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Freedom and Reason in Kant
Morality, Kant says, cannot be regarded as a set of rules which prescribe
the means necessary to the achievement of a given end; its rules must be obeyed
without consideration of the consequences that will follow from doing so or not.
A principle that presupposes a desired object as the determinant of the will
cannot give rise to a moral law; that is, the morality of an act of will cannot
be determined by the matter or content of the will for when the will is
materially determined the question of its morality does not arise.
This consideration leads Kant to one of his most important theses. If the
moral character of willing is not determined by the content of what is willed,
it must be determined by the form:" If a rational being can think of his maxims
as universal laws, he can do so only by considering them as principles which
contain the determining ground of the will because of their form and not because
of their matter". Therefore, the morality of a maxim is determined by its
functioning as a universal law, applicable as a general rule to every rational
agent. Since a moral will must be so in virtue of its form alone, the will must
be capable of a purely formal determination; that is, it must be possible for a
man to act in a certain way for the sole reason that willing in this way is
prescribed by a universal law, no matter what the empirical results will be.
A will to which moral considerations apply must be, in the strictest sense,
a free will, one that can function independently of the laws of natural
causality. The concept of morality, therefore, has to be explained in terms of a
universal moral law, and the ability to will in obedience to such a law leads us
to postulate the freedom. The freedom which Kant is talking about, is not only a
negative freedom consisting in the absence of constraint by empirical causes, it
is also a positive freedom which consists in the ability to make acts of will in
accordance with the moral law, for no other reason than that they are in
accordance with it. Freedom, in this sense, corresponds to Autonomy of the will
and its absence ( any situation in which the will is determined by external
causes ) is called Heteronomy. In obeying the moral law for the sake of the law
alone, the will is autonomous because it is obeying a law which it imposes on
itself.
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...e person, as Reason, as belonging to the
intellectual world, is not affected by the laws of Determinism: he is free. This
is Kant's proof of Freedom. Is it satisfactory?
Later on, in the "Critics of Practical Reason", Kant does not attempt to
deduce synthetically Morality from Freedom, as he tried to do in the Grounding
by stating that Freedom was the necessary condition for Morality, but he assumes
the moral law as a "fact of the reason" from which he infers Freedom. There have
been critics blaming Kant of a sort of vicious circle, because he seemed to
demonstrate Freedom by means of deduction from Morality and then to show the
possibility of the Categorical Imperative deducing it from Freedom. Kant answers
that there is no vicious circle because in the ontological order Freedom is the
condition for Morality ( it is not possible to follow the duty for the duty if
you are not free), but in the order of our knowledge, the moral law is the
requirement for Freedom ( we would not consider ourselves free, if we did not
think of ourselves as subject to the moral law). Freedom is the ratio essendi of
the moral law, but the moral law is the ratio cognoscendi of Freedom.
Frankfurt, H.G., (2003). Freedom of the will and the concept of a person. In G. Watson, ed. Free Will, 2nd ed., New York: Oxford University Press, pp.322-336.
Because ideas cannot be experienced directly, they do not have causes and are positioned in the a-temporal or metaphysical dimension. As such, no one can properly know that ideas such as God, freedom, or immortality exist; they cannot be subject to understanding. Thus in the end, Kant’s critique of metaphysics does in fact rehabilitate a supersensible reality. Only now, universals exist within the interior of the human mind rather than in external, objective reality. These ideas are not simply flights of fancy or chimeras. Although we cannot experience them, they nevertheless follow logical rules of thought, and we can reasonably act as if they exist. For Kant, acting as if freedom were possible is not delusional. In fact, it makes us act morally to conceptualize and act upon the ideas of God or freedom. Kant’s humanistic side is most clearly articulated in his theory of freedom. For Kant, humans are not simply the aggregate of natural forces. Humans are distinctly unique because we freely give to ourselves an imperative to follow. To be moral is to act in accordance with a universal law. In Kant’s writings there are essentially two versions of this categorical imperative: act according to a maxim which can be a universal principle and act in
Animal cruelty leads to violence against human beings. According to Animal Cruelty and Human Violence, of those arrested in Chicago for animal crimes, 65% had been arrested for battery against another person (1). An example of animal cruelty in the book is the scene with the water
With reason being an aspect of human nature that makes humans particularly unique and valuable, it is not surprising why Immanuel Kant chose to also consider the value of humans as rational beings when developing his ethical system. In fact, he describes that with this very rational nature, human beings may be able to discover unconditional and universal moral laws. One’s will must simply be influenced by their moral duties, rather than motivations from one’s emotions or inclinations to comply. Nonetheless, to uncover the strength of this ethical position, Kant’s perspective on human nature as the basis for these moral theories requires analysis. With this being done, in light of observations intended to analyze human moral behavior, there
Furthermore, free will has been closely connected to the moral responsibility, in that one acts knowing they will be res for their own actions. There should be philosophical conditions regarding responsibility such like the alternatives that one has for action and moral significance of those alternatives. Nevertheless, moral responsibility does not exhaust the implication of free will.
