Basic Knowledge
The Critique of Practical Reason is Kant’s second commentary, one of his three main expositions on morality, and a highly influential work in the history of ethical theory. The Critique, which was first released three years after Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, expands on the central principles of Kant’s moral hypotheses. It also provides the most comprehensive account of his groundbreaking concept of free will and the evolution of his pragmatic metaphysics.
The manuscript developed my conceptual knowledge of rhetoric by arguing for Kant’s concept of ‘Triebfeder of morality.’ The “Triebfeder of morality” (Kant, pg. 49) aims to demonstrate that pure reason can be applied in practice. Kant manages to convince the audience that the understanding of the moral law decimates self-conceit. Kant’s analytic, which is structured like a conceptual proof, proceeds through a number of stages to reach its main assertion. This claim asserts that the one presiding principled stance is to behave in such a manner that the dictum of one’s will holds pervasively.
A law, according to Kant, must be both mandatory and universal, or it is not a law. However, in this case, its power cannot be reliant on any predicated feature of the individual who follows it. Next, Kant asserts that any law whose power was supposed to be based on its content would be in conflict with this.
Metaphor and Argument
Kant contends that there exists a sole principle of behavior appropriate for grounding morality; the ‘Fundamental Law of Pure Practical Reason.’ The principle dictate that one must “act in such a way that the maxim of your will could always hold at the same time as a principle in a giving of universal law” (Kant pg. 55). A significant portion of the book’s analytical chapter is dedicated to demonstrating that the concept is the only plausible moral law. Kant argued that the moral law’s law-giving strength must come from its sheer context. This is because if it came from the subject matter, the law would only apply to those who cared about that subject matter and not to everyone.
Kant claims that autonomy and moral behaviour are interchangeable. He believes that free will cannot operate unilaterally and must therefore act in compliance with the law. It, nevertheless, cannot be determined by the rational society. The only legislation it can then abide by is one that is entirely made up of a sanction to follow lawlike, generally applicable principles. And it is precisely this law that Kant regards as moral law. When acting in conformity with one’s moral will, one operates independently of their predicated desires. I am in complete agreement with Kant because I strongly agree with the notion that freedom is determined by an individual’s inner nature.
Relevance
Kant’s perspectives for the dimension of humanity’s freedom and the normative framework of moral law continue to influence research in moral philosophy even in modern philosophical discussions. Throughout the years, several notable moral philosophers, explicitly or implicitly, invoke Kant in their attempts to generate the agency of moral standards from a more fundamental interpretation of behavior, agency, or subjectivity. Kant postulated that the collective capacity of human beings to reason should serve as the foundation of morality, and that it is this capacity to reason that distinguishes people as morally significant. Therefore, he believed that all humans ought to have the privilege to be treated with dignity and respect.
Kant’s primary focus on reason, and the significance of upholding a rational perspective of the world while also acknowledging the bounds of reason, provides valuable lessons for the communication classroom and the marketplace. I believe the most valuable lesson we can take from Kant is that the world is rational. Embracing the constraints of reason is part of that lesson, as is the concept that the world is based on an ethical foundation. We must be aware that people can behave irrationally on occasions, and we must be primed for this possibility.
Work Cited
Kant, Immanuel. Critique of Practical Reason. Dover Publications, 2004.