· 2020· Book chapter
Groundwork of The Metaphysic of Morals
- 2,765citations
- 2020year
Short summary
This foundational text argues that a pure, abstract 'metaphysic of morals' must precede and underpin all moral philosophy, separate from empirical considerations like anthropology or theology.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Moral philosophy requires a preceding, pure philosophical framework.
- A 'metaphysic of morals' must be isolated from empirical data (anthropology, theology, physics).
- This pure moral framework is crucial for understanding duties and enacting moral precepts.
- Ethics, like physics, should have both an empirical (practical anthropology) and a rational (morals) component.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Ancient Greek philosophy was divided into three sciences: physics, ethics, and logic. Pure philosophy must come first, and without it there can be no moral philosophy at all. Nevertheless a completely isolated metaphysic of morals, mixed with no anthropology, no theology, no physics or hyperphysics, less with occult qualities, is not only an indispensable substratum of all theoretical and precisely defined knowledge of duties, but is at the same time a desideratum of the utmost importance for the actual execution of moral precepts. Thus physics will have its empirical part, but it will also have a rational one; and likewise ethics – although the empirical part might be called specifically practical anthropology, while the rational part might properly be called morals. The moral law in its purity and genuineness is to be looked for nowhere else than in a pure philosophy.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source., 2020 · DOI ↗
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Field: Philosophy
PhilosophyArts and Humanities