The notes from Kant's lectures in the various philosophical disciplines cannot be considered self-standing texts, not only because what we are reading was not authored by Kant himself but jotted down by his students, and later sometimes copied and compiled in different ways, but also because Kant's remarks in the lectures are not meant as original treatments of the subject, but as comments on a handbook. A careful comparison with the textbooks is therefore required for a full understanding of the lectures.For his entire career Kant taught moral philosophy following Baumgarten's Initia philosophiae practicae primae (Elements of Practical First Philosophy, 1760; hereafter Initia) and Ethica philosophica (Philosophical Ethics, 1740; hereafter Ethica). They provide the outline for Kant's 1 moral philosophy lectures. In the first main part of his classes, he comments on the Initia, 2 that present the foundational issues of practical philosophy, then passes on to the Ethica, discussing quite in detail most aspects of the doctrine of ethical duties. Thereby, Kant refers to the main division of practical philosophy characteristic of the Wolffian tradition, that is, the distinction between universal practical philosophy and ethics proper: the first one devoted to a preliminary foundational clarification of the general concepts of moral value of actions, of law and obligation, of imputation and conscience, the second one presenting an extended doctrine of ethical duties. When Kant refers to universal practical philosophy, in 3 The indication that Kant would have first taught on Friedrich Christian Baumeister's 1
Abstract:This paper focuses on the relationship between Kant and the traditional view of dignity. I argue that some amendments to Sensen’s description of the traditional paradigm enable us to see more clearly both where Kant adheres to the latter and where his view is original. First, a consideration of Pufendorf’s use of dignity suggests (1) that, contrary to Sensen’s reconstruction, the traditional paradigm does not entail a connection between dignity and duties to oneself, and (2) that Pufendorf’s understanding of dignity as a kind of esteem, as opposed to price, provides a crucial mediation between the traditional view and Kant’s view. Finally, I argue that the traditional understanding of dignity also includes a subordinate justificatory element that helps to explain Kant’s use of dignity in the
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