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Kant on Moral Satisfaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2017

Michael Walschots
Michael Walschots*
Affiliation:
University of St. Andrews
*
Email: mhwalschots@gmail.com
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Abstract

This paper gives an account of Kant’s concept of self-contentment (Selbstzufriedenheit), i.e. the satisfaction involved in the performance of moral action. This concept is vulnerable to an important objection: if moral action is satisfying, it might only ever be performed for the sake of this satisfaction. I explain Kant’s response to this objection and argue that it is superior to Francis Hutcheson’s response to a similar objection. I conclude by showing that two other notions of moral satisfaction in Kant’s moral philosophy, namely ‘sweet merit’ and the highest good, also avoid the objection.

Keywords

self-contentmentGarveHutchesoneudaimonismpleasurehappinessmoral motivation
Type
Articles
Information
Kantian Review , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , June 2017 , pp. 281 - 303
Copyright
© Kantian Review 2017 

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