after they have properly understood them, these doctrines are nevertheless far more thoughtful and well-grounded than they realize. Under this rubric I place Kant's theses that ethics must be founded on an a priori principle of reason, that natural inclinations generally require rational constraint, which only the motive of duty is adequate to provide, that our natural desire for happiness is more a foe than an ally of morality, and that feelings such as love and sympathy, though beautiful and amiable, are unworthy of moral esteem. These aims are carried out by emphasizing some crucial features of Kant's theory whose centrality is not fully appreciated or whose very presence is often barely recognized. At the top of that list is Kant's conception of human dignity: the absolute, hence equal, worth of all rational beings. The list also includes the following: a theory of the historical development of human culture, including economic forms, social relationships, customary morality, and the political state; a shrewd, penetrating analysis of the psychological and social meaning of familiar human dispositions, inclinations, and passions; and the indispensable importance for the moral life of free rational communication, the intimacy of friendship, a community of shared collective ends, and an enlightened, progressive organized religion. In the past twenty years, my interest has been drawn back to Kant's ethical thought also by my experience of the present age. Our time (the twentieth century, and especially its last two decades) has been, and still is, a disillusioning time in which to live. The social, political, and intellectual climate of my country (and therefore of the globe over which it tyrannizes) has grown blinder, nastier, more irrational. The always dominant economic and political structures have become increasingly wealthy, powerful, arrogant, ambitious, greedy, and shortsighted. As life becomes harder and more hopeless for those excluded from these structures, large numbers of people turn back to old enthusiasms and superstitions, which are usually the pretext for outgrown passions and

PREFACE

XV

old hatreds. Ancient and parochial forms of community reassert themselves because the only order presenting itself as new and rational is devoid of any genuine community, since it holds people together only by entangling them in a confused nexus of unbridled power and selfinterest. Progressive social movements, whose vocation has been to build a free community grounded on the rational dignity of all human beings, must now use their whole strength and courage merely to survive in a world grown hostile to them. The job of intellectuals is to oppose unreason, speak truth to power, and think the way toward a genuine community. Some, as always, choose instead to apologize for the rationally indefensible; but too many others in our age are caught up in the fashionable mood of irony, absurdity, and self-destruction because they have lost confidence in the mind's authority over human life and its power to find better ways for people to live. At such a time it is not difficult to see some truth in Kant's somber account of the evil in human nature. It even becomes easier to sympathize with his stern, moralistic insistence that people must subject their ways of thinking to rational criticism and reform their ways of acting through a fundamental change of heart. Still more than that, however, the age needs Kant's sober, principled hope for a more rational, cosmopolitan future. In other words, we need to recapture an authentically Enlightenment conception of the human condition, especially an interpretation ofthat conception that makes clear the Enlightenment's still unrealized radical potential. My first attempt to deal with the themes of this book was a paper written in 1989. 4 Work on the book itself began in 1992, while I was living in Bonn. During the next six years, while the book was being written, this work spawned ten more papers dealing with themes in Kant's ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of history. Three of them have been at least partly incorporated into the present book. 5 The other seven were originally conceived as parts of it but were eventually excluded in order to keep the book's size within reasonable limits. 6 For like reasons of economy in exposition, a number of important discussions have also been relegated to the endnotes. Despite their length and their exile to the back of the book, I urge readers not to neglect them entirely. My research in Bonn was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. There I was affiliated with Philosophisches Seminar A, Rheinisch-Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn. I want to thank its Director, Professor Hans-Michael Baumgartner, and two of its academic administrators, Eduard Gerresheim and Thomas Zwenger, for their

XVI

PREFACE

help and cooperation. Philosophisches Seminar B and its Director, Professor Ludger Honnefelder, were also generously supportive. Particularly useful in my work for this book was the opportunity to speak on and discuss Kant a number of times in Germany and Austria. I would like to thank Dieter Schönecker, Rudolf Teuwsen, and Ingrid Rissom for helping me prepare lectures in presentable German. Paul Guyer, Thaddeus Metz, Onora O'Neill, and Jerome B. Schneewind served as official commentators on papers I gave on themes in Kant's ethics; their remarks led to improvements in this book. Andrews Reath and Dieter Schönecker gave me helpful comments on a draft of Part I, and Brian Jacobs on a draft of Chapter 6. My wife Rega Wood was supportive and helpful in many ways, and my son Stephen Wood saved me more than once from computer glitches. Kelly Sorensen helped with proofreading. There have also been countless discussions with colleagues and students at Cornell and Yale Universities, participants and questioners at conferences I have attended, and lectures I have given in North America, the European Union, the island of Taiwan, and the region where Kant lived. There are literally dozens of passages where I could name the individual whose challenging question or objection they try to address. Without the input of those people the present book, whatever its actual merits and defects, would have been much poorer. In some conspicuous cases I have thanked particular individuals in endnotes. I tried to prepare a list of all the people to whom I owe this sort of gratitude, but gave up when it ballooned to over a hundred names and I knew it was still not complete. I would like to think that many of those individuals will one day cross paths with this book. When they do, I hope they will recognize their questions or objections. Whether or not they find my responses satisfying, I hope they will at least know that they have my gratitude and that they will accept my apology for not thanking them by name. Beyond expressing gratitude to individuals, I also offer the thought that the generally high level and the cooperative spirit of all these discussions shows that Kant studies in our time is a field of conspicuous scholarly and philosophical excellence, of whose collective achievements all who labor in it may be justly proud.

