Description
Book SynopsisPublished in English for the first time, Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason is a slightly abridged and updated edition of Professor Höffe’s groundbreaking work originally published in German. In the book, the author systematically introduces one of the most important areas of Kant's philosophy, and relates its basic ideas to the debates of today. The first part introduces the four driving forces that motivated Kant’s practical philosophy and which are still relevant today: Enlightenment, critique, morality and cosmopolitanism. The second part demonstrates the extent to which Kant revolutionised moral philosophy. In the third part, the author explains the provocations that lie at the heart of Kant’s practical philosophy. The remaining parts deal with political philosophy, the philosophy of history, and Kant’s thinking about religion and education.
Table of ContentsPreface 1. Introduction: Four Motivating Forces 1.1 Enlightenment – 1.2 Critique in the Style of a Judicial Trial– 1.3 Morality – 1.4 Cosmopolitanism Part 1: Kant’s Revolution of Moral Philosophy 2. Ethics as Practical Philosophy 2.1 Primacy of the second Critique – 2.2 Moral Interest – 2.3 Pure Practical Reason – 2.4 A Proof in Seven Steps – 2.5 The Decisive Passage 3. Critique of the Principle of Happiness 3.1 Moralizing in an Ivory Tower? – 3.2 Mere Form – 3.3 Two Ethical Theories of Happiness: Aristotle and Utilitarianism 4. The New Formula: The Categorical Imperative 4.1 Three Tasks – 4.2 The Law of Nature as a Character of Law – 4.3 The Example of the Deposit – 4.4 An Ethics of Maxims 5. The Freedom of the Will and the Fact of Reason 5.1 Looking Back at the Third Antinomy – 5.2 Free Will – 5.3 The Moral Law Prior to Freedom – 5.4 The Fact of Reason – 5.5 Why be Moral: the Feeling of Respect – 5.6 What can Modern Moral Philosophy Learn from Kant? Part 2: Kant’s Provocations 6. Provocation 1: A Highest Good? 6.1 A Parallel to the First Critique? – 6.2 From Duty to Hope: the Highest Good – 6.3 Re-Theologizing and a Rest of Eudaimonism? – 6.4 General (Quasi-)Dialectic of Pure Reason – 6.5 The Postulates: God and Immortality 7. Provocation 2: Duty contra Desire? (Schiller) 7.1 Does Morality Require the Contrast with Desire? – 7.2 What is it That Finds Unity in the Beautiful Soul? – 7.3 Kant or Schiller? 8. Provocation 3: A ‘Metaphysics’ of Morals? 8.1 Kant as an Aristotelian – 8.2 Aristotle’s Ethics: Free of Metaphysics, yet Metaphysical – 8.3 Kant’s Ethics: Metaphysical, yet Free of Metaphysics Part 3: World Politics and World History 9. Kant’s Justice Theory of Peace 9.1 A Plethora of Innovations – 9.2 ‘Royal Peoples’ and a Royal Humanity – 9.3 A Realistic Vision 10. A Cosmopolitan Philosophy of History 10.1 The Framework of Discussion – 10.2 The Texts – 10.3 Against Cyclopic Learnedness – 10.4 The Engine: Antagonism – 10.5 Thinking of Progress: Modest-Immodest – 10.6 On the Epistemic Status 11. On the Guarantee of Perpetual Peace 11.1 A Quasi-Transcendental Deduction – 11.2 The Solution: „Nature the Great Artist’ – 11.3 Outer and Inner Nature – 11.4 Constitutional, International and Cosmopolitan Right – 11.5 Epistemic Status Part 4: Religion, Education und the Final End 12. The Rational Limits of Religion 12.1 No Fourth Critique – 12.2 The New Project – 12.3 ‘Bare’ Reason – 12.4 Thematic and Methodical Innovations – 12.5 The Main Topics – 12.6 A Wealth of Interpretations – 12.7 Interim Result 13. Philosophy of Education 13.1. Pedagogical Anthropology – 13.2 Four Goals of Education – 13.3. ‘The Child is supposed to ... Learn to Work’ – 13.4 Result 14. Human Beings as the Final End 14.1 The Provocative Claim – 14.2 Kant’s Argument – 14.3 On the Final End 15. A Look at the More Recent German Debate 15.1 The Textual Basis – 15.2. A Kant Lexicon – 15.3 Commentaries – 15.4 Monographs Afterword Abbreviations and Method of Citation Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects
