On trying too hard: A Kantian interpretation of misguided moral striving

Abstract

The goal of moral education is moral formation and moral improvement. Kant's duty of moral self-perfection applies to people who have undergone preliminary stages of moral formation and are in the position to strive for moral improvement based on a grasp of principle and an understanding of ends that are also duties. We are familiar with standard shorthand expressions of moral encouragement such as 'Do as much good as you can' or 'Do your best' . Kant himself declares in §21 of the Doctrine of Virtue 'If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, strive for it' (Kant, 1996, p. 566 [6:446]). I would like to take a closer look at whether these sorts of slogans, especially when abstracted from a richer picture of the content of moral duties, are actually valuable as methods of encouraging moral improvement. Indeed, I will present several reasons to support the claim that we could do better at encouraging people to be better.

Enlightenment as perfection, perfection as enlightenment? Kant on thinking for oneself and perfecting oneself

“…For different views on the notion of an imperfect duty in Kant, see, e.g.,Walla (2015),Timmermann (2018),Biss (2021) and…”

“…2020For different views on the notion of an imperfect duty in Kant, see, e.g., Walla (2015), Timmermann (2018), Biss (2021) and Sticker (2021a). Walla and Timmermann argue that imperfect duties are still stringent ones, according to Kant.…”