ABBREVIATIONS

Citations: Ak

Ca

AN

BM

BS

D

Immanuel Kants Schriften. Ausgabe der königlich preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1902-). Unless otherwise footnoted, writings of Immanuel Kant will be cited by volume:page number in this edition. Cambridge Edition of the Writings of Immanuel Kant (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992-). Most English translations now include Ak pagination, and all writings of Kant available in English are (or presently will be) available in this edition with marginal Ak volume:page citations. Specific works will be cited using the following system of abbreviations (works not abbreviated below will be cited simply as Ak volume: page): Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels (1755), Ak 1 Universal natural history and theory of the heavens, Ca Natural Science Bestimmung des Begriffs einer Menschenrace, Ak 8 Determination of the concept of a race of human beings, Ca Anthropology, History and Education Beobachtungen über das Gefühl des Schönen und Erhabenen (1764), Ak 2 Observations on the feeling of the beautiful and sublime, Ca Anthropology, History and Education Inaugural Dissertation: De mundi sensibilis atque intelligibüis forma et principiis (177°) > Ak 2 On theform and principles of the sensible and the intelligible world, Ca Theoretical Philosophy before 1781 XVll

xvm DG

ED EF

G I

KrV

KpV KU MA

MS O

R

RH

ABBREVIATIONS

Untersuchung über die Deutlichkeit der Grundsätze der natürlichen Theologie und der Moral (1764), Ak 2 Inquiry concerning the distinctness of the principles of natural theology and morality, Ca Theoretical Philosophy before 1781 Das Ende aller Dinge (1794), Ak 8 The end of all things, Ca Religion and Rational Theology Zum ewigen Frieden: Ein philosophischer Entwurf (1795), Ak 8 Toward perpetual peace: A philosophical project, Ca Practical Philosophy Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (1785), Ak 4 Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals, Ca Practical Philosophy Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbürgerlicher Absicht (1784), Ak 8 Idea toward a universal history with a cosmopolitan aim, Ca Anthropology, History and Education Kritik der reinen Vernunft (1781, 1787). Cited by A/B pagination. Critique of pure reason, Ca Critique of Pure Reason Kritik der praktischen Vernunft (1788), Ak 5 Critique ofpractical reason, Ca Practical Philosophy Kritik der Urteilskraft (1790), Ak 5 Critique of the power of judgment, Ca Aesthetics and Teleology Mutmaßlicher Anfang der Menschengeschichte (1786), Ak 8 Conjectural beginning of human history, Ca Anthropology, History and Education Metaphysik der Sitten (1797-1798), Ak 6 Metaphysics of morals, Ca Practical Philosophy Was heißt: Sich im Denken orientieren ? (1786), Ak 8 What does it mean to orient oneself in thinking1? Ca Religion and Rational Theology Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft (17931794), Ak 6 Religion within the boundaries of mere reason, Ca Religion and Rational Theology When followed by a four-digit number and a citation to Ak, "R" abbreviates "Reflexion" from Kant's handschriftliche Nachlaß (or handwritten literary remains). Recensionen vonJ. G. Herders Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit, Ak 8 Reviews of J. G. Herder's Ideas toward the philosophy of the history of humanity, Ca Anthropology, History, and Education

ABBREVIATIONS

RM

SF TP

UE

VA

VE VL VP

XIX

Von den verschiedenen Racen der Menschen, Ak 2. The different races of human beings, Ca Anthropology History and Education Streit der Fakultäten (1798), Ak 7 Conflict of the faculties, Ca Religion and Rational Theology Über den Gemeinspruch: Das mag in der Theorie richtig sein, taugt aber nicht für die Praxis (1793), Ak 8 On the common saying: That may be correct in theory but it is of no use in practice, Ca Practical Philosophy Über eine Entdeckung, nach der alle neue Kritik der reinen Vernunft durch eine ältere enbehrlich gemacht werden soll ( i 7 g o ) , Ak8 On a discovery according to which every new critique of pure reason is made dispensable by an older one, Ca Theoretical Philosophy after 1781 Anthropologie in pragmatischer Hinsicht (17g8), Ak 7 Anthropology from a pragmatic standpoint, Ca Anthropology, History and Education Vorlesungen über Anthropologie, Ak 25 Lectures on anthropology, Ca Lectures on Anthropology Vorlesungen über Ethik, Ak 27 Lectures on ethics, Ca Lectures on Ethics Vorlesungen über Logik, Ak 9, 24 Lectures on logic, Ca Lectures on Logic Pädagogik, Ak 9