...to lie on occasion as result of better results or to not harm the other person. For example, if a teenager does not tell his parents he snuck out and drove their car then he avoids punishment if he simply says he never went out. Also, if a girl does not like the dress her friend is wearing but still says she does, then she lies for the benefit of her friend rather than causing harm. Although people still lie, they are still able to act morally in accordance with universal law. Overall, I believe it depends on the circumstances and individual on whether or not humans are obligated to act morally because morality is for the sake of the individual while obligation would be for the sake of others or the community. As a result, rather than a moral “obligation” to act, it should be replaced by desire so that people would want to act a certain way instead of feeling forced.
Free will is the capacity that one has in choosing one’s own course of action, basically, having free will means that one has the ability to decide what one wants to do and he is the unique source of the decision. Moreover, free will is divided in two varieties, surface freedom and ultimate freedom; the first one is the ability to make your own choices to fulfill your desires, on the other hand, the second one is the power to form your own desires and then fulfill them. Most of the philosophers agree that the surface freedom exists and that we have it, however, the big question is in the existence of ultimate freedom.
will is making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances such as fate or divine
Meditation is an important psychological practice that protects the brain against aging as well as enhancing an individual’s ability to learn new things. This practice achieves this through sharpening focus, lessening stress, lowering blood pressure, and relieving chronic pain. Generally, it helps a person to experience greater calm, connect with deepest feelings, and challenges tendencies of self-judgment. Consequently, meditation leads to open doors for actual and accessible happiness for an individual. According to Salzberg (2011), meditation is basically training an individual’s attention in order to become more aware of inner workings and external incidents (p.7). After becoming more aware of inner workings and external incidents, a person can choose his/her actions towards things that are visible. While each global religion incorporates some kind of thoughtful exercise, meditation in today’s world is usually practiced separately from any belief system.
Therefore we are not free to act as we wish due to our actions being
For Kant and Luther, the question of human freedom and the amount individuals are at liberty of, if any, is determined in an effort to achieve high morality. However, it precisely the outlook that Kant deems fatalist which Luther argues for, that is, freedom through faith. For Luther, we do not posses the liberty required to live a moral life without God’s guidance. On the other hand, for Kant, the predestination that Luther argues for places individuals in a state of “immaturity” and therefore unable to achieve freedom to be moral. In contrast to Luther’s argument, for Kant self-determination, autonomy, and morality are closely related to his notion of human freedom.
Ever thought about who controls the decisions you make regarding your daily activities? You may think you control every aspect of your life, but some philosophers have questioned such notions. Many schools of thought explain the analogy of free will, and they present the argument of whether we have the freedom to act or other causes and effects determine our destiny. Free will in this context is defined as the freedom to choose and act where there several alternative courses of action. Theologically, the concept of free will is presented as the power to make decisions on our own without necessarily been influenced by external or predetermined courses.
Meditation is a family of techniques that have in common an attempt to focus attention in a nonanalytical way, and attempt not to dwell on the thoughts that come into one’s mind (Wisner, Jones, & Gwin, 2010). Meditation could be applied as intervention and prevention. As an intervention in schools, meditation could replace discipline referrals or suspensions in some situations. For example, a student that is emotionally escalated will most likely become even more escalated if he or she thinks that a discipline referral or suspension is in their future. If this child were to have the opportunity to channel their attention somewhere else, through meditation, they could avoid the more negative outcome. By practicing meditation, this student sees that they were given the opportunity to take control over their actions and feelings, instead of someone else taking control of them. This would allow for more healing, trust, and growth in the student-faculty
Freedom, or the concept of free will seems to be an elusive theory, yet many of us believe in it implicitly. On the opposite end of the spectrum of philosophical theories regarding freedom is determinism, which poses a direct threat to human free will. If outside forces of which I have no control over influence everything I do throughout my life, I cannot say I am a free agent and the author of my own actions. Since I have neither the power to change the laws of nature, nor to change the past, I am unable to attribute freedom of choice to myself. However, understanding the meaning of free will is necessary in order to decide whether or not it exists (Orloff, 2002).
...people perceive it be and can be very helpful to the adolescent by showing them that they are not alone in this battle no, but they have others fighting it as well. Meditation is also a helpful way to reduce stress and emotional reactivity. The final way to prevent bad thoughts to occur would be to exercise regularly to help improve the adolescent’s mood and take some frustration out.