Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: A Problem with Kant’s Moral Anthropology
- I The Problem
- 1 The Asymmetry in Kant’s Conception of Freedom
- 2 Anthropology as an Empirical Science
- 3 The Moral Importance of Kant’s “Pragmatic” Anthropology
- 4 Moral Anthropology in Contemporary Neokantian Ethics
- II The Solution
- 5 Transcendental Idealism, Radical Evil, and Moral Anthropology
- 6 Moral Influence on Others
- Epilogue: Incorporating Moral Anthropology and Defending Kantian Moral Philosophy
- Notes
- References
- Index of Kant’s Works
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction: A Problem with Kant’s Moral Anthropology
- I The Problem
- 1 The Asymmetry in Kant’s Conception of Freedom
- 2 Anthropology as an Empirical Science
- 3 The Moral Importance of Kant’s “Pragmatic” Anthropology
- 4 Moral Anthropology in Contemporary Neokantian Ethics
- II The Solution
- 5 Transcendental Idealism, Radical Evil, and Moral Anthropology
- 6 Moral Influence on Others
- Epilogue: Incorporating Moral Anthropology and Defending Kantian Moral Philosophy
- Notes
- References
- Index of Kant’s Works
- Name Index
- Subject Index
Summary
From my earliest exposure to Kant's moral theory, I was drawn to his emphasis on the centrality of freedom but bothered by the apparent abstractness of the moral law. Thus when I first approached the Anthropology many years ago, I did so with excitement. I hoped that Kant would incorporate all the rich details of human life that I found lacking in his Grounding, and that he would show how these details fit with the distinctive focus on freedom that attracted me to his moral theory. At first, the Anthropology seemed more amusing than philosophically satisfying. However, as I came to appreciate the details of Kant's Anthropology and as more neokantians incorporated anthropological insights into moral theory, I saw that Kantians could provide as rich and concrete a moral theory as anyone.
During graduate school, especially as a result of interaction with neo-Aristotelian ethical theories and more recent neokantian accounts, I became interested in Kant's treatment of the cultivation of moral character. In parts of Kant's anthropology he seemed to suggest that there could be empirical influences on moral development, and these showed that Kant could provide the sort of nuanced theory of human nature that often made Aristotle attractive. But I was still puzzled about the compatibility of these new (for me) aspects of Kant's account with the treatment of freedom that initially attracted me to Kant.
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- Freedom and Anthropology in Kant's Moral Philosophy , pp. ix - xPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003