Lectures on pedagogy, Ca Anthropology, History and Education Physische Geographie, Ak g. Lectures on physical geography, Ca Writings on Natural Science VpR Vorlesungen über die philosophische Religionslehre, Ak 28 Lectures on the philosophical doctrine of religion, Ca Religion and Rational Theology WA Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung? (1784), Ak 8 An answer to the question: What is enlightenment? Ca Practical Philosophy Rousseau Writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau will be cited by English title and by volume:page in Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Oeuvres completes (Paris: Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, 1962-). Herder Writings of Johann Gottfried Herder will be cited by volume: page in Herders Sämmtliche Werke, ed., B. Suphan (Berlin: Weidmann, 1881-1913). VPG

XX

ABBREVIATIONS

Formulas and propositions: Formulas of the moral law Kant formulates the moral law in three principal ways. The first and third of these have variants which are intended to bring the law "closer to intuition" and make it easier to apply. These five principal formulations of the moral law will be abbreviated as follows. F I R S T FORMULA:

FUL

The Formula of Universal Law: "Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law" (G 4:421; cf. 4:402);

with its variant, FLN

TheFormula of the Law ofNature. "Act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature" ( 6 4 : 4 2 1 ; cf. 4:436).

SECOND FORMULA:

FH

The Formula of Humanity as End in Itself. "So act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means" (64:429; cf. 4:436).

T H I R D FORMULA:

FA

TheFormula ofAutonomy:"... the idea of the will of every rational being as a will giving universal law" (G 4:431; cf. 4:432); or "Choose only in such a way that the maxims of your choice are also included as universal law in the same volition" (G 4:439; cf. 4:432, 434, 438);

with its variant, FRE

The Formula of the Realm ofEnds: "Act in accordance with the maxims of a universally legislative member of a merely possible realm of ends" (G 4:439; cf. 4:432, 437, 438).

Following is a preliminary form of FUL: CI

Adopt only maxims that conform to universal law as such (cf. 0 4 : 4 2 1 ) .

In Chapter 3,1 argue that unlike FUL and FLN, CI actually follows from the mere concept of a good will and a categorical imperative. A "universal formula of the categorical imperative" (G 4:436-437) (which I argue is to be read as a version of FA, not of FUL) is given in all Kant's major ethical works:

ABBREVIATIONS

FG FK

FM

XXI

"Act in accordance with a maxim that can at the same time make itself a universal law" (G 4:437). "So act that the maxim of your action could always at the same time hold (gelten) as a principle of universal legislation" (KpVö^o). "Act upon a maxim that can also hold as a universal law" (MS 6:225).

In addition, Kant's theory of right is grounded on the following principle: R

Principle of Right: "Any action is right if it can coexist with everyone's freedom according to a universal law, or if on its maxim the freedom of choice of each can coexist with everyone's freedom in accordance with a universal law" (MS 6:230). Deduction of the moral law

Kant's deduction of the moral law is treated in Chapter 5 § 4. It is based on the "Reciprocity Thesis," a mutual entailment between the following two propositions: F M

The rational will is free. The moral law is unconditionally valid for the rational will.

Thus the Reciprocity Thesis is: FM

If t h e rational will is free, t h e n t h e m o r a l law is u n c o n d i tionally valid for it

h e infers t h a t M.

Nonmoral principles of reason In Chapter 2, I also formulate three nonmoral a priori principles of reason: EI

The Imperative ofEnds: If you set an end Z (and as long as you retain Z as an end), then if possible perform some set of actions which will foreseeably result in the attainment of Z, and refrain from any action which would preclude the attainment of Z.

ABBREVIATIONS

XX11

HI

PI

,

The Hypothetical Imperative: If you set an end Z, perform whatever actions are indispensably necessary means to the attainment of Zwhich lie in your power (cf. G 4:414-417). The Pragmatic (or Prudential) Imperative: Form an idea for yourself of the greatest achievable sum of your empirical satisfaction (under the name 'happiness') and make happiness your end, preferring it over any limited empirical satisfaction.

Maxims The following maxims are discussed in Chapter 3 (some occasionally later): Mi

M2

Md M3

M4

Mv Mk Ma Mb