La loi universelle de Kant

Philosophie | 13 pages | 14-03-2006 | Format : | Note : Non noté |

Résumé

Dissertation de 2800 mots en anglais. Elle part d'une citation de Kant, pour analyser la definition kantienne d'obligation morale, tout en faisant référence à d'autres auteurs tel que Hegel. Contient une bibliographie ainsi que de nombreuses citations toutes référencées. Le sujet complet est le suivant : "Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will as a universal law (Kant). What does this mean? Does it succeed in making explicit our concept of a moral requirement?"

Extrait:

When facing the difficulty to determine an absolute criterion of good and evil, our most common temptation is to have recourse to our inner feeling of good and evil. That is the same as saying ‘I do what I believe is good and I avoid what I consider to be wrong'. This intimate and subjective feeling is intended to make me independent from any external moral authority.

However, how could I know whether I can trust my feelings or not? How can I be sure that even my most honest behaviour is not motivated by some interest? An action, which seems perfectly moral for an independent observer — other people's behaviour is only apparent and external to us — may be determined by inclinations (desire, self-love, etc.). For example giving to the poors may hide a desire for honour and distinction or even selfishness. On the other hand one cannot see a true moral action as such, for we cannot be sure of what the action was determined by. That's why Kant states that it is impossible to empirically know whether an action is moral or not and even to know whether there have been any moral actions at all ...