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Virtue, Wide Duties, and Casuistry. On why there is a Doctrine of Method in Kant’s Doctrine of Virtue

  • Elke Elisabeth Schmidt EMAIL logo

Abstract

This paper deals primarily with the Doctrine of Method (DM) of Kant’s Doctrine of Virtue. First, I present an overview of the DM (1.1) and an explanation of how it is possible to teach virtue (1.2). Second, I address the following issues: Why is a DM necessary at all (2.1)? How does the DM relate to what Kant calls casuistry (2.2)? I will argue that wide duties have two essential characteristics: They command the right kind of moral motivation in terms of a moral maxim, and they allow for latitude. The fact that wide duties command the right kind of motivation leads to the DM; the latitude of wide duties, however, leads to casuistry. To unfold this interpretation, it must also be shown that both imperfect and perfect duties are wide duties.


Corresponding author: Elke Elisabeth Schmidt, Department of Philosophy, University of Siegen, Adolf-Reichwein-Straße 2 57068 Siegen, Germany, E-mail:

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Published Online: 2023-06-05
Published in Print: 2023-07-26

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