Kant\'s Theory of the Highest Good

• Main Authors: Lin, Cheng-Hao, 林正昊
• Other Authors: Lin, Yuan-Tse
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/2rfg6j

博士 === 國立政治大學 === 哲學系 === 107 === The concept of the highest good poses a difficult problem for Kant's moral philosophy. It runs counter to the common impression of Kantian ethics and seems to lead to self-contradiction. This is because the supreme principle of morality, according to Kant, neither refers to the realization of objects of action nor is required to ensure the well-being of humans. How could the concept of the highest good that contains happiness decide the validity of the moral law? In order to deal with this issue, however, we must face another problem, namely that there is no fixed meaning of the highest good in Kant's writings. Across his works, Kant endows this concept with different meanings. The same difficulty appears in our understandings of necessity and possibility of the highest good at once and raises many disputes between scholars. The main purpose of this dissertation is to find out what kind of concept of the highest good and understanding of its necessity and possibility can best provide a coherent interpretation within Kant’s whole philosophical system. I will try to point out that the necessity of the highest good is based on a need of confirmation of morality. Furthermore, it must be understood as a transcendent, perfect, and communal concept that is consistent only with Kant’s whole philosophical system.