This study is the first systematic treatment of Kant’s theory of conscience in the Anglophone literature. Curiously, this is a neglected aspect of Kant’s practical philosophy. Here I will present Kant’s notion of conscience within the various contexts of his Critical thought and philosophically evaluate the coherence of his various claims. This will involve a foray into such topics as Kant’s theory of judgement, the epistemology of belief, the possibility of self- deception and the notion of moral self-improvement. My methodological approach involves a conceptual reconstruction of Kant’s numerous discussions of conscience throughout his Critical period, investigating the coherence of his claims in light of the broader claims of his ethical corpus and locating the various discussions within the appropriate context that Kant was talking within. The central question of this study is: can the various treatments of conscience be considered as internally consistent?
Prima facie reasons for answering in the negative are that his writings on conscience span his entire Critical period, that he talks of conscience as practical reason and within the context of feelings (
Metaphysics of Morals 6:399-403), that conscience is discussed in terms of erroneousness (
Collins 27:353,
Herder 27:43,
Religion 6:187) and as non-erring (
Metaphysics of Morals 6:401,
Miscarriage 8:268,
Vigilantius 27:614-5), and that conscience is talked of both in a non-religious sense and as the voice of God (
Metaphysics of Morals 6:439-40,
Miscarriage 8:270,
Herder 27:19,
Collins 27:296,
Vigilantius 27:575). Contrary to the dominant view found within the secondary literature that addresses Kant’s theory of conscience, I will answer in the affirmative, outlining that the various treatments and talk of conscience (as a feeling, a power, a judgement, a capacity, a court, as the voice of God, etc.) are philosophically coherent descriptions of the same unified thing (I shall term this the ‘Unity Thesis’).
Date of Award | 1 Jun 2016 |
---|
Original language | English |
---|
Awarding Institution | |
---|
Supervisor | John Callanan (Supervisor) |
---|
Conscience in Kant’s Moral Philosophy: The Unity Thesis
Kazim, E. (Author). 1 Jun 2016
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy