Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant is a philosopher who argued about moral requirements that are based on being rational. Immanuel Kant most influential work was probably the "The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals." Immanuel Kant's thesis in his works that I will be writing about is what qualifies good will. The idea of a good will, according to Kant, is similar to the idea of a person of a good will. He breaks it down what makes us morally good according to good will, moral laws, and duty. He believes that we are surrounded and bound to moral laws and it is up to us whether we follow it or not.

When you are asked, what is good will, many thoughts come to mind. Good will, in my own terms, can be someone who does many charitable goods without seeking for something in return. According to Kant, good will is defined in another term that requires qualifications. To have good will is to have certain commitment and to behave morally good. Having good will is similar to lacking virtue. According to Kant, virtue is the moral strength of will to overcome desires that runs contrary to what one should do. His first point is human moral goodness. Moral goodness towards human beings is worth forfeiting because in order to obtain good will, then it should come with no consequences. For example, courage cannot be considered good will because it requires injustice as consequence. His second point would be to good will is to not having to give up something for a situation of a moral goodness. For example, intelligence and some pleasure are worth having, only if you don't have to give up a person's moral convictions. Another example that we take in that are considered qualities of good will would be being passionate, having self control, or being able to be calm are qualities of good will. But because good will can go on without these traits, this would lead to the weakness. The value of the good will cannot have certainty. Having said this, good will should not be planned. The qualification that makes up good will is so that good will comes and goes naturally and does not depend on conditions that are supporting the outcomes of good will.

Moral laws also play a part within the qualification of a good will. Moral law is made up of two formulations. The first formulation would universal law. This law states that a person who act on the maximum where it can become a universal law of nature. In other words, we should perform actions that the world can accept and sustain. For example, if everyone on Earth stole or lied all the time, what will happen. This world would not be a happy camper instead the society will turn into chaos and we will have other moral laws to determine what a good will is. The second formulation would be the good will. With the first formulation having been stated, it helps eliminates self interest seeking and leads to good will. Good will is an exception because it is impossible to conceive things in the world that can be good except having good will. To have good will is to perform one's duty for the sake of duty. Perfect duty are duties that are no exceptions. Stealing and lying are contradictions to conceptions. If the world believed suicide is acceptable, then the human race would come to an end because everyone commits suicide. Imperfect duties cannot be performed at all times. Seeking happiness of other people and seeking perfection, both cannot be completed at all times because they are contradictions. We won't get blamed for not fulfilling it but if we do get it completed, we will get praised. Every human has intrinsic values and should be respected well around. Kant also believes the kingdom of ends. He believes that exceptions should not be made for any individual. Kant also believes that we should act out of duty to be rewarded. Perhaps not being rewarded in this life, but would be rewarded in the next life.

Good will is also justified by duty. Duty are rules and laws that we respect and bound to. For example, having duties of being citizens, Boy Scout duty, or civic duty. Immanuel Kant thinks that duty is an act of sense of duty and not ordinary sense. In other words, we sometimes have to act according to duty versus what we should do. Being motivated from duty does not provide prospective outcome or other extrinsic features of our conduct. He believes that human beings act accordingly to the will of our laws. We act in a way that we are motivated by thoughts of rationality. Kant argues that the only actions that have moral worth are those actions done in action from duty. Everyone's definitions of duty that provides good are different. Human desires vary from each individual and are not necessary to have the same desire as everyone else. What motivates a good will in human beings is represented by some of the consideration of actions performed out of duty. Kant believes that a person acts out of duty exemplify the motivation principle behind the action. That in turn makes it easier to discover what the principle is that is the source of the extraordinary value of a good will.

Kant argues that the only actions that have moral worth are those actions done from duty. He believes this because it has moral worth, respect and not self seek interest. He argues that actions in agreement with duty but not done from duty have no moral value. These actions fulfill the requirements of duty is morally valuable and so worth moral approval. The