On trying too hard
A Kantian interpretation of misguided moral striving
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8087476 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mavis L Bi (0000-0003-0993-2974, corresponding author), Mavis Biss (Loyola University Maryland Baltimore Maryland) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 966-976 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Philosophy of Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0309-8249 • E-ISSN: 1467-9752 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-9752.12614 |
| OpenAlex | W4200229886 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 13 |
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
Duty · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy · Moral authority · Moral development · Moral disengagement · Moral psychology · Moral reasoning · Perfection · Praise · Sociology · Theology · Virtue · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Philosophy · Social Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.8 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |