Understanding Kant's Ethics

Description

Kant's ethical thought remains one of the most influential, yet notoriously challenging, systems in the history of philosophy. This volume provides a sympathetic but critical reconstruction of the main strands of Kant's ethics, focusing on the most commonly read of Kant's ethical works, the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Part I outlines Kant's arguments in defense of his Categorical Imperative, as well as elaborating Kant's understanding of dignity and human freedom. Part II addresses the most common objections to Kant's ethics, including challenges to the Formula of Universal Law; Kant's controversial ethical stances on suicide, sex and marriage, and non-human animals; and the place of reason, sentiment, and happiness in Kant's ethics. For scholars and specialists alike, the volume offers a clear and accessible account of what Kantian morality both offers us and asks of us.

Michael Cholbi is Professor of Philosophy at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is the author of Suicide: The Philosophical Dimensions (2011), as well as the editor of New Directions in the Ethics of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (2015) and Immortality and the Philosophy of Death (2015).

'Cholbi strikes a very nice balance between the complexities and nuances of Kant's system and the real-world implications of his ethics.' Johan Brannmark, Malmoe University, Sweden 'This excellent introduction to Kant's ethics presents a sympathetic account of the fundamental aspects of Kant's moral theory. It contains illuminating critical discussions of some of the most pressing objections to Kant's moral theory, and is filled with helpful illustrative examples. It also gives the reader a clear picture of the main contrasts between Kantianism, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics. The end result is a powerful defense of Kant's moral theory that does justice to the rich details of Kant's position while at the same time painting an even-handed picture of its strengths and weaknesses.' Anne Margaret Baxley, Washington University, St Louis 'Cholbi's book is well written, well-structured, clearly argued and touches upon most of the important aspects of Kant's moral philosophy. Cholbi also provides systematically argued responses to some of the most common objections to and criticisms of Kant's ethics, and convincingly shows that and why Kant's moral theory (or at least a distinctively Kantian approach to and understanding of ethics) is still worthy of continued philosophical interest and respect. Both the philosophy student and the advanced Kant-scholar are thus bound to find something of interest and something to discuss and disagree on in Cholbi's book. And that of course is one of the things which all good introductions should do.' Carsten Fogh Nielsen, Metapsychology (www.metapsychology.mentalhelp.net)