PHILOS 4 Lecture 5: Lecture 5
Document Summary
Immanuel kant, groundwork for the metaphysics of morals (1785) Moral virtue, a matter of know-how, is constitutive of happiness. Aristotle: happiness depends on skill and fortune (e. g. , in one"s upbringing) Epictetus: happiness is simply a matter of knowing how to manage one"s attitudes. Happiness is passive and subjective: simply a matter of pleasure and pain. Happiness is subjective, but not relevant to morality. Virtue and character is secondary to rightful action. The right action is not the action the just person would do (as for aristotle); the just person is one who does the right action. Not from sympathy or moral feeling, or for the sake of happiness, security, or our personal or social good. Know what is right by reason: practical rather than theoretical reason (contra plato) An argument for acting rightly that any rational creature can and should accept, simply by fully understanding his or her own freedom in action.
