PHILOS 2YY3 Chapter Notes - Chapter Kant: Categorical Imperative, Universal Law, Practical Reason

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHILOS 2YY3
• Professor: James Sikkemma

Document Summary

Reading 14 kant the foundation of ethics continued. Only rational beings have the power to act according to laws: this is what produces our will. The will is a faculty of choosing in which reason recognizes as being practically necessary / good. Imperatives = formula of commands: commands = the representation of an objective principle that necessitates the will. All imperatives are expressed by an ought" and indicate the relation of an objective law of reason to a will. Imperatives say that something will be good to do or refrain from doing. Those good things that constitute the will are not based on subjective cases but are rather objective: it must be on grounds valid for every rational being. The imperative is not at all hypothetical: it has a necessity of objectivity. The will is determined solely by the law without any other incentive. First formulation of the categorical imperative: universal law.