The Ambiguity of Kant's Concept of the Highest Good: Finding the Correct Interpretation

The aim of this paper is to resolve the tension between Kant's doctrine of the highest good and his entire philosophical system. The concept of the highest good is the first major ambiguity of the doctrine. There are three pairs of ambiguities: immanent‐transcendent; justice‐perfection; and ind...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Philosophical forum 2019-09, Vol.50 (3), p.355-382
Main Author: Lin, Cheng‐Hao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ethics
Kant, Immanuel (1724-1804)
Morality
Philosophy
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The aim of this paper is to resolve the tension between Kant's doctrine of the highest good and his entire philosophical system. The concept of the highest good is the first major ambiguity of the doctrine. There are three pairs of ambiguities: immanent‐transcendent; justice‐perfection; and individual‐community. They are able to form eight combinations. Corresponding to the various combinations and conceptions of the highest good, interpreters also conceive different reasons for the necessity of the doctrine as well as various conditions of its applicability. For example, some emphasize its religious dimension, whereas others understand it in the political sense. In this paper, I adopt a different approach in understanding the highest good's systematic meaning as the moral confirmation, and suggest that only a transcendent, perfect and communal concept of the highest good can provide the most consistent doctrine. Additionally, it explains the importance of the different branches (such as philosophies of religion and of politics) of Kant's system.
ISSN:0031-806X
1467-9191
DOI:10.1111/phil.12228