Kant Studien 108 (1):89-115 (2017)
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Abstract |
Kant’s most prominent formulation of the Categorical Imperative, known as the Formula of Universal Law (FUL), is generally thought to demand that one act only on maxims that one can will as universal laws without this generating a contradiction. Kant's view is standardly summarized as requiring the 'universalizability' of one's maxims and described in terms of the distinction between 'contradictions in conception' and 'contradictions in the will'. Focusing on the underappreciated significance of the simultaneity condition included in the FUL, I argue, by contrast, that the principle is better read as requiring that one be able to will two things simultaneously without self-contradiction, namely, that a maxim be one's own and that it be a universal law. This amounts to a new interpretation of the FUL with significant interpretive and philosophical advantages.
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Keywords | Immanuel Kant Categorical Imperative Contradiction Formula of Universal Law maxim volitional self-contradiction |
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Reprint years | 2017 |
DOI | 10.1515/kant-2017-0006 |
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References found in this work BETA
Self-Constitution: Agency, Identity, and Integrity.Christine M. Korsgaard - 2009 - Oxford University Press.
Constructions of Reason: Explorations of Kant's Practical Philosophy.Onora O'Neill - 1989 - Cambridge University Press.
View all 23 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Kant on Thinking for Oneself and with Others—the Ethical a Priori, Openness and Diversity.Martin Sticker - 2021 - Journal of Philosophy of Education 55 (6):949-965.
May Kantians Commit Virtual Killings That Affect No Other Persons?Tobias Flattery - 2021 - Ethics and Information Technology 23 (4):751-762.
A Contradiction of the Right Kind: Convenience Killing and Kant’s Formula of Universal Law.Pauline Kleingeld - 2019 - Philosophical Quarterly 69 (274):64-81.
Thinking About Cases: Applying Kant's Universal Law Formula.Jochen Bojanowski - 2018 - European Journal of Philosophy 26 (4):1253-1268.
View all 10 citations / Add more citations
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